How to Make the Perfect Harvest Bramble Sour

Welcome to Episode 88 of Thirsty Thursday Cocktails on Your Bourbon Journey! Tonight, Rebecca crafts The Harvest Bramble Sour, a crisp, layered amaro-sour hybrid designed to celebrate late-season fruit, robust Indiana grain, and bittersweet alpine botanicals.

By pairing the 100-proof backbone of Starlight Bottled-in-Bond Bourbon with the rich, jammy depth of Starlight Blackberry Whiskey, this cocktail skips cloying syrups in favor of complexity. Amaro Nonino adds an elegant, bitter-orange mid-palate, fresh lemon juice provides a vibrant sour snap, and orchard plum bitters tie the entire autumn profile together.

If you love spirit-forward whiskey sours with depth, balance, and a dry, sophisticated finish, this is your new go-to fall cocktail.

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🥃 THE RECIPE: The Harvest Bramble Sour

  • 1.50 oz Starlight Bottled-in-Bond Bourbon
  • 0.75 oz Starlight Blackberry Whiskey
  • 0.75 oz Amaro Nonino Quintessentia
  • 0.50 oz Fresh Lemon Juice (double strained)
  • 2 dashes Fee Brothers Plum Bitters
  • Garnish: Luxardo Maraschino Cherry

🚨REMEMBER TO ALWAYS DRINK RESPONSIBLY🚨

NOTE: The spirits and items in this review were purchased by us. We were not compensated by the producers for this review. 

#Bourbon #CocktailRecipe #WhiskeySour #YourBourbonJourney #StarlightDistillery #AmaroNonino #CraftCocktails #BourbonCocktails #ThirstyThursday #FallCocktails #Mixology #HomeBartender #BrambleSour #WhiskeyLovers #CocktailHour

The Ultimate Summer Bourbon Sour: The Solstice Sour Recipe

Welcome to Episode 76 of Thirsty Thursday Cocktails on Your Bourbon Journey! 

Tonight, we are celebrating the official arrival of summer with the Solstice Sour—a deep, complex, and refreshing Amaro-Sour hybrid. If you are ready to move away from overly sweet, bright orchard fruit drinks and step into a sophisticated, highly structured cocktail that stays crisp on hot June nights, this is the pour for yourself.

In this video, we split the base between an incredible high-proof bourbon and a world-class Italian amaro. We are anchoring this expanded build with a full two ounces of Old Grand-Dad 114 Single Barrel (the 7-Year expression), giving the drink an amazing backbone, seasoned oak notes, and a velvety mouthfeel. We pair that punchy proof with Amaro Montenegro, which weaves in a lower-proof botanical complexity of bitter orange peel, coriander, and soft vanilla to mirror a perfect summer sunset. Balanced with fresh squeezed lemon juice, rich Demerara syrup, and dark stone-fruit plum bitters, this spirit-forward cocktail finishes incredibly long, complex, and completely dry.

Grab a bottle of OGD 114, press some fresh citrus, and mix this up tonight. 

Cheers to welcoming summer in all its glory!

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🛒 Featured Cocktail Ingredients & Tools

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Check out the links below!

🎓 Want to earn a FREE Whiskey Certificate? Start your bourbon education journey with Whiskey University today! Take your first steps here: https://www.whiskeyuniv.com/first-steps

📋 The Solstice Sour Recipe & Ingredients

  • 2 oz Straight Bourbon Whiskey (Featured: Old Grand-Dad 114 Single Barrel 7-Year)
  • 0.75 oz Amaro Montenegro
  • 0.50 oz Fresh Lemon Juice (Always test your lemons for tartness!)
  • 0.50 oz Demerara Syrup
  • 3 Dashes Fee Brothers Plum Cocktail Bitters
  • Garnish: Skewered Luxardo Cherry

🛠️ Step-by-Step Instructions

  1. Combine: Add the bourbon, Amaro Montenegro, fresh lemon juice, Demerara syrup, and plum bitters directly into your cocktail shaking tin.
  2. Shake: Add clean, hard ice and shake vigorously for 15 to 20 seconds until well-chilled and aerated.
  3. Serve: Strain the cocktail over a single large, clear ice ball into a double rocks glass.
  4. Garnish: Express fresh lemon oils over the rim (discard the peel), top with a skewered Luxardo cherry, and enjoy!

🚨REMEMBER TO ALWAYS DRINK RESPONSIBLY🚨

NOTE: The spirits and items in this review were purchased by us. We were not compensated by the producers for this review. 

#BourbonCocktails #WhiskeySour #OldGrandDad114 #AmaroMontenegro #YourBourbonJourney #ThirstyThursdayCocktails #SummerCocktails #AmaroSour #CraftCocktailRecipes #BourbonDrinks #CocktailHour #HomeBartender #WhiskeyLovers #SolsticeSour #LuxardoCherry