The Best $3 Whiskey Cocktail You've Never Heard About

[@arbeckWA]

Sorry for the long comment, but I hope this will be useful to you or anyone else making cocktails. The thing to know when making cocktails is there are just a couple basic family of cocktails. The Paper Plane for instance is in the Last Word family. The Last Word is a pre-Prohibition cocktail featuring equal parts of Gin, Maraschino Liqueur, Green Chartreuse, and Lime Juice. But there are hundreds if not thousands of variations using the same spec and swapping out one or more ingredients. My favorite is the Seaplane (Pineapple Rum, Yellow Chartreuse, Aperol, Lime). The other basic families are: The Old Fashioned (Spirit, Sugar, Bitters, stirred over ice) The Manhattan (Spirit, Vermouth, Bitters, stirred over ice) The Sour (Spirit, Citrus, Sugar, shaken with ice) The Negroni (Equal parts Spirit, Liqueur, Vermouth, shaken over ice) The Highball (Spirit, and something to lengthen it, poured over ice) There are a few other things like the flip, the julep, and the smash families, but they are very rare to make at home and you can really argue that the julep and smash are just variations of the ones above. For any of those cocktails you can play with the ingredients either by substituting a different ingredient, or changing the ratio. For instance a sour is traditionally 2:1:1 in ratio. But you can go 2.5:1:1 or 2:.1:.5. You can also swap out sugar for any liqueur (in any cocktail, not just a sour). In general a half ounce of simple syrup can be subbed with one ounce of a liqueur. So you can take a Daiquiri that is 2:1:1 Rum:Lime:Sugar and get a Margarita that is 2:1:1:.5 Tequila:Lime:Orange Liqueur:Sugar. In the old fashioned, you can use different sugars and get new cocktails (A Japanese cocktail uses brandy, but orgeat syrup instead of straight sugar). Or sub a liqueur for some of the sugar (Maraschino is a popular sub). For a Manhattan family, you can again play with the ratios, or swap the vermouth for another vermouth like substance (Sherry, Port, Amaro, etc). The Martini, the Palmetto, the Black Manhattan, The Brooklyn, etc all do this. The Negroni you could argue is just a variation on the Manhattan, but I'd put it in its own class. The Boulevardier is the classic, but I also love the White Negroni, the Charming man, The Nico, and the Kingston Negroni. You basically can swap the Campari for any bitter liqueur. Swap the Gin for any spirit. And swap the Vermouth for any amaro or fortified wine. I hesitate to put the highball as its own family. Because it's basically all of the above, just add something. A Collins and a Champagne cocktail are just basically a sour lengthened with soda or wine. A Highball is really just an old fashioned lengthened with soda. A Buck (a mule is just another name for a buck) is a sour lengthened with ginger ale. Once you memorize the basic recipes for those 6 families, you can impress your family and friends with your ability to "invent" new cocktails on the fly. Though in probably 15 years of making drinks, I've thought that I created lots of originals. But in almost every case someone has already done it. I think there are only 2 that I might have actually been the first to do.

[@twentyfiveyears5010]

This former 10-year bartender enjoyed your comment. Very educational.

[@userperson5259]

Good background. And you're right.. there's a sweet-sour balance that has to be achieved to make something palatable for most people, so we end up with really just a handful of options if we want to mix distilled spirits.

[@stuffandwhiskey]

Brilliant comment! I knew I had to wait until I could get on the computer to read it, and it didn't disappoint. Thanks for taking the time! I've got some memorization to do and then some ingredients to play around with!

[@pkeusem]

Some comments: - Once you start using fresh juice you won't go back. Lemons and limes keep long enough that I very rarely throw one out and sometimes it just an excuse to make a cocktail. Get the little 4-6 oz squeeze bottle to store the juice (if there's any left). - When cherries are in season, muddle 3-4 fresh cherries in the shaker on top of the paper plane recipe for a cherry paper plane - For another cocktail that makes use of the Amaro Nonino, you could try a Manny's Manahattan. Manny's is local steakhouse that serves a house manhattan: 4.5oz Far North Rocknar Rye 2oz Sweet Vermouth 1oz Amaro Nonino One is sufficient. 😁 - Oh, I can second the Boulevardier as well. One of my favorites, but I make mine with bourbon (typically Maker's) in a 2:1:1 ration, garnished with an orange peel.

[@chefcar]

Love the cocktail content - always fun to learn ❤

[@kylenelson6429]

The paper plane is one of my favorites! You should also try it with tequila or mezcal. They work wonderfully!

[@trkoehler8021]

High Wire Distilling out of Charleston SC, who makes Jimmy Red Bourbon, also make a Southern Amaro that I’ve used in this cocktail before with the Jimmy Red, and is excellent. Cost is half the price of the Amaro Nonino and adds a little Southern twist on this drink. I do recommend using fresh lemon juice. Great video. My wife is now loving your Old Fashioned with the Grand Marnier, it’s all she wants to drink now.

