Kentucky Maid Cocktail Recipe

An ultra-refreshing mixture of bourbon, muddled cucumbers, easy syrup, lime juice and contemporary mint, the Kentucky Maid was created by New York Metropolis cocktail legend Sam Ross.

You’d be hard-pressed to stroll right into a cocktail bar value its bitters and never discover a Sam Ross cocktail on the menu: The co-owner of Attaboy and associate at Temple Bar has an extended record of recent classics on his C.V., together with the Paper Airplane, a bourbon-and-Aperol Final Phrase variation, and the Penicillin, a scotch bitter spiced with honey-ginger syrup. Within the early days of the craft-cocktail renaissance, Ross spent seven years as the pinnacle bartender on the late Sasha Petraske’s seminal New York Metropolis bar, Milk & Honey. There, in 2005, Ross developed the Kentucky Maid. 

In creating this drink, Ross riffed on the London Maid, which he first shook up for bar professional and Velocity Rack co-founder Lynnette Marrero when she was a buyer at one other Petraske bar, East Facet Firm. That model had gin as its base as a substitute of bourbon, and was initially known as the “Ol’ Biddy,” a reputation Petraske vetoed. Ross modified the identify, and a brand new drinks class, the Maid, was born. “The identical drink will be made with any base spirit; simply change the primary a part of the identify to align with the origins of the spirit used—on this case, bourbon,” he says in Petraske’s 2016 guide Relating to Cocktails. Add tequila and you’ve got a Mexican Maid; the Polish Maid makes use of vodka, whereas the Irish Maid swaps in Irish whiskey for the bourbon and provides St-Germain liqueur for floral notes. 

The Kentucky Maid is considerably just like the Mint Julep, however the muddled cucumber and contemporary lime juice mood the sweetness and add an much more refreshing taste profile. You may additionally discover the drink much like a Whiskey Smash, which requires muddling lemon wedges with easy syrup, then topping with bourbon. 

For this cocktail, Ross prefers to make use of Elijah Craig Small Batch, a high-proof bourbon that’s recognized for its heat spice notes. Nonetheless, with a drink this iterative, you should utilize whichever bottle you like. Be happy to take liberties with all the substances, following the tried-and-true system of spirit, citrus, mint, and cucumber. You may simply should provide you with a brand new identify on your creation.