BOURBON
POPPA’S PRIDE
Jay Zimmerman, Ba’sik
This cocktail—which Ba’sik owner Jay Zimmerman invented for Arcade Fire’s frontman Win Butler, at the band’s New York afterparty—got its name when Butler requested “a drink that my grandfather would be proud of.” It’s been on Ba’sik’s menu since the bar’s opening.
Combine all the ingredients except the soda in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake until well chilled, strain into a rocks glass over fresh ice, and top with soda. Float large dashes of Angostura bitters over the top.
Poppa’s Pride, Ba’sik
BROOKLYN EAGLE
John Bush, Thistle Hill Tavern
John Bush starts from the whiskey-vermouth Manhattan template, then turns it into a shaken drink with orange liqueur and lime.
2 oz/60 mL Maker’s Mark bourbon
1 oz/30 mL Carpano Antica Formula sweet vermouth
½ oz/15 mL orange liqueur
½ oz/15 mL lime juice
Combine all the ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake until well chilled and strain into a rocks glass over fresh ice. Garnish with three cherries.
THE BIG RED ONE
Grand Ferry Tavern
At Grand Ferry Tavern, The Big Red One is so popular, they’ve put it on tap. Rather than bitters, there’s a healthy pour of intensely herbal-bitter Fernet-Branca, the obsession of many a bartender.
2 oz/60 mL Wild Turkey 101 bourbon
¾ oz/20 mL Fernet-Branca
¼ oz/10 mL simple syrup
Combine all the ingredients in a mixing glass with ice. Stir until well chilled and strain into a double rocks glass with fresh ice.
CLASSIC WHISKEY SOUR
Let’s forget about sour mix and go back to the basics: A true whiskey sour is not only the template for endless variations, it’s a proper classic in its own right. Fresh lemon is essential, and an egg white gently integrates the flavors and contributes a silky texture.
2 oz/60 mL bourbon
1 oz/30 mL lemon juice
¾ oz/20 mL simple syrup
1 fresh egg white
Combine all the ingredients in a cocktail shaker without ice. Shake vigorously for a “dry shake,” then add ice and shake again for a “wet shake.” Strain into a rocks glass with fresh ice. Garnish with a brandied cherry.
WHISKEY SOUR (NO EGG WHITE)
Even if the thought of raw egg white makes you shudder, I’d encourage you to try a properly made egg white drink at least once; it’s all about the texture, with no “eggy” flavor in the least. But if the notion leaves you squeamish, the whiskey sour is still plenty delicious without it.
2 oz/60 mL bourbon
1 oz/30 mL lemon juice
¾ oz/20 mL simple syrup
Combine all the ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake until well chilled and strain into a rocks glass with fresh ice. Garnish with a lemon wheel and a brandied cherry.
NEW YORK SOUR
This classic sour variation floats red wine atop the finished drink for a striking two-toned cocktail. A medium-bodied, somewhat fruity red like a Merlot or Malbec will do well here, though traditionally this cocktail used port—if you happen to have ruby port around, have at it!
2 oz/60 mL bourbon
1 oz/30 mL lemon juice
¾ oz/20 mL simple syrup
1 fresh egg white
½ oz/15 mL fruity red wine (Merlot or Malbec recommended)
Combine all the ingredients except wine in a cocktail shaker without ice. Shake vigorously for a “dry shake,” then add ice and shake again for a “wet shake.” Strain into a rocks glass with fresh ice. Carefully float wine over the top.
HISSY FIT
Josh Ropson, The Vanderbilt
As summer-friendly and drinkable as a bourbon cocktail can get, this drink takes on fruity and floral notes from cassis and St-Germain, while lemon keeps it refreshing rather than overly sweet. A perfect warm-weather party drink.
1½ oz/45 mL Old Grand-Dad bourbon
½ oz/15 mL lemon juice
½ oz/15 mL St-Germain
½ oz/15 mL crème de cassis
Combine all the ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake until well chilled and strain into a rocks glass with fresh ice.
TWO BITS
David Moo, Quarter Bar
The cool-weather signature cocktail at Quarter Bar, the Two Bits is essentially an Old Fashioned made distinctive through Luxardo amaretto, a sophisticated almond-flavored liqueur that may be far better than amaretto versions you’ve tried before.
1 oz/30 mL Maker’s Mark
1 oz/30 mL Wild Turkey 101 bourbon
¼ oz/10 mL Luxardo amaretto
2 dashes Peychaud’s bitters
1 dash Angostura bitters
Combine all the ingredients in a mixing glass with ice. Stir until well chilled and strain into a rocks glass with fresh ice. Garnish with a flamed orange twist (see here).
TRIPLE CROWN
Jay Zimmerman, Ba’sik
A true whiskey sour—spirit, lemon, sugar—has infinite variations; this version plays up the citrus with orangey Montenegro and grapefruit liqueur.
1 oz/30 mL bourbon
¾ oz/20 mL pamplemousse
¾ oz/20 mL lemon juice
¾ oz/20 mL Montenegro amaro
Combine all the ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake until well chilled and strain into a coupe. Garnish with a lemon twist.
Triple Crown, Ba’sik
KINGS COUNTY DISTILLERY
Moonshine—unaged white whiskey—had a true moment in the cocktail world a few years back: partly because of its scrappy, hipster-DIY image; partly because, since it’s unaged, upstart distilleries could get it onto the shelves quickly. But Colin Spoelman came by his interest in moonshine from a much more personal direction. “I’m from Kentucky—I grew up in the Appalachian, moonshine part of the state,” he says. “I’d go home and get moonshine from bootleggers, which still exist in dry counties in the South. People back in New York were more curious about it than I anticipated. And through their fascination, I grew reinterested in the culture that I came from.”
