- 1/2 grapefruit, sliced into segments (retain a thinner, nice looking one for garnish)
- ½ oz honey syrup
- 2 oz whiskey
- 10 dash Medicine Bitters, or to taste
- Sage leaf for garnish
Muddle the grapefruit wedges in a shaker. Add syrup, whiskey, bitters, and crushed ice. Give it a good hard shake and pour entire contents into a wine glass or snifter. Garnish with grapefruit wedge and sage leaf in glass.
Mocktail
- ¼ oz fresh squeezed lemon or grapefruit juice
- ¼ oz honey syrup
- 10 dashes Medicine Bitters
- Soda water
Pour bitters, juice, and syrup over ice into collins glass. Top with soda, garnish with sage leaf on a pick.
Tips!
Citrus juice: I can’t emphasize this enough—use fresh squeezed citrus! It makes a massive difference to flavour and appearance. Strain out seeds and pulp through a tea strainer if you want it to be fancy; don’t bother if it’s just for you! If you need citrus twists or rinds, make sure you do it before juicing. If you’re making juice ahead of time (highly recommend), bring extra fuit just for garnish, as they start to look ratty immediately after being cut. A Y-shaped peeler makes citrus garnishing easier, but a regular one will do of course.
Special equipment: The only weird things you might need and not already have would be a proper jigger (NOT just a shot glass), a large format ice cube tray, and bamboo picks for garnishes. Ice size make a big difference for something like an old fashioned, plus the big cubes look so bougie! A proper jigger will have measurements for ¼ oz, ½ oz, 1 oz, and possibly 2 oz. Seriously, don’t just eyeball it with a shot glass. I find the type of cocktail shaker with two tins and a separate strainer to be much easier to use, and less messy, but the kind with the little cap and built-in strainer will work.
Garnish ideas!
Candied Flowers: Works for lavender spikes, rose petals/buds, and, my favorite, hibiscus blossoms.
Dip the flowers individually into warm simple syrup, and let dry on waxed or parchment paper.
Depending on size, you can rest in glass, across rim, or skewer with a bamboo pick.
Baked citrus slices: So easy, and looks soooo fancy. Thin slice any citrus you want, lay flat, not touching, on parchment paper (they will stick to the bare pan and crumble when you try to lift them without!), and bake at your oven’s lowest temperature for 2-4 hours, depending on size of fruit. Oranges take me about 2.5 hours at 200 F.