Let Me Take You Down

Concocting a Late-Summer Smash

It might just be because people tended to pen mixology history a few rounds in, but most origin tales in the cocktail world blur if you drink them too deeply. Take the smash, which isn’t just what any self-respecting Hulk might care to do, but a style of cocktail kicking around for over 150 years.

Juleps were probably the original smashes, but the style has become a subject of interpretation ever since. Want some other green besides mint? Sure! Care to have bourbon and not brandy in your julep? Well, nobody really used brandy for them after Professor Jerry Thomas in the first bartending book. (Not to mention that importing French brandy got expensive and domestically there was Kentucky bourbon to be had.)

Let’s put it this way: Making a drink should be about pleasure, so follow your boozy passion. Simply mix some spirit, some herb, some sugar, some seasonal fruit. Since it’s late summer, I thought it’s time for berries, and while this recipe is built around strawberries, it works fine with blackberries if that’s what you grow or spy at the farmers market. Not only are strawberries seasonal, they are local par excellence—pretty much every year they are the top agricultural crop for Santa Barbara County. I’ll drink to that.

As sweet as peak-season berries can be, they play well cut with some savory notes—think balsamic vinegar and strawberries over vanilla ice cream, say. The Let Me Take You Down Cocktail takes advantage of that flavor profile by using another bumper summer crop, basil, and on top of that some grinds of black pepper. That slap of spice gives the drink a bit of a kick and a lot more dimension, so don’t leave it out. As you probably know as an Edible reader, basil and mint are both part of the Lamiaceae plant family, so in some ways are similar in flavor. Basil, however, leans savory while mint often comes off as sweet (partially because we use it in so many sweet things, from chewing gum to those delightful juleps in our second paragraph).

Since this issue’s drink also includes simple syrup, you don’t need to keep building the sweet side with other ingredients. Simple syrup always ups a cocktail’s viscosity, beyond just bringing the sugar. Think about how berry preserves can seem berrier than the fruit itself—that’s what you’re shooting for. You also cut that sweet with the lemon juice, although if you use Meyer lemons it’s not as puckering as some citrus varieties, of course. Instead, you keep achieving a kind of balance.

The liquor at the heart of the drink is also notable for its poise: Cutler’s Artisan Spirits Stagecoach Whiskey. This blend of high-rye and high-corn whiskeys aged for seven years is mellow and welcoming; some have suggested it’s a gateway drink for those unsure of dark liquor. It certainly is a satisfying summer pour, bringing enough caramel, vanilla and baking spice notes to please even connoisseurs. At a moderate 80 proof, it even allows for weekend day drinking.