Raspberry Peach Bourbon Smash

This refreshing Raspberry Peach Bourbon Smash is the perfect summer sip! I love this drink when peaches are in season, because the riper your peaches are, the better this drink will be. It's sweet and delicious, and really fun to make!

This is such a great drink to make with ripe peaches when they're in season in the summer months. The raspberry and lemon flavors complement the peach so well too!

I don't really recommend this drink when the fruits aren't in season, since you'll get a less sweet drink overall. But, you could actually make this with frozen fruit if you let it defrost in the fridge overnight.

Looking for more summery whiskey drinks? Try out the delicious Pineapple Whiskey Smash, or the super easy and tasty Tropical Whiskey Punch.

For some more peachy favorites, try the frozen Smoky Peach Margarita, or the Grapefruit Peach Vodka Cocktail (one of my absolute go-tos for summertime). A Peach Martini with peach schnapps is another great option! Or, the Raspberry Peach Bourbon Smash is another delicious peachy sipper.

Ingredients

Here are the things you'll need to make this drink:

• Bourbon whiskey (I used Penelope bourbon)
• Cointreau liqueur (or, try using Peach Schnapps or a raspberry liqueur like Chambord)
• Fresh ripe peach
• Raspberries
• Lemon
• Peach bitters (optional - I used Cocktail Punk peach bitters)
• Sugar (optional for garnish - I used demerara sugar, but brown sugar works great)

Substitutions

If you need to substitute something in this drink, give these a try!

Instead of the bourbon, you can use a dark rum. Or, try a tequila if you love that flavor. If you want to amp up the peach flavor, definitely go for Crown Royal Peach whiskey.

For the Cointreau, you'll want to sub in something else sweet. Triple Sec is good, or try Peach Schnapps or Chambord black raspberry liqueur. You can also just use a syrup instead, like a homemdade Demerara Syrup.

For the fruit, just sub in whatever is ripest! Plums and nectarines work in place of the peach, and try another berry like blackberry or blueberry in place of the raspberries.

Variations

Here are some variations to try if you want to change up this drink.

If you want to reduce the sugar in this drink, use a sugar free syrup in place of the Cointreau. Try out this sugar-free Raspberry Syrup by Jordan's Skinny Syrups, or DaVinci sugar free peach syrup.

For a non-alcoholic mocktail version, try using Lyre's American Malt whiskey substitute in place of the bourbon. You can also sub out the Cointreau and use Lyre's Orange Sec, or just use a raspberry or peach syrup in its place.

Equipment

You'll need a few staple bar tools to make this drink, including a jigger, a cocktail shaker and strainer. A fine mesh strainer is good to have since there will be a lot of fruit pulp.

A muddler is what you'll need to mash up the fruit. This A Bar Above muddler is a great one (use my code LKDrinks for 10% off!). I use their wooden muddler, but it does tend to stain, so the plastic one is easier to clean.

A knife and cutting board will be key to prep your fruit for smashing!

Lastly, you'll want a nice cocktail glass for serving. I used these iridescent rocks glasses. Since this drink is usually served over ice, rocks glasses work best. You can also use a julep cup if you want!

Instructions

Start out making this cocktail by cutting up your peach and lemon into chunks. Set aside a peach slice and a raspberry for a garnish as well.

Use the lemon to wet half of the rim of your cocktail glass, and dip it into the sugar so it sticks to the glass rim. Set the glass aside while you make the drink.

Cut up your fruit into chunks and add them to your cocktail shaker. You can either mash them up bit by bit as you go, or add them all in and mash them together.

Add in the Cointreau and the bourbon to the cocktail shaker.

Then, add in the peach bitters, and fill the shaker with ice.

Seal up the shaker and shake vigorously, about 30 good shakes. Since there is a lot of fruit, you'll need to shake it up really well to make sure everything gets mixed.

Fill your cocktail glass with fresh ice and then strain the drink into the glass. If you don't want raspberry seeds in the drink, make sure to use a fine mesh strainer.

Since there will be a lot of fruit pulp in the shaker, you may need to shake it up another time or two just to loosen things up.

Also, if the pulp starts to clog up the fine mesh strainer, just use a spoon to stir the liquid in the strainer so it will flow into the glass.

Add a peach slice and a raspberry to a cocktail pick, add it to the rim of the glass, and serve. Cheers!

Hint: Make sure your peach is really ripe, because it's going to be hard to smash up if it's underripe.

Top tip - Using a juicer

If you're thinking of making this cocktail for a crowd, it will be a little labor intensive to smash each drink by hand. If you have a juicer, you might want to make a fresh batch of peach, raspberry and lemon juice (freshness is key).

You can use around 2½ to 3 ounces of the juice per drink, depending on how sweet you like it.

When you make the smash the traditional way, the citrus peels will add some flavor to the drink. So if you're going the juice route, peel the lemon before juicing it and squeeze some of the oils into the cocktail shaker when you make the drink.