[@ksredmill]

Haven’t heard about this one, but I make bourbon, Amaro Montenegro & espresso cocktails regularly.

[@rajrvis]

What an enjoyable channel you two created. Best background music too. Low key easy insights and you gotta love Erin's reactions!

[@stuffandwhiskey]

We appreciate the kind words and thanks so much for watching!

[@mattfalk8493]

The most surprising mix with a Whisky I've had was, I was in Thailand and had a bottle of Benriach, it was way to Hot weather to drink straight Smokey Whisky so I got a Highball glass full with ice 2oz Whisky and topped if with fresh Pineapple juice 🤯🤯 it was so freaking delicious like a liquid BBQ Char grilled Pineapple fritter the Smokey Sweet went so well together... you guys the best dram on guys 🥃🍍🥃

[@skentmar105]

That cocktail looks scrumptious! Thanks for sharing!

[@allenbt11]

Great episode. I would suggest you should always choose the best possible liqueur or bitter that you can afford, for your cocktails and economize on your bourbon or other base spirits instead. Those accent components generally bring most of the distinctive flavor to a cocktail. Save the money on a good quality $17 bottle of bourbon or rye and you'll still have an excellent drink. Cheers.

[@nathanjacobs6358]

Oh man. Love that you two discovered my absolute favorite cocktail! Your comment about balance is spot on- it’s a perfect example of a phenomenally balanced cocktail. Also, you can often find nonino cheaper- it’s about $40 in my area. Cheers!

[@dmrich920]

Great cocktail. Very good with Italian food. Please make more cocktails. Love your content. Plus your Old Fashion is the same as my recipe but I keep the Grand Marnier a secret. lol.

[@dustinrose3]

This is my favorite bourbon cocktail hands down!

[@murphydogprod]

I like this one, but I made your Old Fashioned with your "secret ingredient" and am diggin' it. Keep em coming. Cheers! (I was in Nash last weekend) LOL

[@chadsnoddy6336]

Paper Plane is a great cocktail. Using Contratto Apertif instead of Aperol is a nice twist to the flavor profile without going too far outside the spirit of the cocktail.

[@joewinckowski]

This is one of my favorites. I’ve also tried substituting compari for the Aperol because I ran out of Aperol and the drink becomes significantly more bitter and less fruity. I say stick with the Aperol

[@FranzG2]

Nice cocktail. Try it with fresh lemon juice. It is a step up. If you haven’t, check out the penicillin cocktail. If you don’t want to muddle ginger root, check out the recipe with Liber syrup. Instead of two scotch types, we used Kilchoman Machir Bay. Fresh ginger and lemon juice are recommended.

[@joelbutler7501]

Find Steve the Bartender and check out his Bourbon cocktails video.

[@erictriplett33]

Yes, Amaro Nonino is more expensive, but it really makes the cocktail ... I like it a lot better vs the others. Kind of like using Cointreau vs other things in a margarita. Also Amaro Nonino is great by itself / neat! Using real lemon juice fresh will be better than the bottled stuff, though.

[@Valath]

im liking this need more cocktail content!

[@tfaust77]

Given your love of Negronis, you should definitely try the Boulevardier! Essentially a Bourbon Negroni. 1.5 oz Bourbon 1 oz Campari 1 oz Sweet Vermouth *then i get to the end and you mention Boulevardiers lol

[@stuffandwhiskey]

Big fans! Stay tuned for next week’s Tuesday video. 😉🥃

[@paulelder5961]

If you really wanted to ramp up the refreshment factor whilst poolside on a hot day, add 1/4oz of Dry Curacao and serve it in a Collins with ice and top with soda water. It would turn it into a patio pounder for the ages.

[@jonp2778]

You guys are awesome! That is all.

[@drgallup]

A similar citrus cocktail that really hides the whisky is a ward 8. Probably less expensive to make at home too. They are dangerous because you don't realize how much alcohol you are consuming. My favorite cocktail that is whiskey forward is the Sazerac. While in New Orleans I went to several of the cities top Sazerac bars and they all were a bit too sweet for my taste. And you have to use a lot of Peychauds bitters.

[@stuffandwhiskey]

The black licorice flavor in a Sazerac is not our jam but know some folks absolutely love that profile!

[@tylerkostecki7456]

You can substitute the amaro nonino for jager if you want to be more frugal..use 4/5 jager compared to nonino since jager is sweeter..also can sub aperol for Campari to cut sweetness if you prefer more bitter! Called a jager plane

[@stuffandwhiskey]

Bad college experiences with jager means this comment made me shiver. 😂

[@tylerkostecki7456]

@ yes I know lol..I found a use for this jager becuz I too cannot drink it otherwise ..cheers!

[@twentyfiveyears5010]

Curse you! Now I am going to have to try this one. I would really recommend fresh lemon juice, though. One of my favorites is the Brown Derby (Brown Hotel recipe of equal parts bourbon, grapefruit juice, and honey syrup) and it tastes WORLDS better with fresh juice, even compared to 100% juice from a bottle or carton. Cheers!

