Toki Sour

Name: Toki Sour
Yield: 10
Cuisine: American

Recipe: Rafael Royal , The Greggory , Chicago

Photo: Mistey Nguyen

August 13, 2025

This whisky sour from Rafael Royal of Chicago’s The Greggory gets its inspiration from the beverage director’s family cold remedies. While his father often fixed him a ginger hibiscus tea when he was sick, the shot of whisky is an homage to his grandmother, who believed “the tea was better with a little shot of whisky.”

Ingredients

2 oz. Toki Japanese Whisky
1 oz. hibiscus ginger syrup
1 oz. fresh lemon juice
5 dashes Fee Foam

Tools:shaker
Glass:double rocks
Garnish:candied ginger and lemon peel

Preparation

Add all of the ingredients to a shaker and shake vigorously. After shaking, add 2 ice cubes to the shaker and shake until the cubes have melted. Pour over a large ice cube into the glass. Garnish.
Hibiscus Ginger SyrupAdd 2 cups of filtered water to a saucepan and bring it to a gentle boil. Add 1 cup of dried hibiscus flower, 1 cup of roughly chopped fresh ginger, and 2 cups of sugars. Stir until the sugar is fully dissolved. Let the mixture cool to room temperature, then strain out the hibiscus and ginger. Add 1/4 cup of ginger juice and fully incorporate it into the syrup. Will keep for 2 weeks in the refrigerator.