Gold Rush
Bourbon, lemon and honey, shaken and served over a large cube. A whiskey sour made rounder and richer by honey.
- MethodShaken
- GlassRocks (old fashioned) glass
- IceOne large cube
- Strengthabout 16.6% ABV
- BaseWhiskey
- Tastesour, sweet, strong
Recipe
| 60 ml 2 oz | Bourbon |
| 22.5 ml ¾ oz | Fresh lemon juice |
| 22.5 ml ¾ oz | Honey syrup (3:1 honey to water) |
Garnish. Usually none; a strip of lemon peel is fine if you want one.
Method
- Shake the bourbon, lemon juice and honey syrup hard with ice for 12 to 15 seconds.
- Strain over one large cube in a rocks glass.
- Taste; if it is too sharp, the honey syrup was probably too thin.
About the Gold Rush
The Gold Rush is a Whiskey Sour made with honey instead of sugar and without egg white. Honey gives it more body and a floral, slightly waxy sweetness that sits naturally with bourbon's vanilla and oak. It is three ingredients and very hard to dislike.
History
Documented
The drink comes from Milk & Honey, Sasha Petraske's bar on New York's Lower East Side, around 2000. It is credited to T. J. Siegal, a friend of Petraske's, who asked for his whiskey sour with the bar's honey syrup instead of sugar. It became a house standard and, a few years later, the starting point for the Penicillin.
Disputed or unclear: Accounts give 2000 or 2001 for the first Gold Rush.
Variations
- Penicillin. Blended Scotch, honey-ginger syrup and a smoky Islay float.
- Bee's Knees. The gin, lemon and honey drink from the Prohibition era.
- Whiskey Sour. The parent, with sugar and often egg white.
Bartender's notes
- Make the honey syrup three parts honey to one part warm water so it mixes into the cold drink.
- A bourbon around 50% ABV keeps the honey from taking over.
