May 2013
10 posts
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Bourbon Cynar Sour
Continuing our Cynar kick, we decided to try a variation of a classic whiskey sour.
Cynar Bourbon Sour 1 oz. Bourbon 1 oz. Cynar 1 oz. Lemon juice ½ Egg white ¼ oz. Maraschino liqueur ¼ oz. Agave nectar Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake well and strain into a chilled coupe glass. Garnish with an orange twist.
This cocktail is interesting because the Cynar adds more...
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Bourbon Street Cupcakes
We burned out on cupcakes for a while, but when we received an email from a reader with this recipe, we were instantly back on the cupcake wagon. This recipe is originally from Modern Domestic, but we haven’t been able to find the source directly. If anyone has the source, please share it in the comments.
Bourbon Street Cupcakes ½ cup Sour cream or plain Greek yogurt 1 large egg + 2...
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He'Brew The Chosen Beer: Barrel-Aged Funky...
We previously tasted the Coney Island Human Blockhead Imperial American Bock from Schmaltz Brewing Company. Because that was one of the more interesting barrel-aged beers we’ve tried, we were excited to come across this Funky Jewbilation, which is a mixture of six different Schmaltz beers aged in both bourbon and rye whiskey barrels. Each beer is aged for different amounts of time as...
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California Bubble Bath
Inexcusably silly name aside, this cocktail from Matt Biancaniello in Imbibe is enjoyable on a sunny day and combines one of our favorite liqueurs, Cynar, with bourbon.
California Bubble Bath 2 oz. Bourbon ¾ oz. Lemon juice ¾ oz. Lavender simple syrup ½ oz. Cynar Mix bourbon, lemon juice, and lavender syrup in a cocktail shaker with ice. Strain into an ice-filled highball glass and float the...
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Blackberry Mint Julep
Everyone’s going to be drinking mint juleps this weekend to celebrate the Kentucky Derby, and as much as we enjoy the classic, sometimes it’s nice to mix it up a bit. We chose to try a variation from Food & Wine that sticks close to tradition with one addition.
Blackberry Mint Julep ¼ cup Blackberries 2 Tbsp. Mint leaves 1 Tbsp. Sugar 1½ oz. Bourbon Add all ingredients to a...
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Victory Brewing Bourbon Barrel-Aged Oak Horizontal...
We’re already fans of Victory Brewing Company’s beers, so we jump on any of their barel-aged offerings at every opportunity. (A while back, we reviewed their Otto in Oak Ale, which we loved.) Patrick was especially excited about this beer because he loves barley wines. The Oak Horizontal is Victory’s Old Horizontal Barley Wine, but aged in bourbon barrels. We haven’t...
April 2013
16 posts
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Whiskey Smash Sorbet
We’ve been teased with warm, sunny weather lately. It seems like this was the fourth or fifth weekend it’s looked like spring might be arriving. We’ve decided to throw caution to the wind and assume the sunshine is here to stay. To celebrate the arrival of spring (hopefully), we decided to make the whiskey smash sorbet from The Kitchn.
Whiskey Smash Sorbet makes about 1 ½...
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An Evening with Alton Lane & Treasury Wine Estates
Today’s post is going to be a bit different. We were recently invited to a local event hosted by Alton Lane and Treasury Wine Estates, showcasing their Castello di Gabbiano wines. While we don’t like to stray from bourbon very often, we accepted this invitation because we love nice clothes, wine, and supporting local businesses like Alton Lane. We’d also heard Alton Lane...
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Waldorf Cocktail
We’re still very much intrigued with mixing absinthe into our bourbon cocktails. Our latest experiment is the Waldorf, which has an interesting history. On his site, Barry Popik compiled numerous variations of the Waldorf. Most of those cocktails noted that the absinthe would take over, so we kept that in mind while mixing our cocktail. Our Waldorf most closely resembles this one.
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Bourbito
Now that the sun is shining on a semi-regular basis, we are excited to get back into light warm-weather drinks. The bourbito has been on our radar since the fall and now seems the perfect time to give it a try.
Bourbito 3 oz. Bourbon 1-2 Orange slices with rind 4-5 Mint leaves Splash Club soda Place orange slices and mint leaves in the bottom of a highball glass or medium Mason jar and muddle...
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Crispin Bird On a Wire Bourbon Barrel-Aged Cider
We love hard ciders but rarely find the opportunity to feature them here because they have nothing to do with bourbon. The folks at Crispin must have felt our pain because they released a bourbon barrel-aged blended hard cider. Seeing the words cider, bourbon, and honey on one label was practically swoon-inducing. The production of the cider is complicated, so we’ll let Crispin explain:...
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Game Set Match
We’ve been thinking a lot about Cynar lately and how it pairs so well with bourbon. This recipe is a variation on a manhattan, a classic bourbon cocktail.
Game Set Match 2 oz. Bourbon ½ oz. Cynar ½ oz. Sweet vermouth 4 dashes Bitters 2 dashes Orange bitters Stir all ingredients together with ice for about 30 seconds. Strain into a chilled coupe glass and garnish with a maraschino cherry...
