My neighborhood enjoys a weekly tradition fondly called “Brown Liquor Night.” I’m not even sure how this all started other than our resident fix-it man, crime watch extraordinaire, clever craftsman, and all around funny man needed an excuse to get all the y-chromosomes together in a way that didn’t involve sports, gambling, sweating, or manual labor.
Brown Liquor Night was born.
Many of us have outdoor fire pits or fireplaces so we engage in porch pyrotechnics on a regular basis. Brown Liquor Night just begs for some rocks glasses clinking fireside. So far the drinks flit between whiskey on the rocks or bourbon on the rocks. It’s high time to jazz things up a bit, no?
So for the gentlemen (and occasional gentle women who join the par-tay) here’s my contribution to Brown Liquor Night:
Porch Rye
1 ounce Templeton Rye
3 ounces ginger ale
2 teaspoons basil simple syrup (or a tish more if you like it sweeter like I do)
For the simple syrup:
Stir together 1 cup water, 1 cup sugar, 1 cup torn basil leaves in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir frequently and heat until sugar is dissolved. Strain into a container and chill about 30 minutes. This should keep up to a month in the fridge, but I bet you’ll use it up before then.
Mix all the ingredients together in a rocks glass filled with ice. Garnish with a basil leaf or two. If you are feeling particularly industrious, add basil leaves to an ice tray, fill with water and freeze. Voila, basil ice cubes! Go on and go all Martha Stewart on your friends.
And hey, as I write this, Mac Daddy is sipping some rye, wiping his upper lip dry, and sighing a satisfied “ahh” on a neighbor’s porch somewhere up the street.
Sidebar:
I tasted Templeton Rye for the first time at BlogHer this year. I enjoyed Raspberry Old Fashioneds (or was it Manhattans?) with some bloggers whom I adore. My cool factor was exponentially upped just by getting my boogie on with them. Cheers to Whit, Matt, Kim, Shawn, and the other amazing writers who can get a groove on as well as they can write.
Cheers, mama. If I didn't have a cold, I'd be getting the rye on witcha tonight.
I'm Whit Honea and I endorse this message.
Ah, the rye whiskey crowd. Cheers to ya!
I want to move to your neighborhood.
Yum. Sounds delish!
My grandmother would use the term "brown liquor" all the time.
Now I just made my grandmother sound like a drunk…
Hugs and Mocha,
Stesha
I love the name "brown liquor night". I'm all in!
I can tell you just how Brown Liquor Nite got started! We finally finished the front porch the same week John was given a really good bottle of Scotch as a gift. Your libation will fit right in, I think! Remember, porch lights on, time to par-tay…