BIG THANK YOU to all the amazing bartenders who entered our 2020 #HonorYourLegacy Cocktail Competition. It was tough to pick just 12 winners out of so many incredible entries. Thank you for sharing your stories and craft with us and thank you for being part of our #whiskeyfamily. Stay tuned for our 2021 cocktail calendar featuring all the winners!
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86 Dignity by Emma Kreis
1.5 oz Uncle Nearest 1856 Premium Whiskey
1 oz Lemon Juice
1 oz Sarsaparilla Syrup
Absinthe Rinsed Coupe
Syrup Instructions:
1/2 lb. Indian Sarsaparilla, dried
10 Mint Sprigs, crushed
2 quarts Water
2 quarts Granulated Sugar
Lightly toast sarsaparilla in a medium sized stockpot over an open flame, being careful not to char the sarsaparilla. Add water and mint, and bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally. Let lightly simmer for 30 minutes and remove from heat. Strain liquid into a container and whisk in the sugar. Let cool, and keep refrigerated.
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Near and Dear by Jamie Clark
2oz Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey
1oz Chicha Morada Syrup
1oz Lemon Juice
1 egg white
Shake and double strain into chilled coupe. Garnish with purple corn dust (crushed dried purple corn) and and assortment of small edible flowers.
*Chicha Morada Syrup*
Traditional Peruvian purple corn drink made into a syrup.
Place the following ingredients into large pot:
1 bag dried purple corn (Latin market or amazon)
The skin and core of 1 pineapple (save fruit for future use, or for a snack 😊) discard pineapple leaves. (Or use on your next tiki drink)
2 cinnamon sticks
2 apples, chopped
1/4 tsp cloves
2 star anise pods
4 quarts water
Bring to a boil
Simmer for 45min
Strain contents
Add 2 quarts white sugar and stir until dissolved.
Should yield about 2 quarts.
Let chill, refrigerate
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Sin of a Father by Rob Noyola
1.5oz Uncle Nearest 1856
.75oz Manzanilla Sherry
.75oz Golden Raisin Syrup*
.75oz Fresh Lemon Juice
1 Egg White
Combine all ingredients into a mixing tin, dry shake, add ice, shake the bejeezus out of it, strain into a coupe. Garnish with a lemon twist.
*Golden Raisin Syrup
Toast 1 part golden raisins, 3 cardamom pods, and 2-3 cloves in a pot until fragrant, usually 5 minutes. Add 1.5 parts Demerara sugar, and 1 part hot water into pot and turn down heat while ensuring the sugar is completely dissolved. Let it come to room temperature, fine strain into desired container, and store in your refrigerator.
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Bootstraps & Pie by Chandler Tomayko
2oz Uncle Nearest Tennessee Whiskey
.75oz fresh squeezed lemon juice
.5oz apricot brandy
.5oz pecan syrup*
2 drops orange bitters
4 sage leaves
1 sage sprig
*Pecan Syrup
Ingredients
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup toasted pecans
Directions
Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan. Heat over a low setting. Cook, stirring occasionally until sugar is dissolved. Let cool. Strain. Discard pecans or use for another recipe. Store syrup in refrigerator until needed.
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Zerizut (Hebrew) / Tōsō (Japanese) by Dylan Seo
.5 oz fresh lemon juice
.5 oz za’tar honey simple (1:1)
1.25 oz infused sake (pineapple, ginger, and turmeric)
1.5 oz Uncle Nearest 1856 (100 proof)
Soda water
Peychaud’s bitters
Combine first four ingredients in a mixing tin and shake with a large cube. Strain into a rocks glass with a matcha and honey large ice cube. Top with soda water and 5 heavy dashes of peychauds. Garnish with a dill crusted pineapple wedge and slighted toasted to bring out the aromatics and slightly caramelize the pineapple.
Infused Sake – 1liter, 100 grams of pineapple, 50 grams of fresh ginger, 40 grams fresh turmeric. Allowed to infuse for at least 48 hours.
Syrups:
Honey Za’tar Simple (1:1) – 1/2 cup water, 1/2 cup honey, 1 tablespoon of za’tar seasoning. Heat all together in a pot until the honey is fully incorporated and the za’tar fragrant, and the water is a dark walnut brown. This takes approximately 15 minutes at a low heat once the water is at a near boil.
Ice Cubes:
Matcha and Honey flavored ice: starting with 1 cup of distilled water blend in 2 tablespoons of honey and 2 teaspoons of japanese matcha green tea powder until fully incorporated. This takes approximately 1 minute at a high speed. When everything is incorporated, using a refractometer, check the brix of the solution. If it does not show a ready of 10 brix, add more water if it is over, or more matcha if it is under; making sure to thoroughly whisk after each addition before checking the brix reading again.
