Evergreen Old Fashioned
Introduction:
I’ve only had one pine-like old fashioned before in my life, and wanted to eventually recreate it. I was reminded of this when our friend Camille was on our porch picking baby spruce tips, exclaiming how good of simple syrup they make. Her recipe was letting a jar full of spruce tips and brown sugar sit for a month: I couldn’t wait that long. I was quick to make a regular simple with a hand full of tips within ten minutes. It turned out to be one great old fashioned to drink in the forest.
Ingredients:
- 2 oz. bourbon
- ½ oz. spruce tip simple
- few drop of orange bitters
- Lemon peel and/or spruce tip
Preparation:
Spruce simple: 1 cup water, 1 cup sugar and a hand full of baby spruce tips simmering for ~10 minutes.
Stir all ingredients with ice, pour into old fashioned glass with a large rock. Freeze a lemon slice into rock for extra credit and awesome aesthetics.
Notes:
I was damn surprised how smooth this drink is. The spruce really cuts the bourbon well. Not proud of this, but I used cheap bourbon and it was still delicious.
I currently have a jar full of spruce tips and brown sugar. Will attempt this again in a month and see what kind of drink it creates.
This is, unfortunately, a seasonal drink. I was able to pick baby tips at the peak end of May/beginning June.