Gold Rush
Bourbon, honey and lemon. Three ingredients, no bitters, no garnish — a Whiskey Sour with the sugar swapped for honey and nothing else to hide behind.
Built to the standard modern spec; not yet tested in our kitchen. How we test.
The recipe.
Scaling adjusts quantities only. Prepare shaken drinks in individual portions.
Let’s make a good drink.
Add the bourbon, lemon juice and honey syrup to a shaker.
Fill with ice and shake hard for 12-15 seconds.
Strain over one large cube in a rocks glass.
No garnish.
A thoughtful finish
- Honey syrup, not neat honey. Three parts honey to one part hot water — neat honey will not dissolve in a cold drink and ends up on the bottom of the shaker.
- Use a higher-proof bourbon. With only three ingredients and a lot of dilution from the shake, an 80-proof whiskey goes faint.
- The honey you choose is a real variable. A mild clover honey keeps it clean; a buckwheat or chestnut honey makes a much darker, more assertive drink.
Common mistakes
- Reaching for simple syrup. Then it is a Whiskey Sour, which is a fine drink and not this one.
- Shaking neat honey, which seizes in the cold and leaves the drink under-sweetened and gritty.
- Serving it up. It is built for one large cube in a rocks glass — the slow dilution is part of it.
A few good questions.
What is the difference from a Whiskey Sour?
Honey instead of sugar, and no egg white or bitters. The honey brings a floral weight that simple syrup does not, which is why the drink works with so little in it.
How do I make honey syrup?
Three parts honey to one part hot water, stirred until clear. It keeps about a month refrigerated.
Can I use rye?
Yes, and it makes a drier, spicier drink. Bourbon is the standard because its sweetness meets the honey more naturally.
Is this related to the Penicillin?
Directly. The Penicillin is a Gold Rush with ginger syrup added and a float of Islay Scotch on top.
Variations
- Penicillin — Adds ginger syrup and an Islay float.
- Bee's Knees — Gin in place of bourbon.
- Whiskey Sour — Simple syrup instead of honey, often with egg white.
- Brown Derby — Bourbon, honey and grapefruit.
Where it comes from
c. 2001 · New York City · T.J. Siegal · Milk & Honey
T.J. Siegal made it at Milk & Honey in New York around 2001, in the bar’s first years. The logic is deliberately minimal: take a Whiskey Sour, replace the simple syrup with honey syrup, drop the egg white and the bitters, and serve it over a large cube. It became the parent of a small family — Sam Ross’s Penicillin is a Gold Rush with ginger and an Islay float, and the Bee’s Knees is the gin version of the same idea.
Sources
- T.J. Siegal / Milk & Honey, New York, c. 2001 (bartender attribution)
- Robert Simonson, A Proper Drink, 2016 (book)
- Death & Co: Modern Classic Cocktails, 2014 (book)
Strength. About 1.5 US standard drinks at an estimated 20.6% ABV, estimated from the ingredients and technique, not measured. What that means.
A little character in every sip.
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