Industry insiders offer recipes, expert tips for simple at-home cocktails

By Kristen Kuchar

There’s nothing quite like sipping a well-made cocktail at a welcoming tasting room or trendy cocktail lounge. But if you’re new to mixing a drink at home, it’s easy to feel a bit intimidated. Fortunately, we’ve reached out to four local distilleries to get their cocktail creation insight, a favorite recipe and a pro tip.

Cherry Ginger Smash
Leopold Bros.

2 oz. Leopold Bros. Michigan Cherry Whiskey
1 oz. fresh lemon juice
.5 oz. simple syrup or agave nectar
1-2 small cubes of peeled ginger root
lemon peel or lemon wheel garnish

How to make it: In a cocktail shaker, muddle 1-2 small cubes of peeled ginger root with simple syrup or agave nectar. Add Leopold Bros. Michigan Cherry Whiskey, fresh lemon juice and ice. Shake until cold. Strain into double old-fashioned glass over fresh ice. Garnish with lemon peel or lemon wheel. Optional garnish of ginger root.

Expert Cocktail Tip: Place the least expensive ingredients in first in case you make a mistake and have to start over.

Hacedor Margarita Reposado
State 38 Distilling

1.5 oz Hacedor Reposado
.5 oz orange liqueur
Sour mix
Dash of lemon & orange bitters
Lime wedge and/or jalapeño

How to make it: Chili lime salt on the glass rim. Add Blanco, orange liqueur, sour mix and bitters to a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a salt-rimmed glass with crushed ice. Garnish with a lime wedge and a jalapeño slice.

Expert Cocktail Tip: Adding a floating garnish isn’t just for looks. It enhances the experience through sight, taste, and smell while sipping.

Rural Juror
Highlands Distillery

3 blackberries
1.5 oz gin
2 teaspoons apple butter
0.5 oz lemon shrub
Fill ice
About 4 ounces of Izze blackberry soda

How to make it: Muddle 3 blackberries in a highball glass. Mix the ingredients in the glass and stir. Garnish with a buzz button and dried persimmon clothespinned to the side of glass

Expert Cocktail Tip: Balance in a cocktail is important and often individual. For your own tastes, try to balance acidity and sweetness, bitterness and salinity. When you find your balance, you’ll start making cocktails you’ll love. With the Rural Juror, we knew we wanted to make a cocktail with apple butter, which has a lot of sweetness and a little bit of salt. The rest of our ingredients lean on bitter and sour flavors to round it out, and we toss a buzz button on the rim to elevate the whole experience.

Classic Daiquiri
Montanya Distillers

2.5 oz Montanya Platino Rum
1 fresh lime, juiced
.5 - 1 oz simple syrup

How to make it: Shake with ice and strain into a coupe glass.

Expert Cocktail Tip: One of the best pieces of advice we can give is to use fresh, organic ingredients. This will significantly improve the overall flavor of the drink and keep any cocktail from being too sweet. Fresh garnishes always make the best presentation as well.

Kristen Kuchar is a freelance writer covering food, libations, music and other Colorado gatherings.