Bourbon and Rye
The popularity of bourbon and rye whiskey has exploded exponentially in the last few years. That’s no big secret. With that in mind, in the Mix reached out to IMI Agency customers and asked if they would send in a favorite cocktail recipe to share with our readers. The response was strong with 18 companies sending in outstanding recipes having either bourbon or rye as the main component.
Applebee’s
Bourbon & Berries
“We’ve worked to integrate bourbon to a greater degree in our beverage menu, given the growth in the segment over the last few years and its appeal to young adults. The deep flavor of Maker’s Mark stands up well to the flavor of blackberries, which can overpower less-flavorful spirit products. The name is both fun and descriptive at the same time.” – Mike Hurt, director of Beverage Marketing, Applebee’s.
Ingredients:
Maker’s Mark
Blackberry
Cranberry juice
Lemon
The Ritz-Carlton
Charlotte, N.C., The Punch Room
Honey Franciulli
“The Honey Franciulli is a favorite of many of my guests because of its unapologetic complexity. There are a ton of things going on in this drink and some have compared it to a bold Merlot’s ‘beautiful bourbon’s equivalent.’ The Krupnikas, which is a Lithuanian family recipe for a spiced honey liqueur, lends notes of the fall season while the burnt orange just brightens this spirit-forward cocktail to the perfect balance.” – Bob Peters
2 oz Ridgemont Reserve 1792 Bourbon
½ oz Fernet-Branca
½ oz Antica Formula Sweet Vermouth
½ oz Krupnikas
Lightly shake with ice; double strain into Nick & Nora glass. Garnish with a flamed orange.
P.F. Chang’s
Twisted Whiskey
A twist on the classic whiskey sour. Our version uses Woodford Reserve Bourbon, Cointreau, fresh lemon, hand-squeezed orange juice and clover honey water.
1 ¼ oz Woodford Reserve Bourbon
¾ oz Cointreau
¼ oz Honey water
1 ½ oz Hand-squeezed orange juice
¾ oz Hand-squeezed lemon juice
Dash Angostura bitters
Dash Stirrings Blood Orange Bitters
1 Orange peel for garnish
Fill a bucket glass with ice and set aside. Fill a mixing glass 2/3 full of ice and add all ingredients. Cap and shake vigorously for 10 seconds. Strain into serving glass. Garnish with orange peel dropped in (unspeared).
St. Regis
Washington, D.C.
Inside the Beltway Bourbon Mojito
Created by Andrew Cassedy.
This cocktail brings together refreshing, worldly ingredients for Washington’s diverse clientele and gives them something to help cut the hot, humid summers of Washington, D.C.
½ oz Knob Creek Single Barrel Bourbon (St. Regis exclusive)
½ oz Domaine de Canton Ginger Liquor
½ oz Simple syrup
3 sprigs Fresh mint
4 slices Peeled fresh ginger
5 Seeded, halved kumquats
Muddle fresh ingredients and simple syrup. Shake with ice and pour into a 14-ounce highball glass. Top with club soda and garnish with mint and a kumquat.
Square 1682
at Hotel Palomar, Philadelphia, Pa.
Wildwood Ave & Boardwalk
Square 1682’s lead bartender, Dan Kulisek, recently added a new cocktail to the bar’s summer menu. Of the new bourbon and rye-based drink, Wildwood Ave & Boardwalk, Dan says, “I wanted to make a stirred, boozy cocktail that tasted like Birch Beer, something that I often drank sitting at Mac’s Pizza in Wildwood, New Jersey as a child. I’m really tapping into sensorial memories, and I felt that this would be a great opportunity to showcase such a timeless flavor in a boozy bourbon drink.”
2 oz Bulleit Bourbon
5-7 dashes Xocolatl Mole Bitters
½ oz Art In the Age ROOT
¼ oz Luxardo
¼ oz Ramazzotti Amaro
Fill a mixing glass with the ingredients. Stir and strain over fresh ice. Garnish with a flamed orange peel.
Mastro’s
Beverly Hills, Calif.
Chairman of the Board
Jack Daniel’s Sinatra Select Tennessee Whiskey is a one-of-a-kind whiskey made to pay tribute to Jack’s Daniel’s biggest fan, Frank Sinatra. This is our tribute to Jack and Frank. This drink is available exclusively at our Penthouse above Mastro’s Steakhouse, Beverly Hills.
2 oz Jack Daniel’s Sinatra Select Tennessee Whiskey
1 Sugar cube
3 dashes Tobacco bitters
Splash Water
1 Lemon twist
Muddle sugar cube, bitters and water in a bucket glass. Add the Jack Daniel’s Sinatra Select Tennessee Whiskey, stir and add large ice cube. Garnish with lemon zest.
Everglades Brewhouse Restaurant
in Tropicana Field, Tampa, Fla.
Everglades Moonshine
Created by John Cirelli, general manager for Centerplate at Tropicana Field, home of the Tampa Bay Rays.
