Bourbon Cocktails: The Gold Rush

I drink seasonally. Possibly because of this pass-time or possibly due to personal preference, and because of that each new cocktail I try gets grouped into a time of year.

The Gold Rush cocktail speaks to the late summer or early autumn. A salute to the light-hearted lemon of summer afternoons combines so well with the dark sweetness of bourbon mixed with just enough honey to take the acidic edge from the drink.

This new era classic was created in the 2000’s in the Lower East Side of New York. Due to the relative youth of this cocktail there have not been a tale of a ship lost at sea or a mystical potion that allowed this specific drink to come into existence. A twist on the classic whiskey sour this drink does have its variants however the version for today is as follows.

Recipe:

Ingredients:

2 oz. bourbon

¾ oz. honey syrup (1 part hot water, 3 parts honey)

¼ oz. lemon juice

Directions:

Add all ingredients into a shaker tin with ice.

Stir until well chilled.

Strain into a rocks glass

Serve on the rocks with a lemon wedge garnish

A word for good measure, I prefer my cocktails slightly sweet. The original measurements for this cocktail consisted of equal parts lemon juice and honey syrup. With that said, I find the honey syrup gets lost in this cocktail, you know it is present however because it balances the burn or bite of high acidity and high proof bourbon.