We love making cocktails.

 

There’s something about the right cocktail at the right time.

There’s satisfaction and no small amount of pride when a customer’s face lights up and they say, “Whoa, that’s nice. Thanks.” You just turned around their day or started off their evening on the best note possible.

That’s the right cocktail at the right time.

To do this time and time again, you have to know your customers, know your craft, and know your ingredients. We love making cocktails: experimenting here, tweaking there, and learning from skilled bartenders all over.

Below are some recipes and ideas (using our syrups, shrubs, and bitters, of course!). Feel free to use them, riff on them, and share them.

Cocktails

Flips

We love a good flip: rich, frothy, and sometimes decadent. Flips might not have the widespread popularity of an Old Fashioned or a martini, but few people forget them once they’ve had one.

Most people’s introduction to flips would be eggnog. A properly made real eggnog isn’t overly sweet but still dessert-like, with hints of spice and a creamy texture. You can’t go wrong with a well-made, from-scratch eggnog.

But why stop at rum? There are six base spirits (Brandy, Gin, Rum, Tequila, Vodka, and Whiskey) — experiment! Here’s a handful or flip recipes we love.

Bourbon Flip #2

Ingredients

Preparation

  1. Add ice to glass, top with water. Set aside to chill.

  2. Add egg and Sweet Potato Simple to shaker.

  3. Shake for up to one minute.

  4. Add bourbon and fill shaker to the top with ice.

  5. Shake again for one minute.

  6. Empty glass of ice and water.

  7. Strain cocktail into glass. Sprinkle with nutmeg.

Tip: To help emulsify the egg and alcohol, add a small spring (say, taken from a Hawthorne strainer) to the shaker tins. The extra noise is a small price to pay for foamy, creamy results.

Ginger Snap Flip

Ingredients

  • 1 egg

  • 2 oz bourbon

  • 2 tbsp Ginger Snap Simple

  • Nutmeg

  • Ice

  • Coupe glass, or a Nick & Nora glass

Preparation

  1. Add ice to glass, top with water. Set aside to chill.

  2. Add egg and Ginger Snap Simple to shaker.

  3. Shake for up to one minute.

  4. Add bourbon and fill shaker to the top with ice.

  5. Shake again for one minute.

  6. Empty glass of ice and water.

  7. Strain cocktail into glass. Sprinkle with nutmeg.

Tip: To help emulsify the egg and alcohol, add a small spring (say, taken from a Hawthorne strainer) to the shaker tins. The extra noise is a small price to pay for foamy, creamy results.

Mezcal Flip #1

Ingredients

  • 2 ounces mezcal

  • 1 ounce Plum Habanero Cocktail Shrub

  • 1 egg

  • Crushed dried strawberries, for garnish

  • Ice, for mixing

  • Coupe glass, or a Nick & Nora glass

Preparation

  1. Chill serving glass using ice and water

  2. Add egg to shaker. Add one or two cubes of ice.

  3. Shake for up to a minute.

  4. Add mezcal, Plum Habanero Cocktail Shrub, and more ice to shaker.

  5. Shake again.

  6. Empty glass of ice and water.

  7. Strain cocktail into glass. Sprinkle with crushed dehydrated strawberry

Tip: Flips should be served in a stemmed glass — which ensures the patron’s fingers aren’t warming the glass while they enjoy your creation.

Why use a coupe glass or Nick & Nora rather than the martini glass? Martini glasses spill a lot easier than coupes. Ask any bartender, server, or customer which glass spills the easiest and they’ll answer, “The martini glass.” Just use a coupe or Nick & Nora.

Old Fashioned

Oh, my goodness. The Old Fashioned, right?

Year after year and in survey after survey, the Old Fashioned remains the most popular mixed drink. When we try a new bar, we test them on two drinks: the Martini and the Old Fashioned. Both are simple drinks — two and three ingredients, respectively, minus any garnish— you can’t hide behind gimmicks (we’re looking at you, Bloody Mary with a slab of bacon or a slice of pizza).

