Delicious whisky cocktails for summertime

Jade Crasto 

There is no better way to beat the summer heat than with a chilled cocktail. A cocktail is any mixed drink that has at least two components and is often alcoholic. Cocktails include a base liquor, such as vodka, gin or whiskey, as well as flavouring additives such as fruit juice. 

When it comes to your bar cart, chances are your vodkas, tequilas and rums are getting the most cocktail activity, while your favourite bottles of Scotch, bourbon and Irish whiskey are being served neat or on the rocks. But why shouldn’t the world’s most beloved brown spirit join in on the fun? Whisky comes in a variety of flavours, which means there are several possibilities of enjoying its distinct characteristics through cocktails. The whisky world is huge and ever-expanding, and the list of excellent whiskey cocktails is simultaneously increasing.  

With these cocktail recipes, you may explore a new aspect of your favourite drink. They demonstrate the flexibility of whisky and comprise some of the most classic whisky cocktails that aficionados have loved for years. It is a great place to start if you are new to whisky.  

Old-Fashioned 

This traditional drink has been offered since the mid-1800s and remains as popular now as it was then. The old-fashioned is a simple approach to spice up whisky. It is a wonderful method to experiment with any kind of whisky, as it is made with bitters, sugar, and an orange slice. Furthermore, this recipe has inspired a plethora of current old-fashioned, many of which are equally intriguing. 

Recipe:
1 sugar cube, or 1/2 teaspoon sugar
3 dashes bitters
2 ounces of bourbon or rye whiskey
Orange peel, for garnish
Maraschino cherry, for garnish 

John Collins

The John Collins is a delicious bourbon sour cocktail suitable for any occasion. It is a great everyday sipper that can be poured in a matter of minutes. It is also a simple, refreshing way to highlight your favourite whisky. This is just a taller version of the Whiskey Sour. Except for the soda and ice, the Collins and Whiskey sour are almost identical drinks. 

Recipe:
1 1/2 ounces bourbon whiskey
1 ounce lemon juice
1/2 ounce simple syrup
2 ounces club soda
Maraschino cherry, for garnish
Orange slice, for garnish 

Vieux Carré 

The Vieux Carré is a popular New Orleans cocktail from the 1930s. This is a unique and intriguing cocktail that is as popular these days as it was when it was originally developed. This drink is a short, slow aperitif made of rye whiskey, cognac, and sweet vermouth in equal amounts. There are two bitters employed, and there is a touch of a traditional herbal liqueur to provide character. The Vieux Carré is a slightly sweet, spicy, warming beverage with herbal, citrus, and smoky undertones. It’s comparable to a Manhattan, but with extra complexity from the cognac. 

Recipe:
3/4 ounce rye whiskey
3/4 ounce cognac
3/4 ounce sweet vermouth
1 to 2 dashes Angostura bitters
1 to 2 dashes Peychaud’s Bitters
1/2 ounce Bénédictine liqueur
Cherry or lemon twist, garnish 

Highball 

This long-blended highball cocktail is a light way to enjoy any type of whisky. Whiskies such as blended, bourbon, Canadian, and rye perform admirably. Pour Irish whiskey into a glass and you’ll have the Irish buck sometimes called whiskey ginger. In the late 1800s, the highball was blended with simple soda water, but ginger ale is now the most popular mixer. The soda’s sweet and sharp flavour complements whiskey well, although ginger ales vary in flavour. One of the reasons it’s so popular is because you can make a practically unlimited variety of flavours with only two components. 

Recipe:
2 ounces whisky
4 to 6 ounces ginger ale, or club soda, to taste 

Whiskey Cobbler 

The cobbler is a traditional drink, with the sherry cobbler being the most well-known version. The brandy cobbler and whiskey cobbler are also old-time favourites, although they have a stronger flavour than the wine varieties. The cobbler, like other sour cocktails, is simply a drink formula: a base alcohol sweetened with syrup or sugar and garnished with a seasonal fruit. It may also be customised in a variety of ways. 

