Bourbon and bitters and some orange come together in this warming yet icy cocktail – Orange Bourbon Smash.
Sorry about the cocktail overload the last few days. Its just that, getting into the New Year celebration mode means lots of cocktail ideas and I wanna try them all out before the big day to decide what to make then.
My affinity to herby, not so sweet and very strong and sour cocktails started a few years ago when Seattle got into the whole speak easy type of bars craze and the husband and I got to several of them during our date nights. The cocktails there impressed me. I was always put off when it was a mojito or a margarita, all the time, at restaurants. Also, it really really ticked me off when they used mixers. I mean, how hard is it to squeeze some lime and muddle some mint leaves.
These old fashioned or new fashioned, however you want to call it, type of cocktails that focused on mixing the various flavors together with a dash of fresh fruit or herb to enhance the flavor became my go-to and I started studying the cocktail menu more carefully and tried to see what I liked and what mixes of alcohol and bitters and fruits or herbs I liked.
This is roughly adapted from Sazerac’s menu. It is sad though that this restaurant is about to close but that story is not for now.
Its fairly simple, no added sugar and the muddled fresh mandarin does wonders to the flavor, if I may say so myself.
Ingredients for Orange Bourbon Smash
- Mandarin oranges - fresh oranges is needed as it is the base of this recipe and we are going to smash orange segments into the cocktail.
- Bourbon - any kind of bourbon. My favorite is Knob Creek.
- Grand Marnier or Triple Sec - any type of orange liqueur to enhance that orange flavor
- Sweet Vermouth
- a few dashes of Angostura bitters - this gives that characteristic old fashioned type bitter tone to the taste.
- Crushed ice
How to make Orange Bourbon Smash
Peel out little strands from the mandarin, for the garnish. Peel the mandarin completely and muddle it well in a cocktail shaker. Fill it halfway through with ice and add the Bourbon, Grand Marnier, Vermouth and bitters to it. Shake well.
Strain into a glass filled with crushed ice. Garnish with mandarin strands. Serve immediately.
📖 Recipe
Orange Bourbon Smash
Ingredients
- 1 mandarin
- 1 ½ oz Bourbon
- ½ oz Grand Marnier or Triple Sec or any orange liqueur
- ½ oz sweet Vermouth
- a few dashes of Angostura bitters
- Crushed ice
Don't forget to check out Step-by-step instructions with photos in the body of the post above
Instructions
- Peel out little strands from the mandarin, for the garnish. Peel the mandarin completely and muddle it well in a cocktail shaker. Fill it halfway through with ice and add the Bourbon, Grand Marnier, Vermouth and bitters to it. Shake well.
- Strain into a glass filled with crushed ice. Garnish with mandarin strands. Serve immediately.
Nutrition
Victoria says
Very nice cocktail. Just what I had in mind.
Manju says
Thank you Victoria. This is a favorite here too 🙂
Martha says
Delightful and refreshing!
Manju says
Thank you Martha! Glad you loved it.
suriya says
This looks absolutely yummy..I should try this soon...Bookmarking this one..
Manju says
Thank you! I hope you do try it soon sometime!
Alycia Morris says
Orange or Aromatic bitters. Angostura has both.
Manju says
This recipe uses Angostura bitters