Another bourbon post

I’ve been messing with cocktails lately, mostly with bourbon since that is what I have most readily in my house. Currently, I have:

  • 12yr Single Barrel Jack Daniels - highly recommended, very smooth and full of flavor
  • Bulleit - using this as an experiment bottle for bacon infusing (thank you ravenous pig). So far it hasn’t gone well, but I’ve only tried once, another shot coming. This is a decent, cheap bourbon.
  • Woodford Reserve - Still one of my favorites, readily available in most stores and fantastic smokey taste.
  • Makers Mark - Makers is the starbucks of bourbon to me, its always around, consistently decent and recognizable.

So to the drinks.

Bitters

Generally I drink my bourbon over ice with a dash or two of bitters, if you don’t have bitters, go to your nearest liquor store and pick up a bottle. It is a fantastic and versatile mixer.

Manhattan

The first cocktail that I attempted this week was a manhattan. I love NY, and I love the thought of pulling up to a bar in the 30s or 40s and asking for a manhattan. I made the first one a little heavy on the sweet vermouth. Now I should say that a traditional Manhattan is made with Rye Whiskey, I was watching a favorite show of mine, Drink Up, and they recommended trying it with bourbon. So I did. Next time I would use a smokier bourbon and mix the sweet vermouth with a touch of dry, because the Manhattan I made was an overly sweet mess of a drink. I feel it may have been better as a post meal cocktail with dessert possibly. I would say the twists I tried on this just didn’t work out. Stick to the straight up Rye Whiskey manhattan.

Mint Julep

So next up was the mint julep. I FUCKING LOVE THIS DRINK. I love it normal and not twisted like I made it, but I changed this one up slightly and I’m going to share the recipe here.

Recipe for this mint julep:

  • 2 parts Woodford Reserve
  • 2 tablespoons simple syrup
  • 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
  • 1 sprig mint leaves off stem
  • 1 sprig mint for garnish

Direction:

  • pour slightly warm simple syrup in high ball glass
  • bruise mint leaves slightly and let them soak in simple syrup for a few minutes
  • add ice
  • pour in bourbon and lime juice
  • stir
  • garnish with mint
  • enjoy the shit out of it.

Thats pretty much it. The traditional mint julep if you must know did not have bruised mint. The mint was meant as a garnish that you smelled more then tasted. It also lacked any lime juice, I like the citrus punch and think it balances the sweetness nicely. What you have at the end is a sweet and slightly smokey drink with a great brightness. Drink this one outside in the coming months, it will mix perfectly with the weird non-fall we get here in Florida.

Thanks for reading and encouraging my bourbon drinking.