Recipe:
3 ounces brandy, or whiskey
1/2 to 1 ounce simple syrup, to taste
1 to 2 ounces club soda, to taste
Orange slice, lemon slice, or seasonal fruits, for garnish
Cherry, for garnish 

Boulevardier 

The Boulevardier, often known as a whiskey Negroni, is a refined and traditional drink. Both contain sweet vermouth and Campari, but the Negroni is made with gin and the Boulevardier is made with whiskey, especially bourbon. The vermouth and Campari make it a logical option as an aperitif, and the taste combination is delicate but quite delicious. At any dinner party, a host may simply provide both the Negroni and the Boulevardier to delight both gin and whiskey lovers. 

Recipe:
1 1/2 ounces bourbon whiskey
1 ounce sweet vermouth
1 ounce Campari
Orange twist, for garnish 

Cocktails are usually concocted by mixologists, who are well versed with their recipes and bar tools. During the peak of the COVID-19 Pandemic when people were required to stay at home, many cocktail connoisseurs had no access to their favourite bars. They had to resort to experimenting on their own, with no tools and appropriate ingredients to make their favourite drink. Luckily for them, Cocktail Mixers came to the rescue. These mixers aided in making your favourite cocktail in a matter of seconds.  

LuxeBook spoke to Angad Soni, Founder of Sepoy & Co., Jovita Mascarenhas, Founder of Bartisans, Barkha from MAY & CO. and Mr. Ankur Bhatia, Founder and CEO, Jimmy’s Cocktails 

Sepoy & Co. 

Founder Angad Soni said that Sepoy & Co. was born from his passion. After travelling and having a few Gin and Tonics abroad, Soni realised that the quality and flavour of the cocktails mixes available in India were not as great compared to the ones available in foreign countries. He wished to bring these mixes into India but did not have the resources for it. So instead of bringing a product, he created his own. Experts in London have helped Soni into creating Sepoy & Co. mixers that resonate with the Indian palette. It was launched with three tonic waters in Delhi, where he personally hand delivered it. Sepoy & Co. later expanded to whiskey and rum based mixers and now have a line of lemonades. Sepoy & Co. thermally processes their products. This means that the product is taken and heated at a really high temperature in order to eliminate any bacteria that could be present in it. They offer a variety of Tonic Waters, Lemonades, Ginger ales, Soda Water and a Tasting Box. Soni recommends the Tropical Lemonade which can be paired with a whiskey or a rum. The Rose Lemonade with a Gin or a Vodka. Their bestseller is the Ginger ale which is a mix of two different gingers. An African ginger which has sweeter tones and an Indian Ginger which has spicy tones.  

MAY & CO. 

Mayank Mahindra, the Founder and CEO of MAY & CO. had an itch to find a new experience. This is what led him to a local speakeasy bar. With a perfectly made slow paced Old Fashioned he ended up striking a conversation with the mixologist who very passionately started to explain the science behind creating the perfect cocktail. How the ingredients need to marry into a harmonious symphony that finds you going back for the next sip, transporting you to a different world. To further this knowledge and to learn the art, he took up an apprenticeship with the European Bartending School in Barcelona. Having learnt the tricks of the trade, it was still the experience that he kept going after every time he would be crafting a cocktail or going to a bar for one. It was also then when he realised that except for a few handpicked bars in India, most places & products fail to provide that cocktail experience. So he went about researching, creating his own concoctions at home and testing out the recipes at home to create the magic he experienced at that bar. A few tries and a few taste tests later, he arrived at something that delivers on MAY & CO.’s promise to elevate ones cocktail experience; at home or at a bar. MAY & CO. has 9 products ranging from bar staples like Almond Orgeat, Grenadine, Demerara Gum syrup to flavour combinations like Pineapple Rosemary Shrub, Peach Shrub, Hibiscus Rose Syrup, etc. We have recently launched a Spiced Tonic Syrup which is also India’s first Tonic Syrup. Mahindra recommends Spiced Tonic Syrup, Pineapple Rosemary Shrub & Almond Orgeat Syrup are an absolute crowd pleaser. All MAY & CO. products come with a QR code that gives an access to their curated cocktail recipes.  