[@bryanh7787]

I don’t discriminate by season. Paper planes are crushable year round! Fresh squeezed citrus can take these to the next level.

[@Josh_Stringer]

Nice to include a cocktail every once in a while. Amaro Nonino can serve other purposes and you might be able to find it a bit cheaper. Try it in a Manhattan with Rye instead of a using Vermouth!

[@justinvandee9428]

More of this

[@dcjenner]

So much better with real lemon juice, Santa Cruz isn’t even close. Like Erin said, if you need to use SantaCruz, dial it back a bit and add water. Also originally made with Campari, rather than Aperol, not as sweet. And Amaro Nonino is so good on its own as well as in cocktails.

[@877-MASH-NOW]

Cocktail CHEERS 🍸

[@davidg5308]

Yeah, that's a "top shelf" drink, and the $3 click bait got me. I was ignorant to ask for a simple Laphroaig and Drambuie and was shocked that they charged $40 (resort in CO)...can buy a flippin whole bottle of Laphroaig for that. Agree with Erin 😉 that you may need to adjust the contents to your liking, but sounds good - cheers y'all!

[@stuffandwhiskey]

Resort prices are insane! We're with you on that one. That’s why the math matters so much on these at-home cocktails. We can stomach $3.33 for these all day despite the cost of entry.

[@dawson0000]

My wife's fav cocktail! 🛩 🥃

[@rpredl]

Flex shake! Lol.

[@89sooner]

As I know you read comments, I’ll take partial credit for this, as it is my #1 mention when you talk whiskey cocktails. And I love equal parts cocktails almost as much as three-ingredient cocktails. I let like 3-4 months of my life cheaping out on this guy by being squeamish about the fact that the Amaro Nonino was gonna cost twice as much as a quality 100 proof cocktail bourbon….what a waste. I know you listen to pods on the road…when I was going down to Austin recently, I listened to the pretty new Cocktail College pod on the Paper Plane with its creator Sam Ross….he goes into why the Amaro Nonino is essential (it would be good, just not a Paper Plane), and why, a week after it was launched in Chicago as the misheard Paper Airplane, he changed the Campari to Aperol. Evan Williams BiB, OGD BiB, WT 101, or OFO 100 all work great at a good price. Luv y’all!

[@89sooner]

…this is a cocktail where I had to get back to keeping quality 100 proof mixing bourbon around, as what I had most of had too much proof for balance in stuff like this or Whiskey Sours…if, like Erin sort of mentioned, proof is great in an Old Fashioned.

[@89sooner]

If you guys like Coffee, or ever got into Espresso Martinis, try a Revolver….2 oz Bourbon, 1/2 oz coffee liqueur (I like a less sweet one like Mr. Black), and a couple of dashes of orange bitters..shake and serve in a chilled couple. You can get fancy with a flamed orange garnish, but I think I did that once. I am on a dry week, and it is 10:30 in the morning, but I want one…well I have my pour over beside me.

[@89sooner]

Whiskey cocktails at the next bottle share, fam!

[@stuffandwhiskey]

You’re right, that Amaro Nonino is a game changer for sure! The bill up front stings but breaking it down by ingredient to see that it’s only a $3 cocktail helps a lot.

[@sternpry]

Do yourself a solid and try an oz or two of Nonino neat. Especially good if you've just finished a large meal ( like the one coming up in a few days!) l​@stuffandwhiskey

[@xtremelow]

I’d be curious to see how you all compare recipes on true to versus budget and maybe rate them blindly to see if the higher end ingredients do truly make a difference or if you can get away with budgeting on certain aspects over others

[@numanuma20]

Sam Ross said in an interview for the cocktail college podcast that you can’t sub out the amaro for another. If you want a simple cocktail, the revolver is great. It’s just coffee liqueur and whiskey.

[@stuffandwhiskey]

If there’s one thing we’ve found over 3.5 years of doing this channel, it’s that prices from market to market vary wildly.

[@CPGumby]

Probably my favorite cocktail that is NOT whiskey-forward like an Old Fashioned. All-Equal-Parts cocktails with 5 or fewer ingredients are my jam because I hate recipes that are fussy and complicated; Negroni / Boulevardier comes in a close second.

[@TexasBoy-qv2pq]

I like this cocktail. However, I like to double the whiskey in the recipe.

[@MichaelVanKorn]

🍻

[@billpercival6544]

Since Erin likes a negroni (as do I) and she likes bourbon, you need to try a boulevardier . Simply replace the gin with bourbon. Delicious!

[@stuffandwhiskey]

We are huge fans of Boulevardiers!

[@kyliejohn3813]

$100 supplies for a $3 cocktail. Hmmmm 🤨

[@stuffandwhiskey]

$100 in supplies for 33 cocktails.

[@bizzaam1]

Gotta have a fresh lemon on hand just in case!