Even bourbon diehards might reach for other libations amid the swelter of late summer. Another choice is to reach for the blender and whir up a batch of icy, slushy cocktails that cool the brow while keeping whiskey as the star.
“Frozen bourbon cocktails are also perfect for summertime because of the nostalgia,” says Rachel Ramirez, who leads the bar program at Nelson’s Green Brier Distillery in Nashville. “We all remember enjoying frozen treats during this time of year, and blending up bourbon slushies is a fun way to recapture that magic.”
While Ramirez notes that slushies can serve as an approachable entry point for folks who may be newer to bourbon, she still aims for a balance of ingredients and flavors that satisfy imbibers used to the work of creative mixologists. Two frozen whiskey cocktails on her current menu at Nelson’s Green Brier are the Cold Fashioned and the Catalina Wine Mixer, the latter of which is made with bourbon finished in white wine barrels (and, yes, named for the epic fete from Step Brothers). The Cold Fashioned gives the classic cocktail a brain-freeze twist even as it keeps the whiskey in the fore, and Ramirez describes the Catalina Wine Mixer as “bright, tart, and perfect for the still-scorching August weather.”
Get the recipes below.
Steve Russell is a Garden & Gun contributing editor who also has written for Men’s Journal, Life, Rolling Stone, and Playboy. Born in Mississippi and raised in Tennessee, he resided in New Orleans and New York City before settling down in Charlottesville, Virginia, because it’s far enough south that biscuits are an expected component of a good breakfast.