Cocktail: Honey Bourbon Apple Cider

This is a last-minute bonus cocktail that I wasn't planning for this week, but I made it last night and thought it was a good complement to the How Do You Like Dem Apples cocktail, especially for those bourbon fans out there.

In yesterday's all-apple edition of The Feed, I wrote about a Bon Appétit recipe for an apple cocktail with bourbon and honey. Apples and honey are a traditional combination for Rosh Hashanah--which just happens to be today (well, last night through tomorrow night).

I found this recipe on the Urban Sacred Garden blog and tweaked it a bit, upping the apple cider and honey syrup and adding additional bitters. The Bon Appétit recipe used a spiced honey syrup, which sounded good, but for simplicity, it's really easier to use spiced cocktail bitters like Angostura and Fee Brothers Barrel-Aged Bitters, which give the drink a wonderful spiciness.

Honey Bourbon Apple Cider
Adapted from a recipe by Urban Sacred Garden

1 1/2 oz. bourbon
1/2 oz. Laird's Applejack (or other apple brandy)
3/4 oz. honey syrup (see note)
2 oz. non-alcoholic apple cider
1-2 dashes Angostura bitters
1-2 dashes Fee Brothers Whiskey Barrel-Aged bitters
Orange peel (garnish)

Note: To make honey syrup, combine 2 parts honey with 1 part hot water and stir until mixed with an even consistency.

Combine the bourbon, Applejack, honey syrup, apple cider and bitters in a cocktail shaker. Add ice and shake until cold. Strain into a rocks glass with ice. Squeeze the orange peel over the drank and garnish the glass with it.