Last Updated on June 12, 2023 by Leah Hall
This Bourbon Peach Smash is full of flavor with the rich, dark flavor of the whiskey, the herbal note of mint, and the freshness of a peach! Easy to make, and a must for late summer!
This Peach Bourbon Smash is a must make for end of the year peaches. This adaptable recipe is easy to either use late season fresh peaches or using a fresh peach syrup if your peaches just didn’t last! Make sure to check below for the recipe that you can adapt to what you have on hand!
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What is a Smash Cocktail?
This smash cocktail is a summer staple on craft cocktail menus, as well as fall with fruit that isn’t the prettiest! A smash a cocktail without strict definition. The ingredients are open to interpretation, and is a great way to modify or switch up easily. A Smash has a few constant elements at all times, though!
A smash cocktail typically uses a seasonal fruit and/or herb, can muddled with sugar or simple syrup, shaken with a spirit like bourbon (or vodka, tequila, gin or anything!), strained, and served over crushed ice.
Sometimes the smash is mixed or topped with a splash of something fizzy, like club soda, ginger beer, or soda.
The smash cocktail is icy, refreshing, and great for using seasonal fruits like peaches, berries, and cherries. Same goes for for fresh herbs- mint, thyme, sage, basil that all work in this, and the fresher the better, but can also be great in a simple syrup. We have a ton of herbal simple syrups:
Herbal Simple Syrups
Peach Bourbon Smash Cocktail
This whiskey cocktail recipe only uses 5 ingredients, so it’s super simple to make. This is a great cocktail recipe to serve at a get together and is simple enough to double to make for multiple people at the same time.
As we said, we adapted this recipe to make it even easier to use fresh ingredients or not, depending what you have on hand. Make sure to check below for the adaptable recipe ideas!
Smash Cocktail Tips
- Choose your favorite Bourbon to make this cocktail
- You can add in ginger beer, club soda or lemon lime soda to have a fizzier drink, or a less stout version. You can also use champagne or Prosecco!
- Feel free to garnish or swap out the peach with different fruit, depending what you have on hand. Nectarines or Apricots work really well in this cocktail. Also any berry, cherry, or citrus fruit work well.
- You can sub out the simple syrup for other sweetener. Or, make a Peach syrup with honey, sugar substitute, maple syrup or other sweetener idea.
- Instead of the fresh mint (or mint simple syrup) use another fresh herb or syrup such as thyme, rosemary and basil.
From there, this cocktail is like a choose-your-own-adventure drink. Make it your own, but try this version first if you can!
Simple Syrup and Fresh Herbs vs. Muddled Fruit and Herbs
You can get the peach and mint flavor in this cocktail two different ways: 1) by using a peach simple syrup and fresh mint, or by muddling the fresh peach with mint and simple syrup in the bottom of your cocktail shaker.
We preferred the fresh peach in this cocktail, but the fresh peach simple syrup tastes great too!
Right Ice for a Smash Cocktail
Ice is an important ingredient in a cocktail, as we are sure you have figured out by now! The type of ice you use can affect the quality and flavor of your drink.
Crushed ice (or pebble ice) is the ideal to use for smashes and mint juleps and use simple syrup most of the time. Crushed ice thins out the sweet syrup and provides the amount of dilution you need for the drink without watering it down and still keeping it cold!
You can easily make crushed ice at home in your blender or with a mallet and a Lewis bag. If you don’t have either of these a meat tenderizer and a clean dish towel will do the trick.
But, if crushed ice isn’t an option, any ice will work, no judging here!
What is Muddling?
To muddle means to press the ingredients against the side of the glass with a muddler. The idea is to release the flavors and oils of the fresh fruit and herbs, but not to pulverize them into paste. Over muddling can give a bitter taste in the drink, especially when using fresh herbs. A proper muddling involves pressing down and twisting the muddler, not hitting it down over and over until it breaks everything down.
Best Muddling Tips
- Use a cocktail shaker or sturdy glass.
- Use the right muddler. Ones with a rubber tip or wood muddlers work the best.
- Twist the muddler, don’t pound it. Pounding damages the herbs and gives them a bitter taste. One thing we like to do is muddle the fruit first, and then add the herbs and gently press down on them to release the herbs with out beating them to oblivion!
Cheers!
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Like this recipe? Try these below, too!
Other Smash Cocktails
- Blueberry Smash
- Bourbon Orange Smash – Beautiful Booze
- Muddled Blackberry Gin Smash
- Strawberry Smash – Cookie & Kate
- Grapefruit and Thyme Bourbon Smash – A Tipsy Giraffe
Bourbon Peach Smash Cocktail
This Peach Bourbon Smash cocktail is fresh and bright with peaches, fresh mint, bourbon and honey simple syrup. Topped with ginger ale for fizziness!
Ingredients
- .50 ounces honey simple syrup
- 1/2 peach, sliced
- 5 mint leaves
- 2 ounces bourbon
- ginger ale
Instructions
- Fill cocktail glass with crushed ice.
- Pour honey simple syrup into shaker with peach slices. Muddle gently to slightly break down peach slices.
- Add in mint leaves and press down gently onto mint leaves.
- Add in ice and bourbon.
- Strain into glass with crushed ice.
- Top with ginger ale.
- Garnish with mint leaves. Cheers!
Recommended Products
As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.
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JBHO Hand Blown Crystal Double Old Fashioned Cocktail, Solid Whiskey Glasses, Rocks Glasses, Lowball Glasses - 12 Ounce - set of 2 - Perfect Size for Oversized Ice Cubes -
A Bar Above Hawthorne Strainer for Cocktails -
Viski Professional Lewis Ice Bag & Mallet -
Cocktail Shaker – 17oz Parisian Cocktail Shaker
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
1Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 176Sodium: 11mgCarbohydrates: 11.9g
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