This Meyer lemon bourbon cocktail is the best way to get through a cold winter night! It combines the fresh flavor of seasonal citrus with warming spices and Kentucky bourbon.
Let’s be clear. It’s not cold here. If I were to utter the phrase, “I’m cold,” I’m certain it would be met with a bless-her-heart chuckle and an eye roll from just about everyone Colorado and eastward. Those being pounded with snow would likely close the browser window, never to return.
So it’s not cold, but it does get cool and there are distinct differences between winter, spring, summer and fall here in the Bay Area. Thank goodness, because I do love the four seasons. They just aren’t nearly as extreme as other places I’ve lived.
That being said, I still love the comfort foods and drinks of winter — a steaming bowl of soup, rich pot pies, and a warm bourbon drink — just as much as a person digging out from the snow.
We might not have freezing temps, but one thing we do have in the winter is citrus! And you are probably well aware of my love for it.
When we moved into our apartment here in 2012, I immediately purchased a small dwarf Meyer lemon tree from the local farmers market. I read up a little on growing them in pots and this tree already had a few lemons on it when I bought it so I thought, this is going to be too easy.
Wrong.
After a year, I thought for sure that thing was dead. I tried and tried to make it happy — correct feeding, watering, sun. You name it, I did it. I even tried talking to it regularly. When we moved into our rental house, I didn’t give up on it hoping that some more sunlight would help. Leaves continued to fall, blooms disappeared, nothing.
Then, boom. Out of nowhere last fall leaves emerged, followed by blooms, followed by…yep, lemons! I’m still stunned and quite honestly I have no idea if I did anything right or wrong, or if it was just the age of the tree. Who knows, but we got about 20 lemons this year.
As excited as I was about the lemons, I get a little burned out on what to make with them. There is no need for more desserts around here and one can only enjoy fish with lemon or lemon salad dressing for so long.
I knew I had enough lemons for lemonade, but who wants lemonade in the winter, regardless of the temperatures. But, what if that lemonade was warm? And then what if it was sweetened with a spiced syrup that had the flavors of anise and cinnamon? Once you have that combination, bourbon is a no brainer.
This warm cocktail will provide all the comfort you need for getting through a dreary season with a bit of refreshing lemon flavor to remind you that winters can also be bright and sunny. Well, at least if you live in California.
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup raw sugar
- 6 whole star anise
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 3 1/2 cups water
- 3/4 cups fresh Meyer lemon juice
- 4 oz. Kentucky bourbon
- Meyer lemon slices and whole spices for garnish
- To prepare the simple syrup, place the 1 cup of water and sugar in a medium saucepan. Heat over medium-high, stirring often until the sugar dissolves. Bring to a simmer and cook for 1 minute. Add the star anise and cinnamon stick and remove from the heat.
- Let cool for at least 1 hour, preferably longer. The longer it sits the move flavor will infuse into the syrup.
- Remove and discard the spices.
- To make the lemonade, bring the 3 1/2 cups of water to a boil in a large saucepan over high heat. Reduce the heat to low and stir in the lemon juice. Stir in 1/2 cup of the spiced simple syrup.
- Add 1 ounce of bourbon to each serving mug. Top with 8 ounces of the warm lemonade. Garnish with lemon slices and whole spices if desired. Serve warm.
- This recipe makes about 1 cup of syrup and only 1/2 cup is used in the winter warmer. Use the rest to sweeten tea, other cocktails or oatmeal. It can be stored in a sealed jar in the refrigerator. Mine will usually last 1 1/2 to 2 weeks.
This looks so delightful (and comforting) in the middle of winter. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks, Marcia!
I’m so jealous of your meyer lemon tree! Here’s to many more fruitful years. 🙂 And many more winter warmers.
Cheers, Joanne! Thanks!
Fantastic idea and it sounds so wonderful! I’ll bet it does absolute wonders if you have a cold, too–better than medicine! Our meyer lemon tree gave us almost the same, about 15-20 lemons and I was so sad when I picked the last one. Our trees suffer from a weird combination of not enough sunlight and too high temperatures, but I’m happy that we’ve kept them alive so far! The eureka lemon tree still has a few lemons left on it, and part of me doesn’t want to use them because I know we are coming to the end!
I feel the same way about our larger lemon tree planted in the yard, Tracey! Our landlord always asks if we don’t like lemons. Haha! Aside from there just being too many to eat on that one, I also like to keep a few on it. After so many years with no access to growing citrus, I love looking out the window and seeing them!