Tag: orange bitters

rye

The Bride Wore Red Cocktail| A Whiskey and Wine Cocktail Made with a Cranberry Red Wine Reduction Syrup

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The Bride Wore Red cocktail is an amazing whiskey and wine drink made with a cranberry red wine reduction syrup. It's spicy and sweet with amazing complexity and warmth. It's quite possibly the best cocktail for the colder months ahead.

The Bride Wore Red cocktail is an amazing whiskey and wine drink made with a cranberry red wine reduction syrup. It’s spicy and sweet with amazing complexity and warmth. It’s quite possibly the best cocktail for the colder months ahead.

Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links. If you buy a product via my affiliate link, I will receive a commission. This is at no additional cost to you. I only recommend products I actually like!

One of the best things about colder weather is the rich meals and drinks. The recipe for The Bride Wore Red feels like a combination of both. Warm, spicy rye whiskey + rich red wine + tart cranberry sauce + warm spices… is your mouth watering yet? This drink does require a little more effort, especially in comparison to the rest of my super easy beginner-level cocktails, but it is well worth the extra work. Plus you’ll be able to use up that cranberry sauce that always seems to linger longer than the rest of the Thanksgiving and Christmas leftovers.

To learn how to make the cranberry red wine reduction syrup (the star of this cocktail recipe IMO), you can check out the recipe post here. The great thing about it is that you change up the spices, too. Love the taste of star anise? Add some. Hate cardamom? Leave it out.

My inspiration for The Bride Wore Red cocktail was a bit of a journey. The first recipe that came to mind when I got a new bottle (actually, my first-ever bottle) of rye was to make the New York Sour again. The last time I made it, I used corn whiskey and I didn’t like it. I figured I should give that classic cocktail a fair shot.

But then I looked up some other classic rye cocktails and the Vieux CarrĂ© and the Saratoga caught my eye. The Bride Wore Red cocktail was inspired by those and the New York Sour. I may be biased, but it turned out dang good. I’ll admit I had to play with the ratios a bit because that cranberry red wine reduction syrup is sweet. But as is the case with every cocktail recipe, feel free to adjust the ratios to your own liking, too.

Speaking of adjusting the recipe, you can use your favorite whiskey instead of rye if you want. I do think the spiciness of the rye balances out the sweetness of the cranberry red wine reduction syrup. But I think it will work well with bourbon or Irish whiskey, too.

The Bride Wore Red cocktail is an amazing whiskey and wine drink made with a cranberry red wine reduction syrup. It's spicy and sweet with amazing complexity and warmth. It's quite possibly the best cocktail for the colder months ahead.

The rye that I used is called the Dorothy Arzner Straight Rye Whiskey. Dorothy Arzner was the first woman to direct a sound film and she was also the first woman to join the Directors Guild of America. She directed many famous films such as The Bride Wore Red, Merrily We Go to Hell, Christopher Strong, and Dance, Girl Dance. It seemed only fitting to name this cocktail after one of her movies.

Do you have any other favorite cold-weather cocktails? Let me know in a comment– I’m always down for trying out new cocktail recipes. And if you make The Bride Wore Red, please please please tag me on Instagram!

The Bride Wore Red cocktail is an amazing whiskey and wine drink made with a cranberry red wine reduction syrup. It's spicy and sweet with amazing complexity and warmth. It's quite possibly the best cocktail for the colder months ahead.

Ingredients for The Bride Wore Red – A Whiskey and Wine Cocktail

  • 1 1/2 oz rye whiskey
  • 3/4 oz brandy
  • 1/3 oz cranberry red wine reduction syrup (find the recipe here)
  • 1 dash cardamom bitters
  • 1 dash orange bitters
  • dehydrated orange slice, to garnish

How to Make a The Bride Wore Red Cocktail

Add all ingredients, except for the orange slice, to a cocktail glass with a large ice cube. Stir using a bar spoon. Place a fresh large ice cube into a lowball glass. Strain the cocktail into the glass. Garnish with a dehydrated orange slice.

The Bride Wore Red

The Bride Wore Red cocktail is an amazing whiskey and wine cocktail made with a cranberry red wine reduction syrup. It's spicy and sweet with amazing complexity and warmth. It's quite possibly the best cocktail for the colder months ahead.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 3 mins
Course Drinks
Servings 1

Equipment

  • cocktail glass
  • bar spoon

Ingredients
  

  • 1½ oz rye whiskey
  • ¾ oz brandy
  • â…“ oz cranberry red wine reduction syrup*
  • 1 dash cardamom bitters
  • 1 dash orange bitters

Instructions
 

  • Add all ingredients, except for the orange slice, to a cocktail glass with a large ice cube.
  • Stir using a bar spoon.
  • Place a fresh large ice cube into a lowball glass.
  • Strain the cocktail into the glass.
  • Garnish with a dehydrated orange slice.

