Gratitude: A Cocktail for Thanksgiving
The Occasion: Giving Thanks
Thanksgiving is a time for family, friends, and feasting. To elevate your holiday gathering, we’ve crafted a cocktail that captures the essence of autumn: Gratitude, a riff on a whiskey-sour that’s easy to make but shows care and attention to detail to honor your guests.
The Cocktail: Gratitude
➡️2.0 oz (45 ml) Wild Turkey Bourbon
➡️1.0 oz Rosemary Syrup (see below)
➡️1.0 oz Lemon Juice
➡️2 dashes Cranberry Bitters, such as Fee Brothers
➡️Garnish: A fresh cranberry skewered with a sprig of rosemary
➡️Glass: Rocks or Old Fashioned Glass
➡️Preparation:
- Add all four ingredients to a cocktail shaker with ice and shake until well-chilled, around 15 seconds.
- Strain over a large rock into the glass, and garnish.
➡️Rosemary Syrup: You can easily make your own Rosemary Syrup by making a standard simple syrup (1:1 sugar to water) and then after the sugar has dissolved, adding a few sprigs of fresh rosemary and letting the the herbs steep into the syrup has cooled, then straining into a bottle. The syrup will last about two weeks in the refrigerator. You may also purchased pre-made Rosemary Syrups, such as Organic Raw Rosemary Syrup by Bacanha here.
➡️Advice & Tips: Play around with the recipe by swapping rosemary for the herbs you’re using to cook your Thanksgiving dinner. If you’re using sage or thyme for your stuffing, make a sage or thyme syrup and garnish accordingly. Alternatively, you can use a combination of herbs to make your syrup. Just follow the recipe above but add the herbs of your choice.
If you don’t have cranberry bitters, try swapping them out for a small barspoon of cranberry sauce from your Thanksgiving dinner. Remember to taste as you go and adjust the sweetness from the syrup appropriately (you may need more or less depending on how tart or sweet your cranberry sauce is).
The Story: Why This Cocktail?
The Whiskey Sour dates back to at least the Lincoln Administration in the United States (1860-1865) with the first mention thought to be circa 1862 in Jerry Thomas’ famous book of cocktail recipes, The Bar-Tender Guide. The basic recipe consists of a base spirit with sugar (usually in the form of a simple syrup), lemon juice, and an egg white. Today it’s more common to find variations without the egg white being served.
Our variation, the Gratitude, utilizes Wild Turkey Bourbon as an homage to the American Thanksgiving holiday, along with the addition of an herbed simple syrup flavored by rosemary for its warm, earthy notes, and tart cranberry bitters that evoke classic fall flavors. The combination is a perfect blend of sweet, tart, and herbaceous.
Whether you’re hosting a Thanksgiving dinner or simply looking for a festive cocktail to enjoy at home, the Gratitude is sure to impress.