April Showers [Cocktail Recipe]

This cocktail, which was created by bar consultant and educator Tiffanie Barriere aka The Drinking Coach, is a play on the Seelbach cocktail, with champagne acting to balance sweet vanilla syrup. “The bourbon adds the right amount of spice, while the vanilla curves well through the dryness of the brut,” Barriere says.

Break Out the Bubbly for These Champagne and Whisky Cocktails

INGREDIENTS

  • 1½ oz. Maker’s Mark (or other wheated bourbon)
  • ½ oz. butterfly pea-infused vanilla syrup (recipe below)
  • ¼ o z. oloroso sherry
  • 4 dashes Angostura bitters
  • 1 oz. brut champagne
  • Baby’s breath for garnish (optional)

DIRECTIONS

Combine first four ingredients in a shaker. Add ice and shake until cold. Strain into a coupe and top with champagne. Garnish with baby’s breath.

Butterfly Pea-Infused Vanilla Syrup

  • 1 cup water
  • ½ cup sugar
  • 3-4 butterfly pea buds (available on amazon.com)
  • 1 vanilla bean, halved

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a low simmer. Once the liquid turns purplish-blue in color, remove from heat and let cool. Store in a glass container and keep refrigerated up to two weeks.

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