Drink · 6 min · 1 rocks glass
Bourbon smash with syrup
Mint smash. Syrup instead of dry sugar so it dissolves cold.
The sheet · 1 rocks glass · 6 min
mediumWhy tonight. Mint smash. Syrup instead of dry sugar so it dissolves cold.
What it needs
Nothing confirmed on your shelf yet — this list is the whole ask.
- bourbon
- mint
- lemon
- simple syrup
Method
- Muddle a whole lemon wedge with the mint and syrup in the bottom of the shaker — pith, peel and all.
- The oil in that peel is the point, and it is what separates a smash from a whiskey sour with a leaf in it.
- Bourbon, ice, shake hard, then dump the whole thing into the glass unstrained.
- Slap the mint garnish between your palms rather than tearing it. Bruising releases aroma; shredding releases chlorophyll.
An educational pour, not a reprint of a licensed spec. No allergen or alcohol-safety claim.
Cook or pour it, then edit the shelf if you emptied a bottle or used the last of something.
Why each of these is on the list
What the ingredients are actually doing
- bourbon
- Corn-sweet and vanilla-heavy from new oak, so it takes bitterness and citrus without being flattened.
- mint
- Loud, cooling, and easily wrecked.
- lemon
- Acid you add at the end, not the start.
- simple syrup
- Sugar already dissolved, which is the only form of sugar that works in a cold drink.
Missing one of them? The substitutions are written against those jobs rather than against a chart, so they say what each replacement costs this dish in particular.
Cooks from the same box
If you bought for this, you can already make these
Shares bourbon, lemon, mint
Berry bourbon smash
A smash with thawed berries. Don't puree into jam. Mint clapped.
Shares bourbon, lemon, simple syrup
Whiskey sour
The template every sour is built on: two spirit, one citrus, one sugar. Egg white if you want the texture, and dry shake it first.
Shares bourbon, lemon, simple syrup
New York sour
A whiskey sour with a red wine float. The wine is a lid, not a pour.
Shares bourbon, mint, lemon
Whiskey smash
Lemon muddled with mint and sugar, then bourbon over crushed ice. The whole lemon wedge goes in, pith and all.
Next
Cook it, then tell the shelf what you used.
The ranking is only as honest as the shelf behind it. Empty the cream, and everything that leaned on cream should stop being offered.