The Old Fashioned accommodates a variety of whiskey, sweeteners, and bitters. It’s comforting in the sense that you know what you’re going to get. But, it’s a signature, as well — every bar and every bartender can put their own twist (no pun intended) on it.

The Old Fashioned is also personal: everyone knows how they like theirs. Bourbon instead of rye? No problem! Angostura and Peychaud's? Sure thing. Go old school and ditch the fruit? Of course.

Perhaps we’re partial but the Sweet Potato Old Fashioned is our favorite. Perhaps it’s because we love those evenings when we smoke batches of sweet potatoes over pecan and maple while we are watching the river and the sunset. And, if the rate at which bartenders go through the Sweet Potato Simple is any indication, we’re not the only ones with an affinity for the drink.

Sweet Potato Old Fashioned

Ingredients

  • 2 ounces bourbon

  • 1 ounce Sweet Potato Simple Simple

  • 3 dashed aromatic bitters

  • orange peel

  • orange twist, for garnish

  • big rocks ice or large cube

  • rocks glass

Preparation

  1. Place one large rock or cube of ice in a rocks glass.

  2. In mixing glass, add bitters, Sweet Potato Simple, and bourbon

  3. Add ice.

  4. Stir gently until drink is chilled.

  5. Pour into rocks glass.

  6. Express the orange peel over the drink. Toss the peel.

  7. Garnish with orange twist.

Ginger Snap Old Fashioned

Ingredients

  • 2 ounces bourbon

  • 1 ounce Ginger Snap Simple

  • 1 dashed aromatic bitters

  • orange peel

  • Cinnamon stick, for garnish

  • big rocks ice or large cube

  • rocks glass

Preparation

  1. Place one large rock or cube of ice in a rocks glass.

  2. In mixing glass, add bitters, Ginger Snap Simple, and bourbon

  3. Add ice.

  4. Stir gently until drink is chilled.

  5. Pour into rocks glass.

  6. Express the orange peel over the drink. Toss the peel.

  7. Garnish with cinnamon stick.

Ginger Pear Whiskey Smash

Ingredients

  • 2 ounces bourbon

  • 1 ounce Ginger Pear Simple Simple

  • 3 lemon wedges

  • big rocks ice or large cube

  • sprig of basil, for garnish

  • rocks glass

Preparation

  • Place one large rock or cube of ice in a rocks glass.

  • Muddle lemon slices in mixing glass.

  • Add bourbon and Ginger Pear Simple

  • Add ice.

  • Stir gently until drink is chilled.

  • Pour into rocks glass.

  • Garnish with basil.

Juleps

Ah, Juleps! Nothing says Summer like a julep. We love the following two takes on the julep. The first is close cousin of a traditional but with the can’t-quite-put-your-finger-on-it subtly of a simple syrup made with fresh sugar snap peas. The second julep is more experimental but never fails to elicit a “Wow!” from the recipient.

Bourbon Basil Julep

Ingredients

  • 2-1/2 ounces bourbon

  • 1/2 ounce Sugar Snap Simple

  • 4 to 5 sprigs basil, to muddle

  • sprig of basil, for garnish

  • crushed ice

  • Julep tin

Preparation

  • Place the basil leaves and Sugar Snap Simple into a julep tin (or a Collins glass or a Double Old Fashioned glass).

  • Muddle well to release the oil and aroma of the basil.

  • Add the bourbon.

  • Fill with crushed ice and stir well until the glass becomes frosty. Garnish with a basil sprig.

  • Serve with a straw

Chutney Gin Julep

Ingredients

  • 2 ounces London Dry Gin

  • 1 ounce Ginger Pear Simple

  • 1 to 2 tablespoons of Mango Chutney

  • crushed ice

  • Julep tin

Preparation

  • Add Ginger Pear Simple to julep tin (or Collins glass, or double Old Fashioned glass)

  • Add the bourbon. Stir.

  • Fill tin with crushed ice and stir well until the glass becomes frosty.

  • Mound more ice on top of drink, until top of ice is level with or even above top of tin.

