Before you click away in disgust, we urge you to harken the words of Tim Heuisler, the drink’s creator. Heuisler is a former bartender and bar manager, and current general manager of Time, a Philadelphia whiskey bar/restaurant/music venue.
“It sounds kind of weird, but when you think about it, you’re adding something a little smoky to something a little spicy,” says Heuisler. “The idea of a lot of vodka drinks is that you can’t really taste the alcohol. Since we work at a whiskey bar, we want to be able to taste our booze.”
That sounds pretty good to us. How did this cocktail come to be? Heuisler tells the story: “Grant, one of our other bartenders, and I were just kicking around some cocktail ideas, and he’s like, ‘Let’s just do everything with scotch. Let’s do a bloody mary with scotch.’ It worked really well. Our chef at the time was making a pretty spicy mix, and we just started using all different types of scotches with it.”
Heuisler says he’s not sure how the name came to be, but it’s surely a reference to Braveheart (1995), the epic story of legendary Scottish warrior William Wallace. The name lends an air of masculinity while acknowledging the cocktail’s inclusion of Scotch whiskey.
“Whenever I tell people about the Braveheart, they’re either really intrigued or really disgusted,” says Heuisler. “Whatever bar I’m sitting at, I say, ‘Take a sip;’ 99 times out of 100, they’re like, ‘You know what? That’s pretty good.’”
With Father’s Day coming up this Sunday, you might propose mixing up some Bravehearts as an alternative to the classic Bloody Mary. While you’re at it, consider treating Dad to a tasty burger to round out the perfect Father’s Day meal.
Related: Drink Like a Man: 4 Great Manly Summer Cocktail Ideas
The Braveheart
Created by Tim Heuisler, Time Restaurant, Philadelphia
Ingredients:
- 2 oz. The Black Grouse
- 3 ½ oz. tomato juice (McClure’s Bloody Mary Mix)
- ½ oz. fresh lemon juice
- ½ oz. Worcestershire
- Pinch celery salt
- Pinch fresh horseradish
Directions:
Shake all ingredients over ice and strain into an ice-filled glass and garnish with a gherkin, pickled onion, and a piece of bacon.
