Note: I was provided with samples of Virgil Kaine’s new bourbons, but was not otherwise paid or compensated for this post.
The weather dropped 20 degrees over the weekend. We were in Atlanta for a wedding, and the kids clung desperately to the vestiges of summer by parking themselves in our friend’s pool and refusing to leave. As for me, I’m not fighting the onset of fall. I’ve been ready for weeks. I love fall fruit, stews and kicking up crunchy leaves. I have stretchy long leggings to provide warmth, comfort and stability to my jiggly thighs, and my tunic sweaters are laundered. Fall, you are welcome to stay awhile.
The other night, as the temperatures dropped just south of muggy, I told the hubby it was time for us to enjoy a fall cocktail. He raised an eyebrow and looked pointedly at what he was wearing. The windows and doors were open because he was staining my new kitchen island (details on that later). The air was stagnant and laden with sickly pungent wafts of polyurethane. “Uhh, it’s not fall, dude,” he said, sweeping his hand downwards towards his winning wardrobe classic of athletic shorts paired with an undershirt. “Plus, you know me and bourbon drinks.”
Yes, yes. I knew. One of the things the hubby and I bonded over when we first met was that we’re both leery of dark liquors. Before you gasp and clutch your hand to your chest, Scarlett O’Hara-style, at the fact that someone raised in the South could turn up a nose at good bourbon, let me explain. In my young adulthood, the only experience I’d had with bourbon was when it was mixed with Coke, and I’m not a huge fan of soda. I don’t remember how it tasted going down, but I sure as sugar remember what it tasted like coming up. I think the hubby probably has a similar experience. Ahh, how the mistakes of youth forever tarnish our adulthood.
Not to be deterred, I still mixed my fall cocktails. Using Virgil Kaine’s ginger-infused bourbon, I muddled fresh figs, lemon juice and honey syrup to make this fig and ginger bourbon fizz. With this cocktail and Virgil Kaine’s subtle, heady bourbon, I am a convert.
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Virgil Kaine is a Charleston-based whisky distillery founded by two chefs, David Szlam and Ryan Meany. Their signature bourbon is a ginger-infused bourbon that is delicious when sipped on its own, with extra-spicy, tangy notes permeating through the liquor. When muddled into a fig and ginger bourbon fizz, it’s a smooth, easy-drinking delight. I poured my cocktails into small cordial glasses, and both the hubby and I expressed surprise at how much we loved the ginger bourbon. Bourbon so often has a sweetness to it that I don’t particularly enjoy, but the ginger and the faint tartness of lemon juice helped temper it. As we sat and sipped our fizzes, the hubby commented that maybe next time I could pour them into more manly double old-fashioned glasses since, the product of my muddling turned the bourbon into a pink-ish drink.
“What?!” I squeaked. “This is plenty manly. What man wouldn’t want to wrap his paws around this little glass? He’d feel like a giant.” I picked up my glass as if I had oven mitts for hands, with my fingers extended straight out. I tipped the glass clumsily towards my mouth, letting some of it splash across my face. “I want to guzzle MOAR BOURBON,” I grumbled with my deepest voice. “ALL THE BOURBON.”
The hubby sighed. “Okay, sure, yes, when you drink it like that, you don’t seem so dainty.”
Of course, now that I’m looking at these photos of our drinks, I see what he means. I can see how this probably isn’t the manliest bourbon cocktail of all time. Maybe it’s the pinky fizz, or maybe it’s the fact that I used tiny, adorable wine glasses as cordial glasses. Whatever. It’s a delicious drink. You can pour it in a baseball glove for all I care. Just make it. You won’t be sorry.
VIRGIL KAINE FIG AND GINGER BOURBON FIZZ
PREP TIME
TOTAL TIME
This ginger-infused bourbon makes a great fall cocktail. If you can't find Virgil Kaine in your area, don't fret -- just use add about a ½ teaspoon of freshly grated ginger to your cocktail. Enjoy!
Serves: 2 cocktails
INGREDIENTS
- 3 ounces Virgil Kaine ginger-infused bourbon
- 4 fresh black figs
- 1 lemon
- 2 tablespoons honey syrup (instructions below)
- sparkling water (approximately 2 ounces)
- ice
- equipment: cocktail shaker, muddler, vegetable peeler
- honey syrup: ½ cup honey, ½ cup water
INSTRUCTIONS
- Make the honey syrup: in small saucepan, bring a ½ cup of water to a slow boil over medium heat. Add honey and stir well until completely combined. Remove from heat and cool completely.
- Using a vegetable peeler, peel two long strips of lemon rind and set aside. Slice the lemon in half and squeeze half of it into the cocktail shaker.
- Slice 2 figs in half and place in a cocktail shaker along with bourbon and honey syrup. Muddle the figs until completely pureed and incorporated into the bourbon, lemon and honey syrup.
- Add ice and shake to mix thoroughly. Strain into two glasses filled halfway with ice, then top off with sparkling water.
- Slice the other two figs lengthwise almost all the way, leaving them joined at the stem. Slide one fig onto the lip of each glass and garnish the lemon peel. Serve immediately.
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