End-of-Summer Cocktail: Whiskey Peach Smash Straight Up Cocktails

Nora Maynard
Nora Maynard
Nora Maynard is a freelance writer based in New York City. Her recent work has appeared in Salon, Drunken Boat, and The Millions. She recently completed her ninth marathon and her first novel, Burnt Hill Road. Nora wrote for The Kitchn from 2006 to 2011.
updated May 3, 2019
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(Image credit: Apartment Therapy)

As summer cools and mellows into fall, it’s time to begin shifting the way we eat – and drink. Why not celebrate the Autumnal Equinox with a cocktail that mixes the best of both seasons?

A warm/cool, tart/sweet concoction of muddled peach, mint, and lemon, shaken together with whiskey and a touch of simple syrup for balancing sweetness, the Whiskey Peach Smash is the perfect sipper for this transitional time of year.

Maybe it’s something about whiskey’s rich, amber color and subtle warmth that makes it such a natural for fall cocktails. (It should come as no surprise that the U.S. Senate chose to honor the most traditionally American whiskey, bourbon, by declaring September National Bourbon Heritage Month!) And with the last of summer’s plush, tangy peaches still available in farmer’s markets, and mint still thriving before the first frost, the Whiskey Peach Smash fits the bill.

Close cousins of the Mint Julep (back in 1862, father of the cocktail,

Jerry Thomas

muddled – they are traditionally made with brandy, gin, or whiskey, combined with sugar, water, mint, and ice.
(Image credit: Apartment Therapy)

This particular recipe, designed by cocktail legend, Dale Degroff, brings the Smash into the 21st Century:

Whiskey Peach Smash (adapted from Dale Degroff, The Craft of the Cocktail)
makes one drink

1/2 peach, cut into thick slices
3 or 4 fresh mint leaves
1 lemon wedge
1 ounce water
1/2 ounce simple syrup
2 ounces whiskey (Degroff suggests Canadian whiskey, but bourbon also works well)
1 sprig mint
1 thin peach slice for garnish

Muddle all ingredients except whiskey in a cocktail shaker. Add ice and whiskey. Shake and strain into an ice-filled old fashioned glass and garnish with a peach slice and a sprig of mint.

What’s your favorite way to toast the start of fall?

Related: Using Shiso in Cocktails

(Images: Nora Maynard)

-Nora (nora (at) apartmenttherapy (dot) com)

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