There aren’t many things that compete with summer in the South. Long days and bare feet, vegetable gardens, music festivals, ice cream trucks, lightning bugs, cookouts, pool parties- summer teems with activities and occasions to slow down and catch up with neighbors and old friends.
Quite by accident, we’ve developed a Friday evening thing where neighbors and friends come over for drinks and we sit outside and talk about how the gardens are growing or a new restaurant, or how our kids are doing. It’s the thing I most love about where we live. People here take their cues from nature and slow down a bit in the summer.
This summer, I’m posting our favorite cocktail recipes if you want to host a get-together of your own, or if you just want a cocktail to sit by the pool with while you read a really great book.
The Tennessee Summer is one of my favorites and an excellent introductory bourbon cocktail because it’s sweet and the basil and blackberry are the forward flavors. You have to careful though, this one can sneak up on you and the next thing you know you’re performing Carrie Underwood songs for half the neighborhood.
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Bourbon Cocktail: Tennessee Summer
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Total Time: 5 minutes
- Yield: 1 1x
- Category: Cocktails
- Method: Shaken
Description
The Tennessee Summer is a heady mix of some of my favorite summer produce- blackberries and basil. Bourbon is the spirit, but it isn’t “bourbon-y” if you’re afraid it might be too strong. One of these and you’ll be ready for a night watching lightning bugs and listening to good music.
Ingredients
- 2 ounces bourbon
- 1/2 ounce simple syrup
- 1/2 ounce lime juice
- 1/2 ounce elderflower liqueur
- 6–7 blackberries
- 6–7 basil leaves
Instructions
- Muddle the blackberries in a cocktail shaker.
- Add all the remaining ingredients to the shaker and add ice.
- Shake for 45 seconds.
- Strain into a highball glass with and add ice.
Notes
- We use ice spheres or large cubes. It makes for a really pretty drink, and the technical reason is for proper dilution. HOWEVER, ice from your freezer will work just as well.
Keywords: bourbon, blackberries, basil, cocktail, summer