Blueberry Old Fashioned – Blueberry Hill Thrill

I’m repeating flavors from earlier this week, but since I’m trying to use up odds and ends of my syrups and infusions, and just started back up to my day job, I’m taking it easy on myself with this Blueberry Old Fashioned.

Again, I’m pairing blueberry and rhubarb simple syrups. Both are favorites of mine. If you’re a donut fiend, you might also enjoy my Blueberry Cake Donut cocktail which I had so much fun creating and drinking. And a couple of days ago, I made a Rhubarb Blueberry Smash that was also quick and fun to create as well.

But for this cocktail I wanted to keep things simple and fast.  I also wanted the whiskey to remain very evident in the cocktail, so I didn’t overwhelm the cocktail lots of different flavors, just ones that support and uplift the whiskey. For the base spirit I used Old Forester rye. I chose it because I think it’s a great value for the flavor – I’m worried they’ll raise the price as it’s so good. I get a lot of baking spices like cinnamon and some fruitiness on the finish. It was a great pick for the cocktail when I’m adding fruits I might also find in a pie.

Old Fashioneds are always my fall back cocktail when I need something to put together that lets me keep the whiskey in the forefront. My favorite ratio is 2 ounces of bourbon or rye to ½ ounce of simple syrup, and because I wanted to combine simples, I used just a quarter ounce each of rhubarb and blueberry syrup.

While you can easily make your own blueberry syrup (easy recipe here, but it makes a lot), I had a bottle of Monin’s blueberry syrup to work with.

If you’re making an old fashioned you must have a good bitter to support the cocktail and make sure you don’t tip the scale to too sweet. In this case, I went with a few drops of Tiki bitters and about 6 drops of Scrappy’s cardamom bitters. The cardamom is an interesting spice to add with whiskey. Personally, I enjoy it as it’s not a common flavor I find in the spirit and it’s one that many people know, but can’t always verbalize, so it’s fun to watch them try to and figure out what they’re tasting.

Blueberry Rhubarb Old Fashioned – Blueberry Hill Thrill

Heather Wibbels

Blueberry and rhubarb match well with rye whiskey in this easy riff on an old fashioned. Adding in some cardamom and tiki bitters cuts the sweetness but doesn’t compete with the whiskey.

5 from 2 votes

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Course Drinks

Cuisine Bourbon Cocktail

Servings 1

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 2 oz bourbon or rye I used Old Forester rye
• ¼ oz rhubarb syrup
• ¼ oz blueberry syrup
• 2 dashes Bittermens’ Tiki bitters
• 6 drops Scrappy’s cardamom bitters
• Garnish: fresh blueberries

Instructions

 

• Combine whiskey, syrups and bitters in a mixing glass and fill with ice. Stir until well-chilled, for about 30 seconds. Strain into an old fashioned glass with ice and garnish with a skewer of blueberries. If you’d like, drop a few blueberries in the cocktail as well. They’ll be fun to fish out later after they’ve infused in the cocktail while you’re drinking it.

Notes

**Rhubarb Syrup

• 2 c chopped rhubarb
• 1 c sugar
• 1 c water

Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Turn down and let simmer for at least 20 minutes, or until the rhubarb breaks down and becomes mushy. Strain through a colander, then a fine mesh sieve to get as much of the rhubarb solids out as possible. Reserve the solids for use on baked goods, ice cream or as garnish on a lovely salmon steak. Store in the fridge for 2-3 weeks.

Keyword blueberry, cardamom, rhubarb, rye, rye whiskey

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