Take it from my Grandma, nicknamed "the Nanc" for her happy hour social butterfly persona: people these days are forever overcomplicating the world and whiskey lemonade is a great example. In her mind, it doesn't get much better than a simple shot of whiskey, ice, and lemonade at the hour when your feet want to be elevated and the sunlight starts to shift. There's something great about the way she pours this drink with utter confidence that it's good enough as is.
This SPIKED lemonade recipe is as simple as they come, with fresh lemon juice, water, Simple Goodness syrup and ice.
You can make it with vodka or bourbon, with some flavors like Blueberry Lavender lending themselves much better to lightly colored spirits and others, like Marionberry Mint, nicely offsetting a robust bourbon. You can do one of a hundred things to riff on this drink and make it more complicated and layered, from an infused or washed spirit, to a spicy pepper muddle, or the addition of a second "modifier" spirit in place of some of the simple syrup. Or you could leave it alone and let this cocktail do what it does best, taste good and go down easy.
Bourbon Lemonade or Vodka Lemonade, choose your own adventure and then pick a syrup flavor and put your feet up. This is an excellent candidate to be made by the pitcher, like I did for a recent night with friends.
I batched five cocktails and stored them with a cap in an empty wine size bottle (25 ounces, perfect for five servings) and then brought the bottle to the table so we could pour it over iced glasses. Then I rolled out a blackberry galette while my friends talked at the table, bringing my rolling pin and parchment paper set up right next to then so I could listen and form the open topped galettes. As the conversation continued, I added a splash of the Bourbon Lemonade cocktail right to the berries and cornstarch mix. The recipe called for berries, sugar, and fresh lemon juice, which is exacltly what I had just mixed up, so I sloshed it right in and felt like I had just won at the Game of Pie. At 36 years old, I think I have finally cracked the code on hosting on my own terms,having learned to enjoy my company while also enjoying the process of cooking for them, pinching the crust along the edges and crimping them and taking sips of my drink. I am happiest at the edges of a conversation, listeningwith my hands in the flour and bourbon within reach. The bourbon did not hurt that pie, thank you for asking: the liquor, lemon and Marionberry Mint syrup I added to the berries were a subtle shift that took the galette fro simple to better, a good enough reason to make the cocktail and pie in tandem again.
For this cocktail, I love a smooth but robust bourbon with a slightly higher proof. J.T.S Brown Kentucky Bourbon, Bottled in Bond from Heaven Hill Distilling is a great choice, or try Wild Turkey 101.
