Bourbon Smash
A sour and herbal whiskey cocktail ∙ Muddle; Shake ∙ 4 min ∙ 19.1% ABV ∙
The Bourbon Smash is a bourbon sour with muddled fresh mint, lemon juice and sugar syrup, shaken and served over ice.
Ingredients
1
Servings
Garnish
Instructions for 1 serving
- Pre-chill a glass
- In the base of the shaker, lightly muddle: Fresh mint leaves 10 pcs
- Add the remaining ingredients and shake with ice: Bourbon 60 mlLemon juice 25 mlSugar syrup 15 mlSaline solution 1 dash (opt.)
- Fine strain into the ice-filled glass
- Garnish with a mint sprig
Tips
- Muddle the 10 mint leaves on their own for 5-8 seconds before anything else goes in; press just enough to release the oils, not to shred them.
History
The Bourbon Smash belongs to the Smash family of cocktails, a muddled offshoot of the Mint Julep first documented in American bar guides of the mid-1800s. Drinks historian David Wondrich traces the Smash's first appearance to the mid-1840s, after which brandy and whiskey versions became common through the 1850s. Bartender Jerry Thomas included a Smash recipe in his 1862 guide How to Mix Drinks, describing it as a smaller-scale Julep. Harry Johnson's 1882 manual later printed several Smashes of its own, still built on mint, sugar, and water and finished with seasonal fruit.
The style faded after the Civil War era but was revived and popularized in its whiskey form in New York by bartender Dale DeGroff, who reworked the recipe to include muddled lemon alongside the mint. The Bourbon Smash reflects this whiskey-based branch of the Smash lineage, distinguished from the Mint Julep by its added citrus.
FAQ
What is in a bourbon smash?
Bourbon (60 ml), fresh mint (10 leaves), lemon juice (25 ml), and sugar syrup (15 ml), plus an optional dash of saline solution.
What makes a smash cocktail a smash?
A smash muddles fresh herbs or fruit in the shaker before the spirit and sugar go in, releasing their oils and juice. In the Bourbon Smash that ingredient is fresh mint, muddled lightly on its own.
How do you make a bourbon smash?
Lightly muddle the mint in the shaker, add bourbon, lemon juice, sugar syrup, and the optional saline, and shake with ice. Fine-strain over fresh ice in an old-fashioned glass and garnish with a mint sprig.
What is the difference between a bourbon smash and a bourbon sour?
The mint. A Bourbon Smash is the bourbon, lemon, and syrup of a Bourbon Sour with fresh mint muddled in, which gives it a cool, herbal edge. Both are shaken.
