Raise a glass with these bourbon and mezcal cocktails

Fruity and floral flavors for your relaxing summer evening cocktail

By Georgina Torbet Published July 22, 2024

Angel’s Envy

With many people enjoying a well-earned day off today, it’s time to kick back with friends and family, and enjoy some delicious food — and perhaps to sip on a summery drink as well.

Contents

Angel’s Envy Kentucky Buck
Angel’s Envy Whiskey Smash
Leonor

While classic mixed drinks and beers are always popular for the warmer month, if you’re feeling like putting in some extra effort then you could mix yourself up a delicious cocktail.

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Most of the cocktails you’ll see, especially for summer, focus on spirits like gin, vodka, or tequila. But you can mix cocktails with plenty of ingredients beyond that, as these recipes show.

Below we have recipes for whisky-based cocktails from bourbon brand Angel’s Envy, and for a mezcal-based cocktail from Mezcal Amarás. They use fruits and florals for light, sippable summer drinks that will see off your evening in style.

Angel’s Envy Kentucky Buck

Angel’s Envy

Ingredients:

2 oz Angel’s Envy Bourbon Finished in Port Wine Barrels
1/2 oz fresh lemon juice
1/2 oz simple syrup
1 oz strawberry
2 dashes Angostura bitters
3 oz ginger beer

Method:

Muddle the strawberry in a cocktail shaker. Add all ingredients, except the ginger beer, into the cocktail shaker. Fill the shaker with ice and shake. Strain over fresh ice into a Collins glass. Top with ginger beer and enjoy.

Angel’s Envy Whiskey Smash

Angel’s Envy

Ingredients:

2 oz Angel’s Envy Bourbon Finished in Port Wine Barrels
1 oz simple syrup
1/2 oz lemon juice
3 sprigs of mint

Method:

Add all ingredients into a shaker. Add ice and shake vigorously. Strain into a rocks glass filled with crushed ice. Garnish with a sprig of mint. Add fresh berries or fruit preserves.

Leonor

Mezcal Amarás

Ingredients:

45 ml Mezcal Amarás Verde
75 ml Hibiscus, ginger, and rosemary infusion
10 ml Fresh lime
Garnish: Rosemary sprig + lime wheel

Method:

Add ice cubes to a highball and pour the mezcal, the hibiscus infusion* and lime juice, stir to combine the ingredients. Garnish with rosemary sprig and lime wheel.

*add 50 gr hibiscus, 1 full rosemary sprig, 10 gr fresh ginger slices, 100 gr castor sugar, 500 ml water into a pot and heat until boiling. Remove, cool down and strain

Topics

Liquor, Beer, Wine & Drinks

Georgina Torbet

Georgina Torbet is a cocktail enthusiast based in Berlin, with an ever-growing gin collection and a love for trying out new…

Food & Drink

Wolves recently launched its first flagship American single malt whiskey

Wolves is joining the American single malt whiskey craze

Wolves

Co-founded by streetwear designers James Bond (of UNDEFEATED) and Jon Buscemi (of Buscemi Truff), California's Wolves Whiskey is beginning to gain a following thanks to its outstanding whiskeys. Previously, the brand received acclaim for its limited-edition whiskeys.

That said, Wolves is finally ready to focus on building its collection of year-round flagship expressions. Surprisingly, the newest addition to the collection isn't a bourbon, rye whiskey, or some other style commonly associated with American whiskeys. It's a tribute to the whiskey-makers across the pond who came before us and are still crafting noteworthy single malt whiskies today. That's right, Wolves' first flagship expression is an American single malt whiskey.
Wolves American Single Malt Whiskey

Food & Drink

The secrets to hosting a great cocktail party

Aside from the drinks, a few details will help your cocktail party go with a bang

how to host cocktail party fabio alves iqcwkopiqro unsplash

If you love making your own cocktails, there are few things more fun than inviting some friends or family round for a cocktail party. Hosting is a great way to share your enthusiasm with your guests, and to try out some new and interesting drinks on a willing audience.

But drinks aside, there are some key tips to hosting a successful cocktail party that will help make your life easier and ensure your guests have a good time -- and don't forget the ice!
1. Snacks
If you're focused on your drinks, you might not give much thought to food. And most people won't expect to be served a full meal at a cocktail party. However, you do need to make sure there is something to eat, both to give your guests something to nibble on and to help soak up all the alcohol. Nuts, chips, and other small snacks are easy to throw in a bowl and put out between drinks.
2. Non alcoholic options
With increasing numbers of people opting to avoid alcohol or preferring to drink only occasionally, it's good form to have a range of non-alcoholic drinks options available too. If you're feeling ambitious you can try some non-alcoholic cocktails, but at the least have some soft drinks available in the fridge.
3. Offer a greeting drink
It's nice to provide a simple drink to guests as soon as they arrive, before you get to the harder cocktails. I like to offer a simple Prosecco drink like a Hugo or a Mimosa to people when they arrive, as it's quick and easy to make.
4. Provide water
Even for those who are drinking alcohol, it's important to have plenty of water on hand. This will help keep everyone feeling good as well as clearing the palate between drinks. Put out a large jug of ice water and a stack of glasses somewhere close by so people can help themselves.
5. Mix multiple drinks
Depending on how many guests you have coming, you may choose to pre-batch your cocktails to save on time. But if you have a smaller guest list, another option is to mix rounds of drinks together. You can easily take a cocktail recipe and double or triple it, then mix the ingredients all in one go to make multiple drinks faster. You don't want to fill your cocktail shaker too full or it can get messy, and you'll need to shake a bit longer and harder than usual to make sure your ingredients are sufficiently diluted, but this is a great way to make drinks for 4-5 people in one go.
6. Help with washing up
If you have kind friends, you might find that people offer to help out while you're making rounds of drinks. Take them up on the offer! There's no need to do everything yourself. One task which always needs to be done at a cocktail party is washing up the glasses, as you'll very quickly build up a huge pile of glasses even at a small gathering. Washing these as you go will help keep your bar space relatively clean and tidy, so set your friends to the washing up if they offer.
7. Finishing up the evening
At some point you'll begin to tire out, and that's a great time to switch to something simple to finish off the night. A round of neat whiskey for leisurely sipping is a great choice, or I also like to serve simple amaros over ice. These make a fine way to toast out an evening well spent.

Food & Drink

What is bourbon? The rules, regulations, and history of America’s ‘native spirit’

Have you ever wonder what bourbon is?

Whiskey glass

Bourbon is referred to as America’s “native spirit” for a reason. While the U.S. is known for its centuries-long tradition of beer production, its history of rye whiskey (in Pennsylvania and Maryland), and other forms of alcohol, there’s nothing in the American alcohol landscape more important than bourbon whiskey.

We can’t get enough bourbon. We love to sip it neat, on the rocks, with a splash of water, and mixed into myriad cocktails like the Old Fashioned, Manhattan, Whiskey Sour, Mint Julep, and more. We love it when it’s 80-proof, cask-strength, barrel-proof, and bottle-in-bond.