The New York Sour is thought to have been created in the 1880s by a bartender in Chicago, originally calling the cocktail Claret Snap.

Claret is a traditional term used for Bordeaux wines in Britain. Believed to be linked to the French term ‘claret’ and referred to very light red wines from Bordeaux.

Throughout the time the cocktail gained some other names like Continental Sour and Southern Sour. Is finally settled after Prohibition as a New York Sour.