Kentucky Buck
Bourbon, muddled strawberry, lemon, sugar and Angostura, shaken and topped with ginger beer. Erick Castro's 2008 San Francisco drink — a Kentucky Mule with fruit and bitters, and a modern classic of the buck family.
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.
Muddle the strawberry in a shaker with the simple syrup.
Add the bourbon, lemon juice and bitters, fill with ice and shake hard for 12 seconds.
Double strain over fresh ice in a collins glass.
Top with ginger beer, stir once, and garnish with a strawberry.
A thoughtful finish
- A ripe strawberry; an underripe one gives colour and no flavour.
- Double strain; strawberry seeds are unpleasant in the glass.
- A spicy ginger beer stands up to the fruit.
Common mistakes
- Ginger ale instead of ginger beer.
- Too much syrup; the strawberry and ginger beer are sweet already.
- Skipping the bitters, which are what make it a Castro drink.
A few good questions.
What does a Kentucky Buck taste like?
Strawberry and bourbon with lemon, spicy ginger and a bitters edge — fruity, tall and refreshing.
Who created it?
Erick Castro at Bourbon & Branch, San Francisco, 2008.
What is a buck?
A spirit with citrus and ginger ale or ginger beer — the Moscow Mule is a vodka buck.
Can I use rye?
Yes; drier and spicier.
Variations
- Kentucky Mule — Bourbon, lime and ginger beer.
- Gin Buck — Gin, lemon and ginger ale.
- Whiskey Smash — Bourbon, lemon, sugar and mint.
- Horsefeather — Rye, ginger beer, lemon and bitters.
Where it comes from
2008 · San Francisco · Erick Castro · Bourbon & Branch
Erick Castro created the Kentucky Buck at Bourbon & Branch in San Francisco in 2008 — bourbon with a muddled strawberry, lemon, simple syrup and Angostura, shaken and topped with ginger beer in a tall glass — and it became one of the most copied drinks of the craft era, on menus from New York to London within a few years. A buck is a spirit with citrus and ginger ale or beer, a nineteenth-century family; Castro’s addition of strawberry and bitters turned a simple highball into a layered summer drink. It is sometimes called a Bourbon Buck or a Strawberry Bourbon Buck, and it works with rye. The strawberry must be ripe; it is the drink’s colour and half its flavour.
Sources
- Erick Castro, Bourbon & Branch recipe, 2008 (reference)
- Difford's Guide, Kentucky Buck, 2012 (reference)
- Punch, Kentucky Buck, 2016 (reference)
Strength. About 1.54 US standard drinks at an estimated 13.3% ABV, estimated from the ingredients and technique, not measured. What that means.
A little character in every sip.
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