  • Add a dollop of mango chutney to top. Do not stir into the drink — this is a garnish.

  • Serve with a straw

Sidecars

The Sidecar is another classic cocktail we love, and in fact encompasses a whole branch on the cocktail family tree. Seemingly simple in idea — they’re just a base spirit, a liqueur, and some citrus — sidecars can be finicky. Each citrus has its own profile and even a single item, say an orange, can change fruit to fruit; and liqueurs aren’t easily swapped while producing consistent results.

But, isn’t that the beauty and fun of sidecars? The “let’s try this and see what happens” aspect offers lots of room to experiment. Why do you think there’s dozens and dozens of good margaritas?

Not surprisingly, we played with shrubs and found they add a crisp taste. Plus, the spice found in our two favorite shrubs, Plum Habanero and Peach Jalapeno, offer a pleasing kick without knocking off the balance of base spirit or citrus. Below, are a couple of our favorite Sidecar recipes.

Plum Habanero Margarita

Ingredients

  • 4 ounces silver tequila

  • 3 ounces Plum Habanero Cocktail Shrub

  • 2 ounces orange liqueur (such as Cointreau)

  • Lemon wedge, to aid in rimming the glass

  • Salt, to rim the glass

  • Margarita glass

Preparation

  1. Rub the lemon wedge along the upper half-inch of the serving glass.

  2. Roll the glass in the salt to rim the glass.

  3. Fill the glass with ice, preferably larger blocks.

  4. Build the drink in shaker tins, adding the tequila, Plum Habanero Cocktail Shrub, and liqueur.

  5. Fill the tins with ice. Shake.

  6. Strain the drink into the glass.

Tip: We prefer to rim only half the circumference of the serving glass. Many patrons don’t like to taste the salt with every sip, so rimming only part of the glass lets them choose with every sip.

Mocktails

There’s more to mixology than alcohol. Creating a balanced and memorable mocktail draws upon the same skills, ingredients, experience, and intuition as does creating an alcohol-based mixed drink. Indeed, we suggest mocktails might be a tad more difficult because you only have three taste components (sweet, bitter, and sour) to work with rather than the four (alcohol, sweet, bitter, and sour) a cocktail has. Think of it as bartending with one hand tied behind your back.

And, indeed, you still have the other challenges — reading the customer and figuring out what they like, what suits the vibe and general feel of your establishment, figuring out appropriate substitutes when you run out of an ingredient or discover the customer is allergic or dislikes a component.

So, mocktails represent a generally under-appreciated territory that’s wide open to exploration and claim.

Plum Habanero Pick-Me-Up

Ingredients

  • 1 tbsp Plum Habanero Cocktail Shrub, more to taste

  • sparkling water (mineral water, club soda, etc.)

  • Tajin Seasoning

  • lime slice, for garnish

  • ice

  • Collins glass, or Highball

Preparation

  1. Rim half a glass with the Tajin Seasoning

  2. Fill glass with ice

  3. Add Plum Habanero Cocktail Shrub (add more if customer wants it spicy)

  4. Top with sparkling water

  5. Garnish lime slice

Virgin Peach Jalapeno Margarita

Ingredients

  • 1 tbsp Peach Jalapeno Shrub

  • 1/2 cup lime flavored sparkling water

  • 1/2 cup lemon flavored sparkling water

  • sugar, to rim the glass

  • lime wheel, to garnish

  • ice

  • Margarita glass

Preparation

  1. Rim glass with sugar

  2. Fill glass with ice

  3. Add Peach Jalapeno Cocktail Shrub

  4. Add lime sparkling water. Add lemon sparkling water.

  5. Stir briefly.

  6. Garnish with lime wheel.

Notes: We rim the glass with sugar, finding that it balances the heat of the shrub nicely.

Cooking with
Syrups and Shrubs

It didn’t take us long to figure out we could use syrups and shrubs beyond drinks. Below are some of our favorite things to do with syrups and shrubs when we’re not behind the bar.

 
 
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