Bourbon for beginners: 5 tips to help anyone become a bourbon aficionado
by Dana McMahan
“I don’t like bourbon.”
How many times as a Louisvillian have you heard that, especially from someone not from here?
I always take that comment as a personal challenge.
“We can fix that,” I usually respond. That’s because when people say they don’t like bourbon, it often means they had that same one bad experience so many of us did, or that they’ve not had a properly made bourbon cocktail.
And it’s a good cocktail that can open the door to savoring our native spirit.
Happily, there are experts in this city who can help with that. During a visit to The Bar at Fort Nelson at The Michter's Fort Nelson Distillery, 801 W Main St., in downtown Louisville as part of the 2021 Bourbon Classic’s media camp, I learned that having "approachable" bourbon drinks for first-timers or naysayers is actually a specific intent, at least for bar manager Carrie Casler.
Casler and her team like to have drinks on offer that appeal to visitors who don’t consider themselves bourbon people, she said. I want to be able to do this for my own out-of-town guests, so I reached out to see if she could share some tips.
And after talking with her, I’m confident I can take the most avowed bourbon hater — as long as they have an open mind — and convert them to a card-carrying member of the bourbon fan club by following her advice.
Here are five tips for the novice bourbon drinker in your life.
Pick a less spirit-forward cocktail for new bourbon drinkers
My house cocktail is an Old Fashioned, but since that’s scarcely more than a glass of bourbon, at least for the uninitiated, I’ve learned the hard way that’s not going to entice a newbie.
“A lot of people have strong misconceptions about bourbon flavor,” Casler told me, “but there are also just a lot of people that, quote-unquote, don't like the taste of alcohol no matter what it is, so if somebody comes in and they say they don't like whiskey, I'm certainly not going to point them in the direction of an Old Fashioned, because that's a spirit-forward cocktail. That's for somebody who is a true bourbon lover. You can be converted to love an Old Fashioned but that's not going to be the introductory cocktail.”
Start with a less spirit-forward cocktail that can "ease" them into the world of bourbon, like a Highball.
Use high-quality, fresh ingredients in a bourbon cocktail
Just like with cooking, the quality of ingredients makes all the difference. There are certainly value bourbons out there I happily serve, but a true bottom-shelf whiskey isn’t going to win anyone over, especially not a new drinker.
But it’s not just the spirit that needs to be high-quality. In a drink with only two or three ingredients, everything has to be the best.
“With all of our cocktails, we make our own syrups, we squeeze our own juices fresh every day,” Casler says. “And not to say that every home bartender is going to do that. But there is a way to put quality into a glass even at home. Like you don't buy the little lemon squeezy bottle from the refrigerated section to be your lemon juice. Squeeze a fresh lemon and it's going to make all the difference in the world. It's like cooking with fresh garlic versus cooking with the stuff that you buy in the jar.”
Look for a good quality vermouth (ask for recommendations at a reliable shop, like Old Town Liquors, or Westport Whiskey & Wine), and splurge on the Luxardo cherries (trust me on this one!) instead of the fake red ones.
Don't eyeball your cocktail ingredients
Just as with baking, precision makes a difference in a lot of craft cocktails. Balance may be the single most critical element in a good cocktail, and eyeballing it (especially for us non-pros) isn’t going to cut it, Casler says. A measuring jigger is super inexpensive and can make all the difference in a cocktail that gets poured down the sink, and one that’s a first step in the path to becoming a bourbon aficionado.
Too sweet? Gross. Too bourbon-forward? Nope. Ingredients and layers need to work together, and being off on one, even by a quarter ounce, can make or break a drink.
Done correctly, everything shines and the drink becomes more than the sum of its parts. Someone like Casler has likely worked extremely hard on developing that recipe, so trust in the experts and take a couple of extra seconds to measure your ingredients properly.
Why you should mix a cocktail with one hand behind your back
Ever noticed a bartender stirring a cocktail with a hand behind their back? Casler shared why that’s a trick of the trade. One enemy of a great drink is too much dilution. While a high-end bar like Fort Nelson is going to have beautiful, perfect, fancy ice, most of us at home are going to grab whatever is in the freezer, but we can still avoid the dreaded watery drink.
The key is that you can always dilute more if need be, but you can’t take it away, so err on the side of under-mixing, Casler explains. If a recipe says to stir or shake 30 seconds, try 20, or even less if it’s going to be served on ice, too. Our home ice is going to melt faster than good quality ice, so shortening the time gives us more time to sip and savor before it’s a watery mess.
And keep your hands off that mixing glass. Our body heat makes the ice melt faster, so putting your hand behind your back can quell that natural urge to grip the glass.
Take your time introducing people to bourbon
Like me, Casler also thought she didn’t like whiskey once upon a time. Thanks to the right cocktails (my gateway was a Cobbler at Bourbons Bistro lo these many years ago), she ended up running a bar, and I became an Executive Bourbon Steward who loves a whiskey neat.
An amazing starting point is the Whiskey Fix, curated by cocktail historian David Wondrich for The Bar at Fort Nelson (recipe below).
When that’s a success (and based on Casler's experience, it will absolutely be), move to something like a Highball. The classic combo of "a quality whiskey and a nice bubbly soda and that citrus peel,” lets you taste the whiskey, she says, “but it's a little more subtle because you have that effervescence in it.”
Then it may be time for an Old Fashioned. But not too sweet, she cautions; The Bar at Fort Nelson uses a quarter ounce of simple syrup made with bartender's favorite demerara sugar. Follow all her other tips — get good quality bitters, don’t over-dilute it, and for the love of bourbon, please use a stellar main ingredient — and you'll be making people bourbon lovers in no time.
Tell Dana! Send your restaurant “Dish” to Dana McMahan at thecjdish@gmail.com and follow @bourbonbarbarella on Instagram.
Whiskey Fix
Curated by cocktail historian David Wondrich for The Bar at Fort Nelson
1-and-1/2-ounce US 1 Bourbon
half-ounce fresh lemon juice
1-ounce Raspberry Pom syrup*
Pour all ingredients into a tall glass. Fill with crushed ice and ‘swizzle’ stir. Top with crushed ice. Enjoy!
Raspberry Pom syrup
1 part fresh raspberries
1 part pomegranate juice
1 part sugar
Bring to a roiling boil for 5-10 minutes, remove from heat, and cool. Blend and strain.
NY Sour
2 ounces rye whiskey or bourbon
1-ounce lemon juice, freshly squeezed
3/4 ounce simple syrup
1 egg white (optional)
half ounce red wine
Add the whiskey, lemon juice, simple syrup and egg white (optional) into a shaker with ice and shake hard until well-chilled.
Strain into a rocks glass over fresh ice.
Slowly pour the red wine over the back of a bar spoon so that the wine floats on top of the drink.