We’ve just had our first cool weather of the season and I’m suddenly ready to start mixing up some brown spirits in my Smashes. Here’s one that matches some late summer fruit flavors with the fall-appropriate oakiness of bourbon, a Basil-Mint Peach Bourbon Smash. – Andrew

Basil-Mint Peach Bourbon Smash

2 oz Bourbon
1/2 oz Simple Syrup
1/2 oz Lemon Juice
2 slices Peach
10 Basil and Mint Leaves

Muddle the basil and mint leaves and simple syrup in the bottom of a shaker until the leaves are ground up into bits (don’t worry if some end up in the glass). Fill the shaker two-thirds with ice and add the bourbon, lemon juice, and peach slices. Shake well to pulverize the peach slices. Strain into a lowball glass filled with fresh ice and garnish with more peach slices and fresh mint or basil. Enjoy!

This is a nice sipper, sweet and just a bit tart and full of big fruit and herbal flavors, backed by a soft oaky richness from the bourbon.

Shaking a Smash can be a bit tricky. I use a Cobbler shaker, a three-piece shaker with a built-in strainer that was designed for shaking up Cobblers, a family of drinks not all that different from Smashes. But all those herbs and pieces of fruit can gum up the strainer. This is why I recommend shaking up whole pieces of peach instead of muddling them, which just pulps them up and makes this worse. It also helps to use the biggest, squarest ice cubes you can fit into your shaker – look for a silicone ice cube tray for making square cubes – which seems to help your drink flow more smoothly when pouring.

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Glassware by Liquorary

Photo Credits: Nole Garey for Oh So Beautiful Paper