Cocktail recipe
Trinidad Sour
An audacious, mahogany-red sour that treats aromatic bitters as the leading spirit.
Ingredients
- 45 ml (1½ oz) Angostura aromatic bitters
- 30 ml (1 oz) orgeat syrup
- 22.5 ml (¾ oz) fresh lemon juice
- 15 ml (½ oz) rye whiskey
- Garnish: none
Preparation
Treat the bitters as the base spirit: measure them boldly with orgeat, lemon and rye, then shake hard over ice until the almond sweetness and spice lock together. Fine-strain into a cold coupe and leave it ungarnished—the mahogany color tells the story.
Glassware
Chilled coupe
History
Giuseppe González created the Trinidad Sour in Brooklyn around 2008–2009 while working at Clover Club. Its unlikely foundation is a full pour of Angostura aromatic bitters, balanced by orgeat, lemon and a little rye. González has cited the Trinidad Especial, a drink associated with Valentino Bolognese, as a conceptual precursor. Sources differ by a year on the exact creation date, so “circa 2009” is more defensible than an unqualified anniversary claim. The cocktail became a touchstone of the modern bitters-as-base movement.
Mixology View
Aromatic bitters are not a garnish here; they are the drink. The almond must tame the spice without turning it sweet.