With the arrival of September comes a switch to brown spirits, but many guests aren't ready to let go of summer. If you're looking for recipes to add to your menus for this transitional period, what better spirits to turn to than whiskey and bourbon?
Below you'll find a collection of whiskey and bourbon cocktail recipes that are the perfect solution to transition from summer to fall.
Slane Cold Brew
Ingredients:
1 part Slane Irish Whiskey
⅔ part Maple Syrup
Top with Cold Brew Coffee
3 Coffee Beans (garnish)
Directions:
Build all ingredients in a highball glass over ice and stir. Garnish with three coffee beans.
Townie
Ingredients:
1 ounce DeGroff Bitter Aperitivo
1 ounce Cocchi Vermouth de Torino
1 ½ ounces Angels Envy Rye or Bourbon Whiskey
Half orange wheel for garnish
Directions:
Build the three ingredients in an old fashioned glass over ice and stir. Slide the half orange wheel between the ice cubes and the side of the glass.
Maple Pumpkin Cold Brew Old Fashioned
Ingredients:
2 oz bourbon
1 oz Monin Maple Pumpkin Cold Brew Coffee Concentrate
2 dashes Angostura Cocoa Bitters
Directions:
Fill serving glass full of ice. Pour ingredients into mixing glass with 2/3 ice in order listed. Stir vigorously to chill, then strain into serving glass with ice.
Triple Dog Irish Whiskey Frozen Strawberry Mint Julep
Ingredients:
2.5 oz Triple Dog Irish Whiskey
1.25 oz Monin® Strawberry Syrup (or homemade - see recipe*)
1 cup of ice
Directions:
To make the homemade strawberry syrup, mix one pint of sliced strawberries with 1.5 cups sugar. Place in the fridge for a day or so; the sugar draws the syrup out of the berries and creates a vibrant red and flavorful syrup. Strain the syrup into a glass jar (save the remaining strawberries for ice cream or dessert!).
For the cocktail, blend all ingredients. Garnish with fresh mint bouquet (don’t forget to slap it!) and strawberry.
Sour Skrew
Ingredients:
2 oz. Skrewball Whiskey
1 oz. Lemon Juice
½ oz. Lime Juice
1 oz. Simple Syrup
1 Egg White
Directions:
Shake vigorously and pour up or on the rocks. Float red wine.
Fig Old Fashioned
Ingredients:
2 ounces fig-infused bourbon* (we use Smallbatch 1792)
½ ounce turbinado syrup
4 dashes walnut bitter
2 dashes angostura
Filthy cherry and orange peel
Fig-Infused Bourbon
A bottle of your favorite bourbon
4-6 dried mission figs
Directions:
For the fig-infused bourbon, sous vide ingredients for four hours at 145 degrees.
For the cocktail, combine all ingredients into a mixing glass. Stir and strain into glass. Garnish with filthy cherry and orange peel.
Peach Ginger Julep
Ingredients:
1 1/2 oz. Bourbon
1 oz. The Perfect Purée Peach Ginger blend, thawed
3/4 oz. lemon juice
1 sprig mint
2 dashes Angostura bitters
Club soda
Directions:
Combine ingredients with ice except club soda, shake and serve in a double old fashion glass. Top with club soda. Garnish with mint.
Bishop Castle
Ingredients:
2 oz Lost Lantern Far-Flung Bourbon
¼ - ½ oz Simple Syrup (Herbed or regular)
5-6 sprigs of freshly cut herbs – try basil, tarragon, sage, thyme or of course mint
Directions:
Add a handful of your chosen soft leaf herbs to the bottom of a julep cup with 1/4 ounce of simple syrup* and give it a couple of good whacks with the back of your spoon. Be sure to press the herbs into the side of the cup, but try not to tear them. Fill the cup to heaping with crushed ice. Pour 2 ounces of Lost Lantern Far-Flung Bourbon over the top, then add an additional ¼ ounce simple syrup over the whiskey. Garnish with more fresh herbs and a metal straw.
Caramel Whiskey Sour
Ingredients:
2 oz Duke & Dame
1 oz fresh lemon juice
1 oz simple syrup
Egg white (or aquafaba)
Directions:
Shake ingredients in cocktail shaker with ice; strain into rocks glass over fresh ice.
The Penicillin
Ingredients:
2 oz BenRiach The Original Ten
3/4 oz Fresh Lemon Juice
3/4 oz Honey-Ginger Syrup
1/4 oz BenRiach The Smoky 10
Candied Ginger (garnish)
Directions:
For the honey-ginger syrup, combine 1 cup honey, 1 (6-inch) piece ginger, peeled and thinly sliced, 1 cup water, to a saucepan over high heat, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer 5 minutes. Chill overnight, then strain, and discard solids.
For the cocktail, add BenRiach The Original Ten, lemon juice and honey-ginger syrup into a shaker with ice and shake vigorously. Strain into a rocks glass over fresh ice. Top with BenRiach The Smoky Ten. Garnish with a piece of candied ginger.
Bourbon Punch
Ingredients:
1 750mL bottle Basil Hayden® Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
1 cup sweet vermouth
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup orange liqueur
20 dashes Angostura® bitters
1 cup tart cherry juice
2 cups soda water
2 oranges, sliced into wheels
1 tsp ground cinnamon
Ice
Directions:
Combine sweet vermouth, Angostura® bitters, sugar and ground cinnamon in a pitcher or punch bowl. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Add the rest of the ingredients (except soda) and stir to combine. Top with soda just before serving.
Midnight Manhattan
Ingredients:
2 ounces Woodford Reserve Rye (or Woodford Reserve Bourbon)
0.75 Carpano Formula Antico
0.25 ounces DeGroff New World Amaro
4 dashes Angostura Cocoa Bitters
1 Bordeaux Cherry
Directions:
Stir all the ingredients with ice and strain into an old fashioned glass over ice. Garnish with the Bordeaux Cherry.
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