If this blog thing continues, a frequent character that will show up here for cocktail posts is Jeffrey Morganthaler. I can’t remember how I first came across his work, but his recipes have been my gotos for years at this point. Despite that I never thought to check his site to look for inspiration for my cassis problem. Thankfully Serious Eats had my back.

The Bourbon Renewal from Morganthaler is pretty basic in the grand scheme of things; it’s a whiskey sour with cassis swapped in for some of the simple. The result is as refreshing as a good whiskey sour, but with jammy, berry notes from the cassis. It’s reminiscent of a New York Sour (a whiskey sour with a red wine float) but the deep berry notes are more my jam than what the red wine brings to a New York Sour.

I prefer it with a couple extra dashes of ango; as written it has one dash, but the Christmas spice flavors give a blackberry pie vibe I like. I also prefer to go a little lighter on the simple syrup. Our tree has Meyer lemons which are naturally sweeter which may be the main reason I reduce the simple, but I tend to like drinks a bit tarter. I’ve also been using some shelf stable, high quality grenadine I have laying around as the sweetener and that has added some additional fruity notes which are nice.

The best thing about this cocktail is it is served over ice. It goes down easy so I’m not sure if watering down will be a problem, but the strong flavors can handle the dilution of sitting around. I build most of my cocktails in a glass and stir them with ice (I’m too lazy to clean my shaker), but not everything lingers on ice well. I can imagine diluting this and carbonating it for a nice summer sipper, but it was also perfectly lovely for a cold winter, evening sipper.

Bourbon Renewal

  • 2oz bourbon
  • 1oz fresh lemon juice
  • .5oz creme de cassis
  • .25oz simple syrup or quality grenadine
  • 1 dash Angostura bitters

Directions

Shake ingredients with ice until cold and strain over fresh ice in a rocks glass. A higher proof bourbon plays well in this drink since it is shaken and then sits on ice for serving.

New York Sour

  • 2oz bourbon
  • 1oz fresh lemon juice
  • 0.5oz simple syrup
  • 1oz fruity red wine

Directions

Shake the first three ingredients and strain into a rocks glass with fresh ice. Pour the red wine over the back of a spoon into the glass to float it. Garnish 1 strip lemon zest expressed over the drink.

Morganthaller’s original post; the Serious Eats post on it has sadly left the Internet
https://jeffreymorgenthaler.com/bourbon-renewal/

New York Sour history
https://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/new-york-sour