For the longest time, I swore up and down that I would never be a whiskey (or bourbon) girl. I wasn’t interested. As far as I was concerned, if the smell was indicative of the taste, I would surely hate it, and it wasn’t even worth a sip.
… It took me I was 26 to even give it a try.
Fittingly so, my first grown-up whiskey drink was at Whiskey Kitchen in Nashville. And then I fell head over heels.
So when Winston and I were discussing what recipe to kick off The Cocktail Chronicles with, we pretty much came to a unanimous decision to start with a whiskey/bourbon drink. Then after flipping through the recipes, we decided this one was calling to us. And that was a good thing, y’all.
Here we go:
- 4½ tablespoons bourbon
- 1½ tablespoons cranberry juice
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons simple syrup
- Shake all the ingredients extremely well with plenty of large ice cubes, and pour the mixture unstrained into a chilled glass.
- Garnish with a slice of lemon or a couple of cranberries.
The cocktail was nicely balanced, and no one flavor overpowered the others. In addition, the bourbon wasn’t too terribly strong — a problem I (Erin) have found with some drinks like this. Winston echoes my opinion here and says that the drink, itself, wasn’t fruity, which was a plus for him. It’s refreshing and delicious, and it would make a fantastic party drink since it calls for cranberries as a garnish.
Five cheers! We highly recommend this. Not only was this drink delicious, but it was good enough for us to want to sip it again!
Hello! My name is Erin. I'm the head cook and baker around these parts. I enjoy a nice iced latte in the morning. I carry my camera around with me at all times. And I am fascinated with 
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
Oh, Girl. This looks AWESOME. My husband and I recently started doing the same sort of thing. I got him (me) a book of over 1000 cocktails for Christmas. Our new years resolutions were to start drinking more veggie juice… oh, and to drink our way through the cocktail book. You know, just keeping it balanced. haha. I look forward to ogling your cocktail adventures. We did a whiskey sour last week. I am in love. Whiskey is divine… who knew?
Can I just say that I LOVE that y’all are not only juicing… but that you’re drinking through your own cocktail book? That balancing act… superb job! And I agree: Who knew whiskey was so lovely? Certainly not me. (Glad I’m not the only one who jumped on the whiskey bandwagon a little, uh, late.)
I want one right now even though I’m at work. (Oh who am I kidding, I want one right now precisely because I’m at work!)
Seriously it sounds delish.
I’m doing some writing at home, and I want one, too. At 5 o’clock, let’s both make one to kick off the weekend right!
This cocktail looks great! Love cranberries!
Thanks, Natalie! I love cranberries, too, and they are such a lovely touch in this cocktail!
Yum, great looking cocktail!
Thanks, Kristi! It’s a delicious one, too!
I tried bourbon for the first time this year and I was kind of a baby about it. It burns! You make this drink look pretty and delicious though!
As someone who hardly ever drinks bourbon straight, I can see why you’d kind of be a baby about it. Because it DOES burn. (Though some of the good stuff I have had the opportunity to sip did taste pretty delectable… though that’s another story for another time.)
If you decide to try it again, give this drink a shot. It’s well-balanced, and the bourbon isn’t overpowering. Have a great Sunday, Maria!
{ 1 trackback }