Bartisans 

Jovita Mascarenhas says that Bartisans began during the pandemic. During the first lockdown all the expensive bottles stored in her bar came out and her son Jordan who was interning at Le Meridien, Dubai came back in time and tested out his mixology skills on his family. Realising that they were at home and enjoying these amazing cocktails, Bartisans came to be. In initial stage was them selling mixes on order from their kitchens at home but was shut down after three months. Then in June 2021 the revamped Bartisans was launched with unique and flavourful premium cocktail mixes. At Bartisans the products are 100 percent natural but have a few bio preservatives for a longer shelf life. You can also use the mixers at Bartisans to make a few Ice Lollies to make things more fun. Jovita recommends the classic mixers for the perfect margarita or mojito. She also recommends her personal favourite Smoked Pineapple and Basil.  

Jimmy’s Cocktails 

Founded in 2019, Jimmy’s Cocktails is the fastest growing brand in the category of cocktail mixers. Since its inception, the brand has penetrated 4,000 retail outlets with a direct presence in over 45 cities and has clocked in $1M in revenue in its debut year. Jimmy’s Cocktails was established with a specific notion – to enhance the experience of enjoying spirits at home. As of today, Indians consume more than 5 billion glasses of spirits at home, and each glass is mixed with some form of non-alcoholic beverage including Water and Soda. With mixers that are made with fewer calories and zero artificial sweeteners, Jimmy’s Cocktails is targeting this market by providing consumers with a healthier and hassle-free choice of a mixer.  

On a monsoon night in 2018, Ankur was bar hopping in Mumbai, enjoying fancy cocktails with his friends. After the bars closed, they moved to his friend’s place and some of them tried to recreate the same cocktails with the help of cocktail recipes available online and using whatever ingredients they could get their hands on, however, could not match the flavours they had in the bars earlier. That night, Ankur had a eureka moment: given his close to decade long experience in the spirits category, he realized that this could be a very large opportunity. That’s when he decided to launch a brand that makes world-class bar-quality cocktails more accessible and convenient for everyone. A year later, Jimmy’s Cocktails® was born. Also, they were always asked how they came up with such an innovative and memorable name like Jimmy’s, and they always tell people that they went for Jimmy’s because Jack, Jim, and Johnnie were already taken. They wanted to follow suit and decided on a name that would remind people of the prominent alcohol brands. Jimmy’s Cocktails was established with a specific idea – to enhance the experience of enjoying spirits at home. Jimmy’s currently has seven classic offerings – Bloody Mary, Cosmopolitan, Mango Chili Mojito, Margarita, Whiskey Sour, Sex on the Beach, and their latest Gin Cherry Sour that was crafted in collaboration with India’s first craft Gin brand – Greater Than. Jimmy’s Cocktail mixers can also be consumed as mocktails, appealing to the audience who do not consume alcohol, as an alternate to sugary carbonated soft beverages. Jimmy’s continually evaluates Cocktail trends across the world and in India, and work with the renowned mixologist and Head of Product at Jimmy’s Cocktails, Mr. Yangdup Lama to create new variants. The process is a balance between science and art, the former involving sourcing the finest ingredients from around the world, and the latter involving creating the right mix for our consumers’ palettes.They have always procured top-notch ingredients locally and globally to ensure consistency in flavour and quality. For instance, cranberries that go into the Cosmopolitan mixer are sourced from Denmark, but the Alphonso Mango that makes the Mango Chilli Mojito is sourced from India. Since the mixers contain fewer calories and zero artificial sweeteners,they use only the highest quality ingredients with their natural sweetness. Jimmy’s Cocktails makes it convenient for people to make a cocktail at home in three simple steps: — Ice it, Spike it, Jimmy it. Just pour half of the Jimmy’s mixer and 30-60 ml of your favourite spirit over ice, mix & your favourite cocktail is ready!  

 You may also like:

Here’s why NAS Whisky is worth the shot

Indian single malts to look out for