With the warmer weather, all I want to do is eat fruit and lie on a lawn chair drinking cocktails. Which is probably why this post is late… In case you can’t spend all your time doing that, here’s a cocktail that reminds me of summer block party desserts, relying on a classic combination of nectarines and bourbon.

The details:

Jump to recipe

Thought process:

I knew I wanted this drink to be nectarines and bourbon, so all that was left was to round out the ingredients and figure out the proportions. Check out all my previous posts about cocktail RATIOS for how I settled on these proportions. For ingredients, I had this burnt sugar simple syrup kicking around my fridge, which I thought would make the nectarines taste caramelized. You could probably make something similar by thinning a dark caramel, or you could just use regular simple syrup. To top it off I added a bit of lemon juice for brightness and to bring out the acid in the nectarines.

Below, the recipe:

Caramelized Nectarine Smash
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Makes 1 drink

• 2 oz frozen nectarine chunks (store bought or freeze your own)
• 1 tsp burnt sugar simple syrup
• 2 oz bourbon
• ½ oz sweet vermouth
• 1 dash (8 drops) Peychaud’s bitters
• ½ tsp lemon juice
• 2 oz club soda

1. Muddle the nectarine chunks and simple syrup in the bottom of a mixing glass
2. Stir in the whiskey, vermouth, bitters, and lemon juice
3. Add lots of ice and stir well
4. Strain into serving glass over ice and top off with club soda

Rating:

3/5 stars.

This really did taste like some sort of nectarine dessert. The burnt sugar simple syrup added a complex smoky flavor that I enjoyed and went very well with the bourbon. It’s a bit too sweet/fruity for my tastes, but I’m sure if you particularly liked that kind of drink, you would enjoy this one.