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Vanilla Bean Old Fashioned Cocktail
One of the most important thing we’ve learned since we’ve been writing this blog is how to make an old fashioned. Once you’ve found the technique you most prefer for making an old fashioned, not only can you mix one up for yourself any time you like, but then a whole world of cocktail possibilities opens up. There are a ton of delicious cocktails that are slight variations of...
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Jack's Abby Barrel-Aged Framinghammer Baltic...
The springtime sun came out this weekend for about 30 minutes, so we decided to celebrate its brief appearance with another bourbon barrel-aged beer. This time we drank the Jack’s Abby Barrel-Aged Framinghammer Baltic Porter, which had been recommended to us. We were especially excited to find a local bourbon barrel-aged beer, and it is very affordable at about $6 a bottle. (For our...
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Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Bars
Annie Cardi is a writer who lives in Boston. Her first novel, Queen of the Air, is expected to be released in Spring 2014. Find her on Twitter at @AnnieCardi and on Tumblr at Pale Girl In the City.
As much as I love New England, a little part of me feels like a Southern girl. How can I resist? They’ve got Faulkner, bluegrass, the Kentucky Derby, barbeque, and great accents. Even though I might...
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Whiskey Sour with Marmalade
We’re always up to try a new whiskey sour recipe. This one is from Jeffrey Morgenthaler via Saveur.
Whiskey Sour with Marmalade 2 oz. 100-proof bourbon 1 oz. Lemon juice 1/2 oz. Simple syrup 1 tsp. Orange marmalade 1 Egg white 3 Dashes Angostura bitters Combine bourbon, juice, syrup, marmalade, and egg white in a shaker filled with ice. Shake vigorously. Strain into a chilled coupe...
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Bourbon-Butterscotch Pudding
Sometimes you receive dinner invitations accompanied by a suggested bourbon-related item you can contribute to the festivities. These are the times when you remember how awesome your friends are. We recently brought this pudding over to a casual dinner party and everyone loved it.
Bourbon-Butterscotch Pudding
Ingredients
¼ cup (½ stick) unsalted butter
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
...
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Rivington Ride Cocktail
Spring finally arrived in New England this weekend, which means we were able to get outside and enjoy a little bit of sunshine. Also, baseball season started last night and kicks into high gear today. All of this means you should have a nice springtime cocktail to accompany all your springtime activities. The Rivington Ride (adapted from Saveur’s Rivington Ride recipe) might be the...
March 2013
19 posts
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Firestone Double DBA Barrel-Aged Imperial Special...
We tasted the Firestone §ucaba Barley Wine a while back and were very pleased with it, so we were excited to find this Firestone DDBA at our local liquor store. The first “D” in DDBA apparently stands for double, because this beer is the Firestone Double Barrel Ale brewed at double strength. (If reading “Double Double Barrel Ale” confuses you, then you’re...
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Rattlesnake Cocktail
A cocktail called the rattlesnake doesn’t sound frightening at all. It doesn’t even sound the least bit scary, especially not even after you find out there’s absinthe involved. As much as absinthe scares us (or maybe because of it), we couldn’t help but be intrigued by the recipe we found on Saveur (originally from the Savoy Cocktail Book).
Rattlesnake Cocktail 1½ oz....
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Lemon Oat Bourbon Cake Doughnuts
Our love of homemade baked doughnuts has been well documented, so when we saw this recipe from Chasing Delicious, we were excited to try this slightly different take on the traditional doughnut. This recipe is like a pound cake baked into doughnut shapes.
Lemon Oat Bourbon Cake Doughnuts
Ingredients
3 eggs 3 egg yolks 1 Tbsp. bourbon ½ tsp. vanilla extract 8 oz. butter, soft at room temp. 8...
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Maple Rye Sour
It can sometimes be difficult to make a good rye cocktail because rye whiskey is so spicy and can throw off the balance of a drink. This complex drink successfully combines sweet, spicy, herbal, and sour flavors.
Maple Rye Sour 2 oz. Rye whiskey ½ oz. Lemon juice ½ oz. Orange juice ¼ oz. Maple syrup ¼ oz. Amaro Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice and shake to combine and...
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Knob Creek Rye Whiskey
Continuing with our rye week, last night we tasted Knob Creek Rye Whiskey. Originally released in July 2012, Knob Creek Rye is the newest offering from Knob Creek.
There isn’t a whole lot of info about this rye on the bottle, but overall it’s a very enjoyable whiskey. It has a nice golden color and a nose with light touches of vanilla, oak, and some herbal qualities. Rachel...
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New York Rye Cocktail
Continuing our rye week, we wanted to highlight a drink that balances rye’s spiciness with fresh fruit juice.
New York 1½ oz. Rye whiskey ½ oz. Lime juice ½ tsp. Confectioner’s Sugar ¼ tsp. Grenadine Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake well to combine and chill. Strain into a coupe glass and garnish with an orange twist.