“I’m from Kentucky—I grew up in the Appalachian, moonshine part of the state,”
—Colin Spoelman, Kings County Distillery
In true bootleg fashion, Spoelman started distilling moonshine in his apartment—a slightly obsessive hobby, he called it—before securing a distillery license and opening a true distillery in 2010, before craft distilling had really taken off in the city.
Always intending to produce an aged whiskey as well, Kings County Distillery first entered the market with a white whiskey, while putting more away in barrels. “We wanted to be known as a whiskey distillery, and we wanted to stake out that territory. But I also wanted to argue that age wasn’t the only factor of what makes a whiskey good,” he says. “It has this outsized importance in the dialogue around whiskey. But other variables—ingredients, fermentation, distillation—matter just as much.”
In their case, New York State organic corn serves as the base—“it wasn’t ideological, it just happened to make the best whiskey”—as well as malted barley, which Spoelman imports. They distill in a Scottish pot still, which he prefers to a column still for the flexibility and character it allows. “It gives the distiller more latitude in terms of the flavor he’s after. With a column still, you can calibrate and spit out the same spirit every time. That’s useful if you want the same spirit again and again, but we like to give ourselves more freedom.” In addition to the moonshine, Kings County now sells a two-year bourbon, along with an unusual “chocolate whiskey,” moonshine infused with cacao bean husks; a four-year bourbon will follow.
The distillery is housed in the Brooklyn Navy Yards, which the Navy itself left in 1996, leaving the space to become a manufacturing center. “It’s an industrial campus, and we’re really in a community of people who are producing—whether whiskey, Sweet ‘n’ Low, movies, or anything else.” Craft distilling might sound more hipster Brooklyn than “old New York” Brooklyn. But curiously, their corner of the borough has a distinct moonshine history.
“There were Brooklyn moonshine wars in the late 1860s,” he says. “There were raids on illegal Irish whiskey distillers in Dumbo; a revenue officer was shot and killed close to our building. Al Capone was born right across the street from us, and grew up on these mean streets. So somehow, there’s a continuity of moonshine history.”
Try Kings County’s bourbon and moonshine in the following three cocktails.
MARK’S JOHN COLLINS
1½ oz/45 mL Kings County Distillery bourbon
½ oz/15 mL lemon juice
¼ oz/10 mL simple syrup
2 oz/60 mL club soda
Combine all the ingredients in a Collins glass with ice and stir. Top with club soda and garnish with a lemon peel.
THE CHOXIE
1½ oz/45 mL Kings County Distillery moonshine
½ oz/15 mL lemon juice
½ oz/15 mL simple syrup
2 to 3 small cubes of cucumber Dill
Muddle the cucumber and dill in a cocktail shaker. Add the moonshine, lemon, simple syrup, and ice. Shake until well chilled and double-strain into a rocks glass with fresh ice. Garnish with another sprig of dill.
BOURBON BLUEBERRY CRUMBLE
2 oz/60 mL Kings County Distillery bourbon
½ oz/15 mL blueberry simple syrup (recipe here)
¼ oz/10 mL Luxardo maraschino liqueur
½ orange slice
10 blueberries
Combine all the ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake until well chilled and double-strain into a rocks glass with fresh ice. Garnish with more blueberries.
HAYMAKER’S PUNCH
Del Pedro, Tooker Alley
“This drink is based on something called switchel, also known as ‘Haymaker’s Punch.’ Supposedly it came up from the islands during the colonial American period, and was given to farmhands as a refreshing drink in the fields, particularly in New England,” says Del Pedro. “I came across that and said, wow, that’s the basis for an amazing sour cocktail.”
1¼ oz/40 mL Maker’s Mark 46 bourbon
½ oz/15 mL Old Grand-Dad 114 bourbon
¾ oz/20 mL Aperol
¾ oz/20 mL lemon juice
¼ oz/10 mL simple syrup
¼ oz/10 mL cane syrup (2:1 raw turbinado sugar to water)
¼ oz/10 mL apple cider vinegar
1 oz/30 mL ginger beer
Combine all the ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake until well chilled and strain into a double old fashioned glass with four ice cubes. Garnish with a lemon wedge and candied ginger.
AUTUMN EQUINOX
The Richardson
Any drink becomes immediately autumnal with the addition of allspice dram, an intensely flavored allspice liqueur; bittersweet Braulio amaro backs it up.
2 oz/60 mL Wild Turkey 101 bourbon
¾ oz/20 mL Braulio amaro
¼ oz/10 mL allspice dram
Combine all the ingredients in a mixing glass with ice. Stir until well chilled and strain into a double rocks glass with fresh ice. Garnish with an orange twist.
AMERICAN ROYAL ZEPHYR
Damon Boelte, Grand Army
Damon Boelte’s elegant bourbon-Champagne creation riffs off a Seelbach, with Angostura, Peychaud’s, and orange bitters playing in the background.
1 oz/30 mL bonded bourbon
1 oz/30 mL Lillet rosé
2 dashes Angostura bitters
2 dashes orange bitters
2 dashes Peychaud’s bitters
Champagne
Combine all the ingredients except the Champagne in a mixing glass with ice. Stir until well chilled and strain into a coupe. Top with Champagne and garnish with a cherry.