Don't pass on the Whiskey Smash! - Make this cocktail for spring

Welcome back friends, it's Anders. Today we are making the Whiskey Smash, a fairly easy cocktail with endless possibilities. Also, it's a very fresh, exciting drink as we come into spring, so it's a good one for the warmer months, unless you're in the Southern Hemisphere, then we are coming into autumn. But luckily, this drink is good any time of year. If you're new to the channel, hit that subscribe button for more sips, tips, and recipes, and let's go make a Whiskey Smash. To the bar. A smash is a style of drink very similar to a julep. In fact, technically speaking, a smash is a subcategory of the julep. Both of them call for a base spirit, sugar, water, and an herb, usually mint. Now, what differentiates the smash from other juleps is how it's prepared. You have to smash the ingredients. You have to muddle it to extract the flavors. Typically with a traditional julep, you would stir it. Some people will end up smashing that too. There's a lot of crossover. Anyway, we see first print of a smash cocktail in 1887 in Jerry Thomas's bartender's guide. And because of this, a lot of people claim that Jerry Thomas created the smash. However, it's also commonly believed that Whiskey Smashes were being enjoyed decades earlier. And by the late 1800s, there were a few different cocktail books that had different smash recipes in them. So in the late 1800s, it was a very popular drink. However, it started to fall out of fashion. And by 1930, in the Savoy Cocktail Book, Harry Craddock just has a very brief mention on the genre of smashes. He writes, the smash is in effect a julep on a small plant. After that, we kind of forget about them. Well, I wasn't there, but the general public kind of forgot about them until the 90s when Dale DeGroff brought it back. His rendition of the Whiskey Smash is the cocktail that this drink is based off of. So, now the booze. To make the Whiskey Smash, we will need whiskey, a rich Demerara syrup, fresh mint, and a lemon. For the whiskey, I'm using a higher proof bourbon, but you can use a lower proof bourbon, you can use a rye, you can use any whiskey you want. This recipe works with all whiskeys. For the sugar, I'm using a rich Demerara syrup. It's two parts sugar to one part water. I like the Demerara because it tastes really good against the whiskey. However, you can use a regular simple syrup. Some people use granulated sugar. It's up to you. Mint, fresh mint, lemon, fresh lemon. This is really, really a simple drink. Yeah, let's build. So, first thing we wanna do is cut up the lemon. We are gonna use half of this lemon. If you have a really big lemon, then maybe not the entire half. You gauge it. I'm gonna cut this lemon in half lengthwise. Then I'm going to cut off the little top and the bottom. I'm gonna cut this into four wedges. And with each wedge, I'm gonna cut out the center pith as well as take out any seeds because I don't want muddled seeds in my drink. Sometimes lemons have a ton of seeds. There we go. Chop them up and throw them into the cheater tin. Now, here's where the smashing comes in. I am not gonna be smashing with the mint because I'm gonna be shaking this cocktail and that'll be enough to extract flavors from the mint. But the lemons, we do need to muddle. We're gonna muddle this to get the juices out of the lemon but also to get the oils out of the skin. So muddle away. Muddle just until they're crushed. There we are. Now, into the larger tin, add two ounces of bourbon, half an ounce of the rich Demerara syrup, and a small handful of mint leaves. Now, depending on the size of your mint leaves, it's gonna vary. I would say four to eight mint leaves. They're really small, 10. I don't know. I like to get just the leaves though and not the stems. Little handful like that. Drop it right in. Now we can add ice and shake. Give it a shake to incorporate everything. I would say 10 to 15 seconds will be enough. Now, grab a lowball glass. Fill that either with ice or a large ice chunk, which is what I'm gonna do. And double strain over the ice. For garnish, because I have another lemon, I'm gonna do a lemon wheel and a little bit more mint. Wake it up with a smack. Give it some color. Yeah, that'll do. And there we have the Whiskey Smash. Cheers. Outstanding. An herbal, delicious lemonade with these woody bourbon undertones. Oz, would you like to join me? Sure. The Whiskey Smash. Cheers. Oh. Mm. Very refreshing. It is. Yeah, very julep-esque. It is. And you could have this on crushed ice just like any other julep. Smaller cubes are fine. Every phase of this drink is customizable. If you want a gin smash, if you want it with limes, different fruits, berries, peaches, cherries, different herbs, you can do basil. Like there's just a number of ways you can take this cocktail. Try it out. Do it. See what you think. Cherries sounds good. I'd try it with cherries. Yeah, thank you kindly. You're welcome. There it is, the Whiskey Smash. Go ahead, try it for yourself. Let me know what smash you're making in the comments down below. Check us out on Patreon. Get your merch. We'll see you next time. Cheers.