Embrace The Bounty in These Four Seasonal Cocktails

There’s a 19th-century colloquialism about whisky, likening it to “liquid sunshine.” If whisky captures sunshine in the glass, summer supplies everything else. The season is rich with ripe fruit and garden-fresh produce that naturally complement whisky's spectrum of flavors, making it one of the most versatile spirits for warm-weather cocktails. Here, we’ve selected whisky cocktails that put the spotlight on these standout summer ingredients.

Corn Fed Cowboy

This cocktail is based on the Elote Old Fashioned, a twist on the classic in which the typical sugar cube is replaced with corn liqueur, and pays homage to the sweet and savory flavors of Mexican street corn. Julianna Parsons, beverage director at Alcove Social in Alpine, Texas reaches for more corn flavor in a butter-fat-washed Balcones Baby Blue corn whiskey. The 46% ABV foundation, chosen for its “highly flavorful profile of tropical fruits, creamy vanilla, and toasted nuts with a thick oily mouthfeel,” has enough heft to stand up well to the corn liqueur, spicy simple syrup, and lime bitters.

• 1 ½ oz. fat-washed Balcones Baby Blue (or other corn whiskey)
• 1/2 oz. Nixta corn liqueur
• 1/2 oz. spicy simple syrup (1:1:3 Tajin, demerara, water)
• 4-5 dashes Fee Brothers lime bitters
• Baby corn and lime wheel for garnish

Fat-wash your whisky using this method. Pour ingredients into a mixing glass. Add ice. Stir until chilled. Pour into a rocks glass over a large ice cube. Garnish with lime wheel and baby corn rolled in Tajin, if desired.

Leaves of Grass

Served at Manhatta in New York City, this citrus-forward cocktail gets its name from a collection of Walt Whitman poems. “This drink evokes his celebration of nature, individuality, and interconnection of all things. It mirrors that ethos, highlighting freshness, complexity, and the poetry of flavors.” Added depth comes from shiso simple syrup and its subtle coconut sweetness, making it perfectly refreshing on a summer day,” notes bar manager Cameron Johnson.

Yuzu ponzu—an umami-packed combination of soy sauce, rice vinegar, and yuzu—is easier to find than you’d think, as it's usually in the international section of grocery stores. Think of it as a brighter, citrusy version of soy sauce.

• 2 oz. Toki (or other Japanese blend)
• ¼ oz. Faccia Brutto Centerbe (or chartreuse or génépy)
• ¾ oz. Shiso syrup (recipe below)
• 4-5 dashes Shiso bitters (or celery bitters)
• ¼ oz. Yuzu Ponzu
• Lime wheel for garnish

Add all ingredients and ice to a shaker; shake well. Strain into a coupe and serve. Garnish with lime wheel, if desired.

**The glass rim pictured is pickled plum powder; it can be replaced by a lime wheel

Shiso Syrup

Bring ½ cup water and ½ cup sugar to a boil in a pot over medium heat. Remove from heat and add 1 cup tightly packed red or green shiso leaves (about 10-15 leaves). Cover and infuse 30 minutes to 4 hours. Strain into a clean container and store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.

The Orchard Aviator

Lead bartender Juya Ebrahami at Tampa’s Oak & Ola created this summery peach riff on a classic Paper Plane, dedicated to the culinary and seasonal-forward thinking culinary icon Ina Garten, better known as the Barefoot Contessa. French peach liqueur is married with bittersweet orange notes from Aperol and Amaro Nonino, resting on an Angel's Envy canvas, accentuating the fruit-forward cocktail with its signature port finish. Don’t skip on the garnish, it’s an enviable treat floating atop the glass.

• ¾ oz. Angel’s Envy (or other port-finished bourbon)
• ¾ oz. Aperol
• ⅜ oz. Amaro Nonino
• ⅜ oz. Giffard Pêche de Vigne
• ¾ oz. lemon juice
• Brûléed peach garnish (see below)

Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass with ice, pour into the prepared coupe. Garnish with a toothpick of 2 brûléed peach pieces.

Brûléed peach garnish

• 2 Tbsp. sugar
• ½ peach (pit removed)
• 1 Tbsp. freeze-dried pulverized strawberries

Sprinkle the peach half with 1 tablespoon of sugar and broil in the oven until caramelized, 1-2 minutes. Cut into 4 pieces (eat the leftover brûléed peach as a snack, or keep in the fridge tightly wrapped, for up to 2 days).

Combine remaining 1 tablespoon each of sugar and freeze-dried strawberries in a small bowl, and spread on a plate. Rim a coupe with mixture.

Key Lime Sour

Created by Brian Bolter, owner and beverage director of Maryland’s Dry 85, this Key Lime Sour taps into the classic summer dessert, Key Lime pie, with a layered recipe of graham-cracker-infused bourbon, lime juice, and an unexpected addition of black walnut bitters. He opts for budget-friendly Evan Williams Black as the vanilla, caramel, and brown sugar-forward canvas for the toasty wheat graham infusion. The infusion gets brightened and balanced by the key lime’s sweet acidity, creating a “rich, nostalgic sweetness and creamy texture to feel indulgent without weighing you down in the heat,” Bolter says.

• 2 oz. Graham cracker-infused Evan Williams (recipe below)
• ¾ oz. key lime juice
• ¾ oz. simple syrup
• ½ oz. egg white
• 1 dash black walnut bitters
• Graham cracker crumbs and lime wheel for garnish (optional)

Vigorously shake all ingredients in a shaker. Strain into a coupe. Garnish with graham cracker crumbles and dehydrated lime wheel.

Graham Cracker-infused bourbon

• 375 ml Evan Williams, or other bourbon.
• ¾ cup graham cracker crumbs

Add graham cracker crumbs and bourbon in a large bowl. Stir well. Infuse for 2 hours, agitating the mixture at least twice. Double-fine strain into a large sealable container. Store for up to 1 month at room temperature.