Warm, golden and comforting — no wonder this classic American spirit is always a hit during the cool fall season.
READ: Small-Batch Bourbons You Need to Try Now
Ingredients
- 3 oz. bourbon
- 2 tsp. confectioners’ sugar
- 2 sprigs fresh mint
- crushed ice to fill one Mason jar
Preparation
Put bourbon, sugar and mint in the jar and fill with ice. Secure the lid and shake vigorously 50 times. The ice will bruise the mint, releasing its flavor. When well shaken, remove the lid and drink straight from the jar.
Ingredients
- 1 ½ oz. bourbon
- ½ oz. fresh lemon juice
- 1 dash angostura bitters
- 3 oz. ginger ale
- 1 lemon peel
Preparation
Pour all ingredients over ice in a tall glass. Garnish with the peel of an entire lemon.
Ingredients
- 2 oz. bourbon
- 3 sugar cubes
- 1 bar spoon (about a tsp.) water
- 1 small twist of both lemon and orange
- 1 bar spoon bitter walnut syrup
- dash of Angostura bitters
- ½ walnut
Preparation
Add small twists of lemon and orange, sugar cubes, walnut syrup, water, and bitters in a glass. Muddle well and crush the ingredients, using the sugar as an abrasive against the citrus peel. Add bourbon and ice. Stir and garnish with half a walnut.
Ingredients
- 1 ½ oz. Knob Creek 9 Year bourbon
- 2 oz. grapefruit juice
- ¼ oz. maple syrup
- ½ oz. Solerno Blood Orange Liqueur
- 1 orange wedge
Preparation
Combine all ingredients (except orange wedge) in a small cocktail shaker with ice. Strain over fresh ice in a rocks glass and garnish with orange wedge.
Ingredients
- 1.5 oz. Johnny Drum Bourbon
- 0.5 oz. Canton Ginger Liqueur
- 1 oz. peach nectar
- 0.5 oz. jasmine tea
- 5 nectarine slices
- 5 basil leaves
- 1 peach slice
- raw sugar
Preparation
Muddle basil and nectarine with the bourbon, liqueur, nectar and tea. Double strain into a rocks glass — rimmed with raw sugar — over one large ice cube. Garnish with a slice of nectarine or peach.
Ingredients
- 2 12-oz. bottles American lager, such as Budweiser
- 12 pitted fresh or frozen cherries
- 3 oz. orange liqueur, such as Grand Marnier
- 10 ½ oz. sweet vermouth
- 9 oz. bourbon
- 2 Tbsps. bitters
Preparation
Pour the beers into an 8-by-8 baking dish. Freeze until slushy, whisking every 30 minutes, for about 4 hours. Meanwhile, put the cherries in a small bowl and pour the orange liqueur over. Cover and refrigerate for 4 hours. For each cocktail, spoon about 1 cup beer slush into a rocks glass. Pour 1 ¾ ounces sweet vermouth, 1 ½ ounces bourbon, and 3 dashes bitters into a cocktail shaker. Fill with ice, shake, and strain over the slush in the glass. Garnish with 2 liqueur-soaked cherries. Serve immediately. (Recipe makes 6 cocktails.)
Ingredients
- 2 oz. Spring44 Straight Bourbon
- .5 oz. maple syrup
- 3 dashes Bitterman’s Spiced Cranberry Bitters
- 1 orange or lemon twist
Preparation
Add bourbon, syrup and bitters in a mixing glass. Stir and strain. Garnish with an orange or lemon twist.
Ingredients
- 3 oz. kiwi-watermelon-lime juice
- 2 oz. bourbon
- 1 tsp. honey
- Splash of water
- 1 kiwi slice
Preparation
First, make juice by juicing kiwis, watermelon and limes (following your juicer’s specific settings for each). Then combine the juice, bourbon, honey and a splash of water in a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake vigorously for 8–10 seconds. Strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a kiwi slice.
Ingredients
- 1 oz. bourbon
- ½ oz. orange juice
- ½ oz. pineapple juice
- ¾ oz. black tea
- ¼ oz. lemon juice
- ¼ oz. lime juice
- ½ oz. simple syrup
- fruit slices
Preparation
Add all ingredients in a cocktail shaker filled with ice and shake. Pour in chilled Collins glass. Garnish with fruit.
Ingredients
- 2 oz. bourbon
- 2 oz. blueberry-infused simple syrup
- Stout beer, to top
- fresh blueberries
Preparation
First, make blueberry-infused simple syrup by measuring equal parts water and sugar (1 cup water, 1 cup sugar) in a pot. Add ripe blueberries to the pot. Bring the mixture to a rolling boil, stirring to prevent scorching. Turn down heat and let simmer for about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and let syrup cool to room temperature. Use a sieve to strain out any solid pieces and bottle the syrup. Once syrup is prepared, add it to bourbon in a mixing glass. Add ice and shake. Strain into a small rocks glass. Top with stout and garnish with blueberries.