The theme of the restaurant is barbecue, bourbon and beer so this bourbon drink was the perfect fit. Customers enjoy the cocktail in the unique setting of the baseball stadium; it gives them an alternative to drinking beer. The homemade bacon stirrer also adds a special touch.
1 part Bulleit Bourbon
4 parts Fresh squeezed lemonade
Splash Pepsi
1 House-smoked bacon stirrer
Fill a plastic Mason jar with ice. Add bourbon and lemonade and top with a splash of Pepsi. Garnish with a house-smoked bacon stirrer.
Carmel Valley Ranch
Carmel-By-The-Sea, Calif.
Lavender Sazerac
A simple variation on the traditional Sazerac cocktail, using our homemade lavender simple syrup created by our sommelier, Dave Eriksen. It is a mixture of lavender (from our 4,000 plants on property), honey (produced by our Italian honeybee apiaries), natural cane sugar, water and raspberry extract. The goal of the Valley Kitchen at Carmel Valley Ranch is to feature local products in our food, wine and cocktail programs (many coming from our own organic garden and vineyard).
2 oz Templeton Rye Whiskey
½ oz Homemade lavender syrup
3 dashes Peychaud’s Bitters
Splash Absinthe (We use Leopold Bros. Absinthe Verte from Colorado.)
Lightly splash Absinthe in glass (rocks or classic cocktail) and swirl around; pour out excess. In mixing glass, pour whiskey, lavender syrup and bitters over ice; stir until chilled. Strain into glass. Garnish with lemon zest/twist and lavender sprig. The key is to not let the Absinthe overpower.
Irvine Marriott
Irvine, Calif.
The King’s Drink
Clark Gable was known as “The King of Hollywood.” Gable played famous roles such as Rhett Butler in “Gone with the Wind.” He also starred in “Mutiny on the Bounty” where parts of the movie were filmed on Catalina Island, a popular local SoCal destination for travelers to relax and re-energize! Gable loved rye whiskey and his drink of choice was usually a good rye with ginger ale. In honor of Clark Gable, we have created The King’s Drink, a perfect combination of Jim Beam Rye Whiskey and Fever Tree Ginger Beer, with a modern twist. We use fresh mint from our on-property living herb wall and the cucumber creates a re-energizing crisp note, similar to a SoCal summer breeze.
1 ½ oz Jim Beam Rye, aged in an oak barrel at Floe Lounge
3 oz Ginger beer
3 slices Cucumber
6 Mint leaves
Muddle mint and cucumbers in a pint glass. Add ice and rye whiskey, then shake and double strain into a rocks glass full of ice. Top with ginger beer. Garnish with a cucumber and mint leaf. Let the kings enjoy!
Departure Restaurant
Portland, Ore.
Stumptown Express
“The Stumptown Express is a celebration of the renowned coffee culture in Portland, Oregon. We feature Stumptown coffee roasters in Departure restaurant and this cocktail is a natural extension of our passion for artisan coffee as well as bourbon. The Stumptown Express also highlights Departure’s Asian influence through the incorporation of Canton ginger liqueur, bridging the spice from the high rye content of Four Roses Bourbon, the sweetness of the honey, and the bitterness of the coffee in perfect harmony. I’ve always been a fan of Four Roses and find it mixes well with bitter and spicy ingredients, and this cocktail is no exception.” – Brandon Wise, corporate director of Beverage for Sage Restaurant Group.
1 oz Four Roses Bourbon
1 oz Domaine de Canton Ginger Liqueur
1 oz Stumptown cold brew
½ oz 2:1 honey syrup
2 dashes Fee Brothers Whiskey Barrel-Aged Bitters
2 dashes Peychaud’s Bitters
Stir all ingredients and strain into a coupe glass. Garnish with 3 coffee beans.
Interstate Hotels and Resorts
Kentucky Sidecar
“When designing our 2014-2016 cocktail program, we increased the number of bourbon and rye products because it’s such a trending category. We also added fresh juice options and partnered with Finest Call because of the quality of their syrups and mixes.” – Bradley Moore, vice president of Food and Beverage Operations for Interstate Hotels and Resorts.
½ oz Knob Creek Kentucky Straight Bourbon
2 oz Rémy Martin VSOP Cognac
½ oz Cointreau Orange Liqueur
1 oz Fresh lemon juice
½ oz Finest Call Bar Syrup
1 Orange wedge (squeeze and discard)
Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake well and strain all ingredients into a martini glass. Garnish with fresh orange peel and a sugared rim if desired!
Norwegian Cruise Line
Cannonball
“We worked with Elad Zvi and Gabriel Orta, the talented owners of Bar Lab, Inc., to develop several bourbon-based cocktails for our newest ship, the Norwegian Escape. The Cannonball cocktail has approachable individual ingredients, but then creates a very unique and balanced cocktail experience when mixed together. It fits perfectly in our new concept ‘The District Brew House,’ a bar onboard that focuses on innovative, specialty cocktails and craft beers.” – Wes Cort, director, Restaurants & Beverage, Norwegian Cruise Line.
