Summer is finally here! The sun is shining and the temperature is on the rise. While there are many things you can do to keep yourself cool, one of the best is sitting on your porch and drinking an ice-cold cocktail. And because hot weather makes me lazy, I often use simple recipes so I can put something together without working up a sweat.
There is one cocktail that I always turn to whenever I want something refreshing without much work and can't be bothered to come up with new ideas. A Whiskey Sour. It's the perfect balance of bourbon, lemon and sugar. It doesn't require much work and making one is a matter of seconds when you have your ingredients at hand.
Not Just Any Whiskey Sour
But always drinking Whiskey Sours can become repetitive, so, from time to time, I like to mix it up a bit. The initial idea for my cocktail came from a dire situation when I didn't have any simple syrup ready, but wanted a Whiskey Sour. I figured I could use some mint syrup instead and make the lazy man's Whiskey Smash.
At the time of writing this, I am in a similar situation. I want to share a nice recipe with everyone, but I don't want to make anything super fancy, since it's quite hot and I don't have the energy to go hunting for ingredients. As I looked inside my fridge to see what kinds of syrups I have, I found my strawberry syrup. Excellent.
Strawberry is a great summer fruit and goes really well with lots of different flavors. It just so happens that it is a great partner for a mellow bourbon, too. The result is a refreshing and colorful alternative to the classic Whiskey Sour.
- 60ml Buffalo Trace Bourbon
- 30ml Strawberry Syrup
- 20ml Lemon Juice
Pour the bourbon, syrup and lemon juice into a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake for 10 seconds and strain into an Old-Fashioned glass with ice. Garnish with a mint leaf if you're fancy.
A cooling cocktail with the right amount of strawberry in it. The bourbon sets the tone for this drink, but lemon and strawberry support it perfectly. Nice, smooth bourbon like Buffalo Trace is something you want here, since anything with too bold of a flavor would overpower the strawberry. Buffalo Trace also has that subtle, minty aroma, which adds something few other bourbons can in this cocktail.
Back To Being Lazy
The simple Whiskey Sour recipe lends itself to experimenting and I always try to substitute simple syrup with whichever flavored syrup I have lying around. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. But it's always great to find out how far you can get with just three simple ingredients.
If you like Whiskey Sours, try to use some flavored syrup next time and see if it works for you. It's a nice little trick to create a new cocktail without much effort and using mint syrup is a good way to get started. Discuss your creations in the comments below or on Twitter. If you want to see what's up next you can also subscribe via email.
Title image via pixabay.