Notes

*You can find the recipe for the cranberry red wine reduction syrup here. It’s a great way to use leftover cranberry sauce.
Keyword apple brandy, cardamom bitters, cranberry red wine reduction for cocktails, cranberry red wine reduction syrup, cranberry sauce, orange bitters, rye, rye whiskey, whiskey, whiskey and wine cocktail

If you love the idea of a whiskey and wine cocktail, check out the Gin & Cabernet Sour. It’s one of my all-time favorites.

The Bride Wore Red cocktail is an amazing whiskey and wine drink made with a cranberry red wine reduction syrup. It's spicy and sweet with amazing complexity and warmth. It's quite possibly the best cocktail for the colder months ahead.
Revolver | A bourbon and coffee cocktail with 3 ingredients
bourbon

Revolver | An Easy Bourbon and Coffee Cocktail

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The Revolver is a bourbon and coffee cocktail made with only 3 ingredients. It's a delicious and simple way to celebrate the unique flavors of bourbon.

The Revolver is a unique cocktail made with bourbon and coffee liqueur. It was created by a famous bartender out in San Fransisco named Jon Santer around 2003. It was originally made using Bulleit Bourbon, a rye-heavy & spicy bourbon, but since the nation is on lockdown due to COVID-19, just use whatever bourbon or whiskey you’ve got.

Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links. If you buy a product via my affiliate link, I will receive a commission. This is at no additional cost to you. I only recommend products I actually like! 

If you’re curious about what the difference between bourbon and whiskey is, bourbon HAS to be: 1) made in America, 2) made of at least 51% corn, and 3) stored in new charred-oak barrels without any additives. So, all bourbon is whiskey, but not all whiskey is bourbon. Ya follow? There are a lot of interesting laws in place about how to properly name and create certain liquors, aren’t there?

The Revolver is a bourbon and coffee cocktail made with only 3 ingredients. It's a delicious and simple way to celebrate the unique flavors of bourbon.

I don’t have any bourbon in my bar cart at the moment but I DO have a corn whiskey. Baby Blue from Balcones is 100% corn, additive-free, aged for 6 months in oak barrels. But since it’s not stored in new or charred oak barrels, it’s not considered a bourbon. At least that’s my understanding. I eventually do want to try this recipe the way the bartender intended it to be made.

If you don’t have an old coffee liqueur in your bar cart (or maybe it’s real old… like, older than 2-3 years), I’ve got an easy and instant recipe for homemade coffee liqueur using either vodka or rum. If you are rationing your bar staples, halve or third the recipe.

The Revolver is a bourbon and coffee cocktail made with only 3 ingredients. It's a delicious and simple way to celebrate the unique flavors of bourbon.

I’m also out of orange bitters, which the recipe calls for, so I just used Angostura bitters and tried to squeeze a little extra oil from the orange rind to get a little more orange oil flav. We’re working with what we got here, Jon. Don’t hate me for having to alter your drink.

The original recipe also calls for a flamed orange peel. I followed the instructions in this video:

Here’s footage from my first-ever flamed orange peel attempt. Aside from the shoddy camera work, I did alright! I’ll admit, I was actually nervous (as evidenced by the recoil) but I survived. And with all body hair intact, too. I’d say that’s a win. Shout out to my nail polish! Death Valley Nails is a company owned by my friend out in LA. All of DVN polish is 10-free, vegan, nontoxic, cruelty-free, and hand-mixed. AND it performs better than any nail polish I ever used. Scout’s honor.

The Revolver is a bourbon and coffee cocktail made with only 3 ingredients. Jon Santer created this simple and unique cocktail. He serves his with a flamed orange peel- I suggest you do the same.

The Ingredients for a Revolver

The Ingredients I Resorted To

  • 2 oz corn whiskey (Balcones’ Baby Blue is 100% Corn so it’s gluten-free! Celiacs rejoice!)
  • 1/2 oz coffee liqueur
  • 2 dashes Angostura bitters
  • flamed orange peel

The How-To

Add bourbon, coffee liqueur, and bitters to a shaker or large glass filled with ice. Stir until very cold and blended. Strain into a Nick and Nora glass* or a coupe glass. You don’t have to flame the orange peel, but why not. I know “sheltering in place” has you anxious for some sort of entertainment and excitement.

Get a large swath of orange peel (1 inch by 2 inches). Warm the peel up by holding the flame of a match or lighter close to it. Then, carefully squeeze the peel. The oils from the peel should spray through the flame into the glass. It’ll be a small spurt of fire, nothing crazy. Rub the peel along the rim of the glass to get even more smokey orange goodness going. You can discard the peel or place it in the drink.

*A Nick and Nora glass is a small glass that looks like a mix between a wine glass and a coupe glass in my opinion. Totally adorable. They’re typically used to serve cocktails without citrus juice in them, but who’s to say you couldn’t drink chocolate milk out of one? Fun fact: these glasses get their name from the two characters in the movie The Thin Man. They sipped their cocktails out of this style of glass back in the 1930s and made the glassware popular as a result.

The Revolver is a bourbon and coffee cocktail made with only 3 ingredients. It's a delicious and simple way to celebrate the unique flavors of bourbon.