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The Peel Deal by Kim Stodel
In a collins glass
muddle 3-4 lime wedges
Add
.75oz Banana peel & cinnamon syrup*
1.5oz Uncle Nearest 1856
Add ice and
Top with Coconut La Croix Sparkling water
Stir to mix, garnish and enjoy!
Glass: Collins
Garnish: Dehydrated banana slice and or lime wedge
*Banana Peel and Cinnamon Syrup
150g brown sugar
150g granulated sugar
150g warm water
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 banana peel (washed and dried).
Combine ingredients in a clean bowl and mix to dissolve sugar. Cover and let sit for 4 – 8 hours. Strain into a clean sealable container. Label and refrigerate till ready for use.
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Last Day of Summer by Melodie Murphy
2oz Uncle Nearest 1884 Whiskey
1.5 oz fresh lime juice
1.5 oz grilled peach and ginger syrup
3 dashes Black walnut bitters
One small slice of peach
Shake and double strain into coupe glass,
Garnish with fresh peach slice
Grilled Peach and Ginger syrup
-2 sliced peaches grilled. I used cast iron grill pan, 4 dashes of liquid smoke and 2 drops of vanilla extract. Grilled peaches until nicely caramelized.
-Roughly 2 inches of peeled and sliced fresh ginger root. Muddled in the sugar to release some
of the juices
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
Boil and simmer until desired flavor infusion. Set aside and let cool.
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Peach and Pecan Cobbla by Anastasia Cooper
1.5oz roasted pecan infused Uncle Nearest 1856*
.5oz peach liqueur
.25oz amontillado sherry
.75oz pecan orgeat* (made from leftover infused pecans)
.25oz cinnamon syrup*
Half a lemon cubed
3 pieces of cubed peach
Mint sprig
Cinnamon stick
Muddle peach and lemon in a mixing tin. Add remaining ingredients. Whip, shake and strain into chilled highball glass. Add crushed ice and garnish.
*Pecan infused 1856:
Soak 1c pecans in water for 20 minutes. Strain, season with salt & pepper, roast at 300 for 20 minutes. Cool & infuse with 375ml of 1856 for 1 week at room temperature.
*Orgeat – retain infused pecans. Combine 3.5c filtered water. Blend and strain. Combine pecan milk with 1.5x weight of sugar. I had 400g of pecan milk so I used 600g of sugar. Cook over low heat until sugar is dissolved.
*Cinnamon syrup – sous vide 50g simple syrup with 2g of crushed cinnamon at 145 for 2hrs then strain. Alternatively simmer 5 crushed Cinnamon sticks with 1c of sugar and 1c of water for 5 minutes. Let sit overnight then strain.
For sherry I used Sandemans Amontillado and for peach liqueur Mathilde Peche.
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The Stepping Stone by Josh Saphier
1 1/2 oz Pine infused Uncle Nearest 1884 Small Batch*
1/2 oz PX Sherry
1/2 oz Fresh lime juice
1/2 oz Hibiscus syrup**
1/4 oz orgeat***
Bar spoon black tea simple syrup****
5 drops Bittermens Elemakule Tiki bitters
Method:
Combine all ingredients except the hibiscus syrup in a shaker tin with ice, shake well and strain over crushed ice into a Collins glass. Float hibiscus syrup on top and garnish with beauty bush berry cluster. If you can’t find beauty bush berries, garnish with a lemon wheel.
*Pine Infused Uncle Nearest:
Add pine needles and Uncle Nearest to a mason jar (there is no specific amount, enough to take on the aroma of pine to your liking). Infuse for 3-5 days. Shake periodically. Strain out pine needles.
**Hibiscus Syrup:
1 hibiscus tea bag
250g water
250g sugar
Steep tea bag in water for 3-5 minutes, add sugar and heat/stir until dissolved. Allow to cool.
***Black Tea Syrup:
1 Black Tea bag
16oz hot water
212g sugar
Steep tea bag in water for 4 minutes. Discard tea bag and add sugar. Ratio should be 2 parts tea to 1 part sugar by weight.
****Homemade orgeat:
2 cups blanched almonds
1.5 cups sugar
1.25 cups water
1.5 tsp orange flower water
1oz Brandy
Prep: Pulse almonds in a food processor until finely ground. Combine the sugar and water in a pot over medium heat and stir until sugar dissolves completely. Boil the syrup for three minutes, then add in the ground almonds. Turn the heat down to low and simmer for another three minutes, then slowly increase the temperature to medium high. Just before it starts to boil, remove it from the heat and cover with a lid. Allow the covered nut mixture to infuse for at least 3 hours or up to 8 hours. Then, strain it through two layers of cheesecloth, discarding the ground almonds for another use. Stir the orange flower water and brandy into the nutty syrup.
