Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Food & Drink
  3. News

Raise a glass with these bourbon and mezcal cocktails

Fruity and floral flavors for your relaxing summer evening cocktail

Angel’s Envy
Angel’s Envy

With many people enjoying a well-earned day off today, it’s time to kick back with friends and family, and enjoy some delicious food — and perhaps to sip on a summery drink as well.

While classic mixed drinks and beers are always popular for the warmer month, if you’re feeling like putting in some extra effort then you could mix yourself up a delicious cocktail.

Recommended Videos

Most of the cocktails you’ll see, especially for summer, focus on spirits like gin, vodka, or tequila. But you can mix cocktails with plenty of ingredients beyond that, as these recipes show.

Below we have recipes for whisky-based cocktails from bourbon brand Angel’s Envy, and for a mezcal-based cocktail from Mezcal Amarás. They use fruits and florals for light, sippable summer drinks that will see off your evening in style.

Angel’s Envy Kentucky Buck

Angel’s Envy

Ingredients:

  • 2 oz Angel’s Envy Bourbon Finished in Port Wine Barrels
  • 1/2 oz fresh lemon juice
  • 1/2 oz simple syrup
  • 1 oz strawberry
  • 2 dashes Angostura bitters
  • 3 oz ginger beer

Method:

Muddle the strawberry in a cocktail shaker. Add all ingredients, except the ginger beer, into the cocktail shaker. Fill the shaker with ice and shake. Strain over fresh ice into a Collins glass. Top with ginger beer and enjoy.

Angel’s Envy Whiskey Smash

Angel’s Envy
Angel’s Envy

Ingredients:

  • 2 oz Angel’s Envy Bourbon Finished in Port Wine Barrels
  • 1 oz simple syrup
  • 1/2 oz lemon juice
  • 3 sprigs of mint

Method:

Add all ingredients into a shaker. Add ice and shake vigorously. Strain into a rocks glass filled with crushed ice. Garnish with a sprig of mint. Add fresh berries or fruit preserves.

Leonor

Mezcal Amarás

Ingredients:

  • 45 ml Mezcal Amarás Verde
  • 75 ml Hibiscus, ginger, and rosemary infusion
  • 10 ml Fresh lime
  • Garnish: Rosemary sprig + lime wheel

Method:

Add ice cubes to a highball and pour the mezcal, the hibiscus infusion* and lime juice, stir to combine the ingredients. Garnish with rosemary sprig and lime wheel.

*add 50 gr hibiscus, 1 full rosemary sprig, 10 gr fresh ginger slices, 100 gr castor sugar, 500 ml water into a pot and heat until boiling. Remove, cool down and strain

Georgina Torbet
Georgina has been the space writer at Digital Trends space writer for six years, covering human space exploration, planetary…
The best beers from California you can buy anywhere
California is more than just IPAs
Sierra Nevada

Currently, more than 9,000 breweries of all sizes operate in the US. That’s an awful lot of IPAs, stouts, and lagers to choose from. Some states are more saturated with breweries (per capita) than others. This includes places like Vermont, Colorado, Maine, Oregon, and, of course, California. While I could take a deep dive into all the biggest beer-producing states, today is all about The Golden State.

I have a special affinity for California beer, and it’s because of one style in particular. Sure, you can find a beer style to fit every palate in the state, but in California, the IPA reigns supreme. In fact, if you look at almost any list ranking the best beers in the state, it will be littered with IPA options. While I often imbibe pilsners and other lagers (as well as wheat beers and other lighter beers) in the summer as well as stouts and porters (and other dark beers) in the winter, I always go back to the classic West Coast IPA.

Read more
Blue Bottle just proved California can grow world-class coffee
Blue Bottle Coffee just dropped a super rare California-grown coffee
Blue Bottle Coffee

Coffee has always had its origins story – Ethiopia, Colombia, Panama. But California was never part of that conversation, until now. Coffee leader, Blue Bottle, has just launched the California Frinj San Diego Gesha, a washed Gesha grown in San Diego and Santa Barbara counties in partnership with Frinj Coffee, the pioneering network behind California's emerging coffee movement. Gesha is widely regarded as one of the most prized varietals in specialty coffee, known for its delicate floral complexity and fruit-forward character –  and this one delivers jasmine, peach, and strawberry in a cup.

Up until now, many coffee brands would shy away from growing specialty-grade coffee in California, as it requires years of experimentation and innovation. For the past two decades, Jay Ruskey, founder of Frinj Coffee, has helped pioneer California coffee product through continual experimentation with innovative growing practices, coffee varieties, and post-harvest processing. Now, this exciting new launch finally reflects that work. Cherries from two California farms were processed at Frinj's wet mill in Ventura, using carefully controlled fermentation to result in an exceptionally clean cup of coffee. This new variety showcases the signature floral aromatics and bright fruit character of the Gesha variety.

Read more
Dark rums for whiskey fans
These rums are a great choice for whiskey drinkers
rum bottles

There’s no disputing the appeal of whisk(e)y. Whether it's single malt Scotch whisky, bourbon, rye whiskey, Irish whiskey, or others. There’s something special about this barrel-aged spirit. But it’s not the only aged spirit, and if you’re limiting your sipping to this style, you’re missing out on some other special, flavorful spirit. Especially dark rum.

I’ve spent years imbibing the various forms of whiskey. But every now and then, I branch out and pour myself a glass of dark rum instead. Unsurprisingly, the two spirits have some of the same aromas and flavors. Since both are matured in wood barrels, they impart flavors like caramel, vanilla, dried fruits, and oak (among others). If you don’t already, you should branch out and add dark rum to your aged spirits rotation.

Read more