Seasonal Cocktails
David Burke mixologists have crafted cocktails with a twist using classic spirits anD elevated by unique ingredients and a sense of fun.
Everyone loves a classic cocktail. Saddle up to the bars at David Burke restaurants and you can enjoy an old-school Drink—and then asK for “something liKe this, but different.”
Old Thomas Collins
The Thomas Collins is an old-school, classic cocktail, and the gin is spring44 old Tom.
2 oz Spring44
Old Tom Gin
1 oz fresh-squeezed lime juice
1 tbsp super fine sugar
Combine ingredients in highball glass with ice and top with soda. Garnish with a lemon peel.
Tequila Mockingbird
This cocktail’s name plays on the book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.
2 oz tequila
1 oz Belle de Brillet Pear Liqueur
0.5 oz basil simple syrup
0.75 oz grapefruit juice
Combine ingredients in a mixing glass with ice. Shake and strain into a martini glass and add 0.5 ounce of Aperol, which will sink to the bottom of the glass. The Aperol should be poured very slowly and carefully to layer the drink. Garnish with a large fresh basil leaf on top.
Caribbean Steeplechase
This drink is essentially a rum mint julep. Because of the rum, we call it “caribbean” (where a majority of the world’s rum originates) and steeplechase (a lesser-known type of horse race, in homage to the Kentucky Derby, where juleps are traditionally consumed).
1 bunch mint
0.5 oz simple syrup
Bittermens Elemakule Tiki Bitters
2 oz Mount Gay Black Barrel Rum
Crush ice, which is essential because this drink is mostly alcohol, and the mint and crushed ice waters down the drink more quickly—essential for a julep.
In a rocks glass, lightly muddle mint with the simple syrup and 3 dashes of the bitters. Fill rocks glass with crushed ice and add rum. Top off with crushed ice.
Et Tu, Brutus
This cocktail is named after one of the most famous double-crosses of all time: when Brutus backstabbed Julius Caesar.
Blueberries
2 oz Double Cross Vodka
0.75 oz agave nectar
1 oz pomegranate juice
Muddle 6 to 8 blueberries in a mixing glass and add vodka, agave nectar, and pomegranate juice. Shake well and pour into a martini glass. Garnish with three blueberries on a skewer.
Rabbit Hunter
This cocktail is a favorite at David Burke Kitchen, where the logo is a rabbit.
Fresh mint
1/4 oz lime juice
2 oz Spring44 Bourbon
1/4 oz ginger beer
Lightly muddle the fresh mint and lime juice in a rocks glass. Think julep muddling: the goal is to release flavor, not shred the mint. Add bourbon and ice to glass. Tumble between rocks glass and mixing glass 2 to 3 times. Top off with ice and add ginger beer to fill. There should not be a lot of ginger beer — the drink is intended to be heavy on bourbon, and the ginger beer is to act as a sweetener and add carbonation.
The Bob
This is a seasonal drink using frozen apple cubes as ice. as you drink it, the idea is that you “bob” for the apples, which have been soaked and frozen in Van Gogh Dutch Caramel Vodka.
Apple cubes
Van Gogh Dutch Caramel Vodka
1.5 oz Breckenridge Bourbon
1 oz apple cider
0.5 oz Stirrings Apple
Cut apple cubes between 1/2 and 3/4 inches per side. Some of the apple can retain skins and the cubes do not need to be perfectly square. Soak in vodka and put in freezer.
Add bourbon, cider, and Stirrings Apple in a highball glass. Fill with apple ice and top with cider. There shouldn’t be more than 10 to 12 apple cubes per drink.