I named my cocktail “The Stepping Stone”. I’ve incorporated ingredients from the various cities I’ve lived in over the decade of my bartending career. Each city signifying a new stone that lead me to where I am today.
The black tea simple syrup represents Boston, the PX Sherry is for my time spent in Madrid, Spain. From there I moved to Los Angeles where almonds are known to grow plentiful (homemade orgeat). My next city was Portland, Oregon where I infused Uncle Nearest Small Batch with fresh pine needles. Finally landing in Houston, Texas I created a hibiscus syrup and garnished the beverage with beauty bush berries found native here.
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The 5 – 6 Punch by Kari Korenchen
2oz Uncle Nearest 1856 Premium Whiskey
.5oz Cinnamon-Orange-Fennel Syrup
.33oz Orange Juice
.5oz Lustau Amontillado Los Arcos Dry Sherry
2 drops Saline Solution, 10% solution
*Cinnamon-Orange-Fennel Syrup
-500ml white sugar
-500ml filtered water
-6 cinnamon sticks
-zest from one whole naval orange, carefully avoiding white pith
-5 sprigs of Fennel
-Let sit for two days to absorb flavor
For non-clarified, on-the-fly version, combine all ingredients in a shaker, strain into a couple glass, garnish with a dehydrated orange, enjoy!
For milk clarified, finalized version, combine all ingredients, without dilution, slowly into an ounce of whole milk (vitamin D works also). Let curdle overnight, then fine strain using a paper coffee filter, nut milk bag, or high micron-count nylon filter. May take 1-2 hours to fully filter. Serve over rocks, garnish with a dehydrated orange, enjoy!
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Smoked Apple Cinnamon Sour by Annie Llew
2.0oz Uncle Nearest Whiskey
0.75oz smoked apple cinnamon syrup*
2-3 dashes orange bitters
0.5oz lemon juice
0.5oz aquafaba
*Smoked apple cinnamon syrup: heat 1 cup water and 1 cup demerara sugar until sugar is dissolved. Add 4-5 cinnamon sticks, 1/4tbs vanilla extract, liquid smoke, and peels pf 3-4 apples to sugar water. Let infuse for 30-60 mins. Let cool. Strain until clear.
Build:
Add Uncle Nearest, lemon juice, aquafaba, orange bitters, and syrup into a cocktail shaker without ice. Dry shake, Add ice, then shake again. Double strain into a coupe glass. Garnish with dried orange wheel.
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The Little Easy by Peter Jones
1.5 oz Uncle Nearest 1856
.75 oz Grind Espresso Liqueur
.25 oz Cinnamon & Juniper Syrup* (Recipe to follow)
1 Barspoon Black Walnut Bitters
3 Dashes angostura bitters
Lemon peel
Cinnamon, Chicory & Cedar Smoked glass
To make, I take a cedar plank, and place a small amount of ground chicory root and 1/2 cinnamon stick on the board. Using a creme brûlée torch, I burn the chicory and cinnamon until smoking and place a double old-fashioned glass over them to capture the smoke. I then stir all the liquid ingredients until cold and serve in the smoked glass over a large ice cube. It is garnished with an expressed lemon peel.
*Cinnamon-Juniper Syrup:
1 cup white sugar
1 cup water
5 cinnamon sticks
~10 juniper berries
Grind juniper berries in a small pot or pan until roughly crushed. Add all other ingredients and bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and simmer for ~10 minutes until the color from the cinnamon begins to extract. Use a fine mesh filter to remove solids and allow to cool.
2020 Competition Details:
Thank you for your interest in the 2020 #HonorYourLegacy Cocktail Competition. Here at Uncle Nearest, it is our mission to share Nearest Green’s legacy with the world, one sip at a time. Now, let’s hear your legacy!
Show us your passion and skill and create a cocktail inspired by your career journey, personal family legacy or what legacy you aspire to leave behind.
Rules:
CONTESTANTS WILL BE JUDGED ON CREATIVITY, CONCEPT, & EXECUTION.
ONCE WE REVIEW ALL VIDEOS, 12 WINNERS WILL BE CHOSEN. EACH WINNER WILL RECEIVE $350 AND BE FEATURED ON OUR 2021 UNCLE NEAREST COCKTAIL CALENDAR WHICH WILL BE DISTRIBUTED NATIONWIDE!
