Bourbon Peach Smash

Why We Love This Recipe

• Perfectly balanced cocktail: With rich vanilla, caramel and oak notes, bourbon pairs beautifully with juicy, sweet, fresh peaches. Lemon juice adds a bit of brightness, while brown sugar adds richness and ginger beer adds fizz and a bit of spice to round out all of the flavors.
• Quick and easy: You just need 5 ingredients and less than 10 minutes of prep time to make a batch of these bourbon peach smash cocktails! You can also easily multiply the quantities and assemble in a pitcher if you're serving for a crowd.
• Ideal summer cocktail: This bourbon peach smash just screams summer to me! The color alone is stunning, and it smells incredible. Pro tip: use the freshest & most local peaches you can find for best flavor!

Ingredients

Here's what you'll need to make this bourbon peach smash:

Ingredient Notes

• Peaches: It's super important to use very ripe peaches in this recipe, otherwise the flavor and sweetness won't come through quite as much. If you need to ripen your peaches in a pinch, throw them in a paper bag for 24 hours until perfectly juicy and ripe.
  • You can also substitute with nectarines, apricots or cherries, or any combination of those!
• Bourbon: Since there are several other ingredients in this cocktail, don't use a super high quality, expensive bourbon. Something mid-range works well! You can also use whiskey if preferred.
• Lemon juice: Freshly squeezed is always best!
• Brown sugar: We love how brown sugar pairs with bourbon and peaches, but you can also sub with regular sugar or even coconut sugar if desired. You can also sub with simple syrup (infused with basil, if you want to go all out!).
• Ginger beer: The subtle spice of ginger beer adds another layer of flavor to this bourbon peach smash, but you can also opt for plain seltzer, sparkling water or club soda.

Step-by-step Instructions

(1 & 2) Add the peaches, lemon juice, and brown sugar to a blender and blend until smooth. Alternatively, you can muddle the peaches, lemon juice and brown sugar until well combined.

(3) Strain through a fine mesh sieve (optional – I prefer not to), then add to a cocktail shaker half filled with ice, add bourbon, and shake well. As a general rule of thumb, shake for about 15 seconds, or until the entire cocktail is chilled to the touch.

(4) Pour into a chilled glass and top off with ginger beer. Garnish with basil and a fresh peach slice and enjoy. 

Expert Tips and FAQs

• To strain or not to strain: If you strain the peach puree, you'll end up with a normal juice-based cocktail consistency. If you don't strain it, the liquid will be a bit thicker and more syrupy, which I personally really enjoy! It's totally up to you and will still taste great either way.
• Muddling vs. blending: If you don't want to use a blender, you can also use a muddler to combine the peaches, brown sugar and lemon juice. We suggest doing this directly in the glass you're serving it in. This will only work if your peaches are super ripe, otherwise they won't release enough juices/flavor.
• Pro tip: make basil infused simple syrup! This is a great way to add an extra boost of flavor to this bourbon peach smash. It's super easy to make - simply combine sugar and water in a saucepan until dissolved. Then, add a few basil leaves, let infuse for a half hour, strain and let cool. If using simple syrup, leave out the brown sugar, otherwise it will be too sweet.
• Garnishes: Fresh basil makes for a gorgeous garnish and also adds a fragrant final touch. I also love to garnish with a fresh peach wedge! Of course, you can also just serve it up plain over ice.
• Ice: Speaking of ice, when it comes to bourbon, we prefer to use a larger square or circular ice cube instead of smaller ice cubes for slower melting. This way, your cocktail won't get watered down too quickly if it's super hot out!
• Make ahead: For quicker prep, you can make the peach puree (peaches + lemon juice + brown sugar) up to 2 days before assembling the cocktail.
• Storage: Store without ginger beer in a pitcher or sealed jar for up to 3 days. Shake or stir well again before serving.

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