Billionaire
Shake ∙ 3 min ∙ 18.6% ABV ∙
The Billionaire is a whiskey sour built on rye and bourbon, sharpened with absinthe, grenadine, and bitters, shaken and served up. Rye spice and a mint whisper lead, grenadine and sugar syrup soften the lemon's bite, and a faint absinthe anise note lingers on the dry, bitters-edged finish.
Ingredients
1
Servings
Garnish
Instructions for 1 serving
- Pre-chill a glass
- Shake all ingredients with ice: Rye whiskey 30 mlBourbon 20 mlLemon juice 30 mlGrenadine syrup 10 mlSugar syrup 10 mlAbsinthe 5 mlCreole-style bitters 2 dashesAngostura aromatic bitters 1 dashFresh mint leaves 2 pcs
- Fine strain into the chilled glass
- Garnish with a dehydrated lemon slice floated on the cocktail
Tips
- Shake all components including the absinthe and both bitters together vigorously for 12-15 seconds with full-size cubes to properly marry the two whiskeys with the citrus and grenadine.
- Rinse or dose the absinthe directly into the shaker rather than the glass so its anise note integrates evenly through the rye and bourbon rather than sitting on top.
- Fine-strain through a mesh strainer to catch mint fragments and ice shards — the two mint leaves go into the shaker whole, not muddled.
- Float the dehydrated lemon slice on the surface just before serving so it stays crisp rather than soaking through and sinking.
History
The Billionaire cocktail was created by Dushan Zaric and Jason Kosmas of Employees Only, a bar in Manhattan's West Village that helped drive New York's craft cocktail revival, in the bar's early years. The pair devised it as a showcase for overproof bourbon, building a whiskey sour style drink around the high-strength spirit; only after the recipe took shape did they notice its resemblance to the Prohibition-era Millionaire Cocktail, a name that inspired the new drink's own title as a kind of inflation-adjusted successor. The original Employees Only formula was built on Wild Turkey Rare Breed bourbon and a house-made absinthe bitters blend of absinthe, green Chartreuse, and Peychaud's bitters rather than the separate absinthe, bitters, and mint used in later adaptations. The recipe was published in Kosmas and Zaric's 2010 book on the bar's cocktails, and other bartenders have since made their own variations, including versions that swap in Campari for the grenadine.
