Gold Rush
Shake ∙ 3 min ∙ 19.7% ABV ∙
The Gold Rush is a shaken bourbon sour of lemon juice and honey syrup, shaken with a swath of grapefruit zest and served over ice. Silky and dense from the honey, it pours thick over ice with a citrus snap that sharpens into a warm, lingering finish.
Ingredients
1
Servings
Garnish
Instructions for 1 serving
- Pre-chill a glass
- Shake all ingredients with ice: Bourbon 60 mlLemon juice 20 mlHoney syrup 20 mlGrapefruit zest 1 swathSaline solution 1 dash
- Fine strain into the ice-filled glass
- Express a lemon twist over the cocktail and discard
- Garnish with a lemon wedge
Tips
- Warm the honey syrup slightly if it's stiff from the fridge, so it blends smoothly into the citrus instead of clumping.
- Add the optional dash of saline solution last and taste — it sharpens the honey and lemon without reading as salty.
- Fine-strain into the ice-filled glass to keep the lemon zest and any pulp out of the finished drink.
History
The Gold Rush was created around 2000 at Milk & Honey, the Lower East Side speakeasy-style bar opened in 1999 by Sasha Petraske. It was devised not by a bartender but by T.J. Siegal, a childhood friend of Petraske's, who was sitting at the bar one night after work and asked for his usual bourbon sour to be made with a honey syrup Petraske had recently prepared for another drink, rather than the standard simple syrup. Petraske built it using his house sour formula of two parts spirit to one part citrus to three-quarters part sweetener, and the honey syrup itself, a rich three-to-one honey-to-water mix, was refined by Toby Maloney, the bar's first hired bartender. Siegal named the resulting drink the Gold Rush, choosing a name meant to evoke a feeling rather than reference its ingredients or origin. The cocktail became one of Milk & Honey's signature creations and later spread widely as a modern bar-classic variation on the whiskey sour.
FAQ
What are the ingredients in a Gold Rush?
A Gold Rush is bourbon, fresh lemon juice, and honey syrup, shaken with a swath of grapefruit zest and served over ice. This build also uses an optional dash of saline solution to sharpen the flavors, finishing with an expressed lemon twist and a lemon wedge garnish.
Is a Gold Rush easy to make at home?
Yes, it only takes a shaker, ice, and three main ingredients: bourbon, lemon juice, and honey syrup. The trickiest part is the honey syrup, which needs to be pre-mixed with water so it dissolves fully instead of clumping in the cold shaker.
What whiskey is best for a Gold Rush?
A mid-proof, slightly sweet bourbon works best, since it needs enough backbone to stand up to the honey and lemon without turning harsh. Avoid very high-proof or heavily oaked bottles, which can overwhelm the honey syrup's sweetness in this build.
What is the difference between a Whiskey Sour and a Gold Rush?
A Whiskey Sour is whiskey, lemon juice, and sugar, often with egg white, while a Gold Rush swaps the sugar for honey syrup and is served over ice rather than up. The honey gives the Gold Rush a rounder, less sharp sweetness than the classic sour.
What is the difference between a Gold Rush and a Penicillin?
A Penicillin adds ginger and a float of smoky Scotch to a similar honey-lemon base, giving it spice and smoke that the Gold Rush does not have. The Gold Rush stays simpler, built on bourbon with just honey syrup and lemon.