1 ½ oz Bulleit Bourbon
1 oz Monin Peach Syrup
½ oz Pineapple juice
½ oz Lemon juice
Dash Orange bitters
2 oz Samuel Adams Boston Lager beer
Mix in a Grand Pilsner glass. Garnish with orange twist and thyme.
Gaylord Palms
MOOR Restaurant, Orlando, Fla.
The Bourbon Beehive
“Currently we’re seeing the cocktail world mirror the greater culinary trends of the locavore movement. That alone is something that I wanted to incorporate when making this beverage. The idea of using fresh seasonal and regional ingredients is something that inspired me to create this drink. Using our in-house hydroponic garden mixed with a few trials and errors, this savory drink took its form.” – Erika De La Cruz, creator of the Bourbon Beehive.
2 oz Knob Creek Bourbon
1 oz Honey sage simple syrup
1 Sage leaf
Build in a beaker. Add ice, stir 20 times and strain over a perfect 2-by-2 cube. Garnish with a sage leaf and honeycomb stir.
Honey sage simple syrup:
1 cup Water
1 cup Florida orange blossom honey
¾ oz Sage sprigs
Combine water and honey. Bring to a boil, add sage and steep for 25 minutes away from burner. Cool and store.
InterContinental Hotel Buckhead
Atlanta, Ga., The Bourbon Bar
The Governor
2 oz Four Roses Yellow Label Bourbon
½ oz Turbinado syrup (brown sugar syrup)
3 dashes Black walnut bitters
3 dashes Orange bitters
Combine all ingredients into a mixing glass with ice. Stir for roughly one minute, or until glass gets very cold to the touch. Strain over ice, preferably one large cube if you have one. Garnish by cutting a slice of orange peel, then hold a flame to the outside of the peel for a couple of seconds and then express the oils over the flame. This will create a bit of a flash as the oils from the caramelized peel ignite. Enjoy!
Morton’s The Steakhouse
Boulevardier
With bourbon’s continued popularity, this cousin of the Negroni is the perfect drink for the new consumer. This cocktail is seeing a great resurgence in popularity because of its “cool” factor and flavor profiles of the true classic cocktail: bitter (Campari), sweet (vermouth) and savory (bourbon). It will drink a little smoother than a Negroni because it does not have all of the herbal elements of the gin. In the end, the Boulevardier is popular and often requested, so we owe it to our guests to make a great one.
1 oz Templeton Rye
1 oz Campari
1 oz Carpano Antica Sweet Vermouth
In a mixing glass, stir ingredients with ice; then strain over an ice-filled rocks glass or serve straight up in a cocktail martini glass. Garnish with an orange peel (twisted onto the drink to release the citrus oils).
House of Blues
Yester Year
“There’s a great John Coltrane line about autumn: ‘Thru the trees comes autumn with her serenade. Melodies the sweetest music ever played.’ Riffing off that thought, our team worked to use ingredients and combinations that would remind people of that kind of autumn mood. That means ‘roast’ flavored characteristics like nuts, savory herbs and market flavors that mix well with the spiciness of rye and the sweeter bourbon profiles. We fused some recognizable combinations, like orange and chocolate, into it to provide comfort and familiarity … which is what autumn is all about.” – Eric Stenta, vice president, Food and Beverage Operations.
2 oz Pikesville Rye Whiskey
1 bar spoon Orange marmalade
2 dashes Aztec Chocolate Bitters
Combine all ingredients in mixing glass with ice. Stir for 30 seconds. Strain over fresh ice into an Old Fashioned glass. Garnish with orange peel.
Four Seasons Resort Rancho Encantado
Santa Fe, N.M.
Blackberry Bourbon Smash
Created by Nicholas Tyson.
A sweet, refreshing, bourbon treat full of berry and a hint of tart acidity.
3 Muddled blackberries
1 ½ oz Bulleit Rye
½ oz Crème de cassis
1 oz Hibiscus syrup
3 drops Blackberry aged bitters
½ oz Soda water
Juice squeezed from ½ fresh lemon
Muddle blackberries, crème de cassis and blackberry bitters in a glass with lemon juice. Add Bulleit Rye and hibiscus syrup. Add ice and shake. Pour into a rocks glass and top with club soda. Garnish with a whole blackberry.
Hibiscus syrup
5 hibiscus flowers,
3 cups sugar
3 cups water
Bring to a boil and let simmer for 3 minutes. Let cool before use.
American Airlines Admirals Club
Berry Smash
1 ¼ oz Templeton Rye
1 oz Disaronno
1 ¼ oz Finest Call Premium Lemon Sour
¾ oz Cranberry juice
½ oz Blueberry Re`al Syrup
3 Mint leaves
2 Lemon wedges
Muddle 2 lemon wedges and mint in shaker. Add remaining ingredients into the shaker with ice and shake vigorously. Strain into a rocks glass with fresh ice. Garnish with a Dress The Drink garnish (dot of blueberry, almond, lemon zest with hints of sea salt and white sugar).
