Whiskey Smash

Susannah Brinkley Henry

Savor summer with a refreshing Whiskey Smash. Muddle together an easy honey ginger simple syrup, juicy lemon, fresh mint and oaky bourbon, and toast to the warm weather. Swap out the whiskey, simple syrup or fruit with seasonal options for delicious drinks all year long.

Course Cocktail

Cuisine American

Prep Time 5

Cook Time 15

Total Time 20

Servings drink

Calories 209kcal

Author Susannah Brinkley Henry

Ingredients

Honey Ginger Syrup (Optional)

1 piece ginger root about 4 to 6 inches long
1½ cups water
1 cup honey

Whiskey Smash

2-3 wedges lemon
8-10 leaves mint
1 ounce honey ginger syrup or other sweetener
2 ounces bourbon whiskey rye whiskey or Scotch whisky
1 sprig mint for garnish

Instructions

Honey Ginger Syrup

Peel and dice ginger root into ½-inch pieces.
Cook ginger and water together in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a simmer for 10 minutes for a milder syrup. Cook for 15 minutes for stronger ginger flavor. Remove from heat.
While mixture is warm, strain out ginger pieces. Stir in honey. Let cool completely.
Store in an airtight, food-safe container such a mason jar.

Whiskey Smash

In a cocktail shaker, add lemon wedges, mint and honey ginger syrup. Use a muddler to press firmly on the fruit to express the juices and essential oils.
Add whiskey and ice to the shaker. Shake well.
Strain into a rocks glass filled with ice. Garnish with mint and any extra lemon wedges.

Notes

For a more robust ginger flavor in the syrup, add the honey to the ginger-water mixture and leave the ginger pieces in the jar overnight.

Adjust the sweetness or acidity to suit your tastes. Or make it your own with some easy swaps — mix and match syrups, spirits, fruit and herbs to suit your taste or what you have on hand. A few ideas:

Try any syrup: Swap the honey-ginger syrup for brown sugar, basil, or any flavored simple syrup you love.
Use any spirit: Whiskey is classic, but rum, gin, tequila or even flavored whiskey work great.
Switch up the fruit and herbs: Muddle up berries, any citrus, stone fruit, apples or even jalapeño, plus herbs like basil, thyme or rosemary.
Mix and match: Use this as a base recipe and play with different syrups, spirits, fruits and herbs to make it your own.

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