Tag: Bulleit

Cocktail of the Week: Whiskey Sour

Whiskey Sour

I’ve never been much for sours. This might be because I’ve never found a reason to order one? Or maybe I have and the bartender wasn’t any good at making it? I don’t know. The drink is a classic though and quite simple to make. Apparently, there is a method to making sours (see tip two) that I was unaware of. I was also unaware that margaritas are considered sours. The more you know… Anyway, the big decision to make with a Whiskey Sour is what type of whiskey to use? bourbons, ryes, Irish or Scotchs all have their own unique flavor profiles and alter the taste of the cocktail considerably!

Whiskey Sour
The ingredients

Whiskey Sour

  • 2 oz. Whiskey
  • 1 oz. simple syrup
  • 3/4 oz. fresh lemon juice

Combine all ingredients in a shaker over ice and shake. Strain into a chilled, ice-filled rocks glass. Garnish with a maraschino cherry. I didn’t have one so I used a raspberry.

Whiskey Sour

I made two whiskey sours, one with Jameson and the other with Bulleit rye. They were surprisingly different from each other! The rye was so sweet that it almost overpowered the lemon juice, the Jameson had hints of vanilla and spice. I enjoyed both but preferred the one with Jameson on this night.

Cocktail of the Week: Scofflaw

Scofflaw cocktail

After last week’s cocktail, the Jack Rose, a couple of friends recommended other drinks they enjoy that have grenadine in them. The one that I found most intriguing was the Scofflaw: a combination of Rye whiskey, lemon juice, grenadine, and dry vermouth. The Scofflaw’s name come from the era of Prohibition here in the United States. The actual word “scofflaw” came into being through a contest to create a word to describe “a lawless drinker of illegally made or illegally obtained liquor.” This drink was created in Paris during Prohibition and named “Scofflaw” to honor those in the United States who continued to drink. Or so the story goes…

Scofflaw cocktail
The ingredients

Scofflaw

  • 2 oz. rye whiskey
  • 1 oz. dry vermouth
  • 1 oz. lemon juice
  • 1/2 oz. grenadine
  • 2 dashes orange bitters

Add all ingredients to a shaker and fill with ice. Shake, and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

Scofflaw cocktail

 

The Scofflaw is a delicious cocktail that seems to have a perfect balance between sweet and sour and it has a lovely, rich red color. I like to imagine drinking this cocktail in some quiet out of the way speakeasy with jazz music playing in the background. Prohibition may be dead but its drinks live on, eh?

Cocktail of the Week: Bourbon Apple Cider

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That crisp coolness is finally in the air and I’m finally comfortable enough saying that Autumn is here. Autumn means apples, pumpkins, and long evenings on the couch sipping tea or a nice hot cocktail.

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The ingredients

Bourbon Apple Cider

  • 5 oz apple cider
  • 2 oz bourbon
  • 1 apple, thinly sliced
  • 1 tsp. honey
  • 1/8 tsp cinnamon

In a sauce pot combine cider, apple slices, honey and cinnamon, bring contents to a boil and then simmer for five minutes.  Strain mixture (save apple slices for garnish) and add bourbon. Pour into glasses, garnish with apple slices. Serve warm.

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This reminds me a lot of the Honey Bourbon Toddy, and why shouldn’t it? Both are hot drinks and share the majority of their ingredients. Where the Toddy has water this has apple cider but other than that, and lemon juice, the two drink are almost identical. This is certainly a drink you want to sip, the bourbon is very noticeable with a nice apple crisp taste as it rolls down your throat. Sit down, relax, sip from this drink and let the season sink into you as you sink into it.

Cocktail of the Week: Apple Thyme

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It’s supposed to be fall right now, the produce department of our local Co-op certainly reflects the change of the season even if the weather outside stubbornly refuses to. I’m looking at you 95° weekend weather! With the transition to fall I’ve got to say goodbye to all the chilled drinks full of citrus and fruit! That’s okay though, because I’m looking forward to some hot drinks.

This cocktail was inspired by one D saw over on another blog (here), that called for a homemade brandy and quite a bit of alcohol in it. I took the recipe and tweaked it a little bit and ended up with a delicious cocktail with an herbal undercurrent, that wouldn’t knock D out. I replaced the brandy with applejack and balanced out the proportions.

The ingredients
The ingredients

Apple Thyme

  • 1 oz bourbon
  • 1 oz applejack
  • 1 oz thyme simple syrup
  • 1/2 – 1 oz lemon juice

Combine ingredients into an ice filled shaker. Shake vigorously. Strain onto ice in a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with apple slice and thyme twig.

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I didn’t have any expectations with this cocktail. I’d never considered using bourbon and applejack together and I’d never thought to infuse simple syrup with thyme. It turned out really well though! The lemon and thyme go together quite well and blend wonderfully with the bourbon and applejack. Depending on how much lemon juice you have a flavor that goes anywhere from an apple-y bourbon with hints of lime, and thyme to a whiskey sour with hints of apple. I heartily recommend this for relaxing on a cool fall evening.

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