This recipe was formulated...
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Masterson's Rye Whiskey
Sometimes we like to change things up, which is why we decided to make this week a rye week on There Will Be Bourbon. In addition to our bourbon, we’ve got a few bottles of rye in our bar. It’s seems to be a natural progression for anyone who enjoys bourbon to try rye. Plus, Patrick’s favorite cocktail is the Sazerac. Today we’re focusing our attention on...
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Knob Creek Single Barrel Reserve
Knob Creek can be a little too spicy for our tastes, but when we got the chance to try their limited release Single Barrel Reserve, we thought we’d give it a fair shot to impress us. It did. The color is a beautiful rich amber/caramel. It smells strongly of vanilla and oak with a hint of mustiness. The taste is pretty spicy and alcoholic at first sip, but as our palates settled into it,...
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Bacon Bourbon Old Fashioned
We have been thinking about uses for our bacon-infused bourbon since we made it. The first thing that came to mind was, of course, the old fashioned cocktail, but we wanted to make it a little more interesting. Chocolate bitters to the rescue!
Bacon Bourbon Old Fashioned 1 Sugar cube 3 dashes Chocolate bitters 2 oz. Bacon-infused bourbon Orange twist Place sugar cube in the bottom of a...
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Goose Island Bourbon County Brand Coffee Stout
We’ve tried the Goose Island Bourbon County Stout a while back, so we were excited to try the Bourbon County Brand Coffee Stout. According to the Goose Island website, the brewery changes the coffee beans used in this beer every year. This batch (bottled in November 2012) used Intelligentsia La Tortuga Beans. We don’t know exactly what that means, but it sounds delicious.
This...
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Bourbon Whoopie Pies with Salted Bourbon Caramel...
We are not New England natives, and we don’t love everything about living in the area (e.g. snow storms in March), but one regional treat we can really get behind is the whoopie pie. Whoopie pies are made by sandwiching frosting in between two soft (usually chocolate) cookies. Our personal opinion is that this is a dessert crying out for some bourbon, so we adapted a recipe from the...
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Baker's Bourbon
Baker’s Bourbon is part of the Small Batch group of bourbons from Jim Beam, along with Knob Creek, Basil Hayden’s, and Booker’s. We’re big fans of Basil, but occasionally we want a little more punch than the relatively low proof it offers (80). We also weren’t sure we wanted to make the jump all the way up to the 120+ proof of Booker’s. At 107 proof,...
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Bourbon Sriracha Candy
Bourbon. Sriracha. Candy. Nothing could stop us from trying this recipe after reading those three words. We even have a candy thermometer in our kitchen. It’s like we bought it knowing that at some point in time the Internet would show us this blog post from Olives For Dinner to combine the wonderfulness of these two products.
Bourbon Sriracha Candy 1 cup sugar ½ cup water ⅛ cup corn...
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The Mason Shaker
As someone who has lived in the South and whose mother is an avid canner, I have a huge affinity for Mason jars, so when we saw the Mason Shaker, we knew we had to try it out. We love the look of the Mason Shaker. It’s a part industrial, part home craft look that fits right in to our home bar. But perhaps its main advantage is that it gives you the ability to mix a larger volume of...
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WatchHere’s a nice short documentary about Pappy Van Winkle featured last week on Bourbon & Banter.
Happy weekending!
February 2013
17 posts
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Fifty Fifty Bourbon Barrel-Aged Eclipse Imperial...
A few weeks ago, we drank our first bottle of Fifty Fifty Bourbon Barrel-Aged Eclipse Imperial Stout aged in Old Fitzgerald barrels. This time, we drank the same beer, but this time aged in Evan Williams barrels. (The full key can be found on the Fifty Fifty site.)
Because this stout is brewed exactly like the Old Fitzgerald beer, a lot of the same flavors are present, but it does seem like...
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In Praise of Hangovers
When we started this blog we had no idea that it would connect us to such a great community of readers—and writers—who generously share their work. Today’s post is courtesy of Evan Rail, whose “In Praise of Hangovers” is an interesting reflection on the history, effects, redemptive qualities, and cures of hangovers. The excerpts here are courtesy of Evan. For the full essay...
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Nor'Easter Bourbon
We were surprised to see a bourbon from Nantucket on the shelf at a local liquor store, and since it was relatively inexpensive ($24) we of course bought it, thinking the novelty/curiosity factor alone justified the purchase. Not like we ever have a hard time justifying bourbon purchases, but that’s beside the point. There is hardly any information about the bourbon on the...
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Sazerac Cookies
We love Sazeracs. If you were a guest at our house, there’s a 98% chance we’d make you a Sazerac. Also, we love cookies, because we are humans. These Sazerac cookies from Tasting Table are pretty much perfect for us.
Sazerac Cookies 1¾ cups All-purpose flour 2 Tbsp. Corn starch ¼ tsp. Kosher salt 1½ sticks Unsalted butter, room temperature ½ cup Confectioner’s sugar 2 Tbsp....
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