Winter Bourbon Smash

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Glasses of our Raspberry Jam Bourbon Smash recipe surrounded by ingredients used to make it

Friends! 2013 is almost over. Do you have New Year’s plans yet? Whether you’re going out or staying in, we have the perfect simple drink for you: A winter bourbon smash.

Cutting board with glasses of Raspberry Jam Bourbon Smash

This drink has quite the history. We especially loved this excerpt:

“The smash is an open-ended cocktail, freely variable and seasonally flexible. There must be ice…There should be fruit in season, though you may use it simply as a garnish. There should be a spirit base…You may want to water your smash down a little or add a spritz of seltzer. At its heart, the smash is a wonderfully forgiving and flexible drink, made for…using what’s on hand and for smashing it all together over ice for pure sipping bliss.”

Now that we’re all learned on this beautiful, simple cocktail, let’s get to mixin’.

Raspberry jam for making a delicious drinks

It all starts with raspberry jam. We called this a winter smash since traditionally a smash should contain a seasonal fruit. Being that it’s frigid outside and fresh fruit isn’t exactly plentiful, a jam is the perfect solution.

For flavor we went with raspberry, but you could really use any jam or preserve you have on hand. A perfect pairing to raspberry is orange, which we used as both a garnish and juice to add a brightness to this cocktail.

Fresh orange slices for making drinks
Bottle of bourbon for making drinks
Pouring Winter Bourbon Smash from a shaker into two glasses

Two things I love about this drink:

1) It has a quenchable thickness thanks to the preserves.
2) It highlights the bourbon beautifully.

I wouldn’t consider myself a huge bourbon fan (unless it’s in caramel). But the more I try it in drinks like this, the more I love it. It has less of a punch than vodka and tequila and a distinct flavor that’s absolutely delicious when well mixed.

Glasses of our Simple Winter Raspberry Bourbon Smash recipe

This drink is my new favorite. It’s:

Fruity
Not too sweet
Slightly creamy
Bright with citrus
Not too strong
& So easy to make.

Make it this New Year’s Eve to bring in 2014 right. This is definitely what we’ll be cheersing to at midnight. Enjoy!

Glasses of Raspberry Jam Winter Bourbon Smash
Glasses of Raspberry Jam Bourbon Smash on a wood cutting board

Winter Bourbon Smash

A winter bourbon smash made with raspberry preserves instead of fresh fruit to keep it seasonal and simple. Fresh and citrusy, not too sweet, and perfect for New Year’s Eve and other cold weather special occasions.
Author Minimalist Baker
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Glasses of our winter bourbon smash recipe on a wood cutting board
4.82 from 22 votes
Prep Time 5 minutes
Total Time 5 minutes
Servings 1
Course Beverage
Cuisine Vegan
Freezer Friendly No
Does it keep? Best when fresh

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup ice (plus more for serving)
  • 2 Tbsp preserves or jam of choice (we went with organic raspberry)
  • 2 Tbsp bourbon
  • 1 Tbsp triple sec
  • 2-3 Tbsp orange juice
  • Orange segments
  • A splash of club soda brightens it up

Instructions

  • Add ice, preserves, bourbon, triple sec and orange juice to a shaker and shake vigorously for 15 seconds.
  • Pour into serving glass with a few ice cubes and top with a splash of club soda. Garnish with orange slices and enjoy. Repeat for more drinks.

Notes

*We love the flavor and affordability of Bulleit Bourbon
*Inspired by Cooking Light Magazine
*Nutrition information is a rough estimate.

Nutrition (1 of 1 servings)

Serving: 1 serving Calories: 223 Carbohydrates: 29 g Protein: 0 g Fat: 0 g Saturated Fat: 0 g Trans Fat: 0 g Cholesterol: 0 mg Sodium: 1100 mg Fiber: 0 g Sugar: 32 g

 

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  1. Joan H. says

    I made this using currant jelly. It was delicious, although I could not get the jelly to fully mix in. Also, we only needed about half the jelly for the sweetness we desired. But it is a delicious cocktail! Thank you.

  2. Sharon says

    I riffed a bit. Based on the feedback that it was too sweet, I swapped out the orange juice and orange segment for lemon. I felt it was still too sweet, to be honest. I think I might reduce the jam to 1 tablespoon and add some frozen raspberries if I did it again. The jam idea is clever, though because it obviates the need to have simple syrup on hand.

    • Avatar for Dana @ Minimalist BakerSupport @ Minimalist Baker says

      Sorry you didn’t love it, Sharon! Different brands of jam will vary in their sugar content, so feel free to play around with it!

  3. emma says

    love this cocktail! no special ingredients and personally love to leave out triple sec so its not overly sweet for the husband!

  4. WS says

    Such a delicious cocktail! I made it for Christmas Eve and everyone loved it! My sister even said she wished she could go back in time and have this be the cocktail at her wedding. I made this drink with two different preserves (one from Trader Joe’s and one from Whole-foods). I would definitely suggest to use the Trader Joe’s raspberry preserves if you can because it is deeelicious in this cocktail! Whole-foods not so much… Also don’t skip the club soda, without it the drink would be way too sweet. I also probably added one less tablespoon of the preserves because this drink can get a little too sweet.

  5. Dan says

    Very nice holiday cocktail. Nice color and flavor. Bourbon is a bit too diluted for my taste, so I bumped it to 3 T, could go to 4. And reduced jam to 1 T. I love cherry preserves so that’s what I used.

  6. sajifio says

    I made this tonight and they were amazing. My bf who is normally not that keep on whisky really liked this drink (he loves fruity cocktails). Its so festive and yummy. Def making this for Xmas day!

  7. Xtina says

    Delicious! I love it.

    Do you have a batch recipe for this? Maybe for 5-6 drinks? Or should I make them all separately?

    • Avatar for Dana @ Minimalist BakerSupport @ Minimalist Baker says

      Hi Xtina, We’re so glad you enjoy it! You can modify the number of servings and the recipe will automatically adjust amounts. Hope that helps!

  8. T says

    This recipe is fantastic! We declared it our “holiday drink” this year and made it for several different groups of people that we hosted. It was a huge hit :)

  9. thor says

    just made this. didn’t want to make it too sweet so went with half the raspberry amount and I think it was the right decision. came out delicious.

    • Avatar for Dana @ Minimalist BakerSupport @ Minimalist Baker says

      Thanks so much for sharing, Thor. We are so glad you enjoyed it! Next time, would you mind leaving a rating with your review? It’s super helpful for us and other readers. Thanks so much! Xo

  10. Robin K says

    First words out of my husband’s mouth – “oooh these are dangerous!”
    We didn’t have triple sec so we used Sweet Vermouth (Martini & Rossi), Fever Tree Club Soda and Orange Bitters (Scrappy’s Bitters).
    These will be in regular rotation all winter! Thanks Dana!

  11. Eva says

    Delicious! I used fresh squeezed clementine juice (since I’ve got a box of those on the countertop at the moment). I thought it would be too sweet so I used only one Tbsp jam for 2 cocktails, but it’s a bit tart so next time I’d use 2 Tbsp jam for 2 drinks. (Yes, there *will* be a next time, and soon!) Thanks for this!

  12. Tom says

    Great drink. I made this for a party of 18, and since the ratios were the same…what I did was:
    – put a jar of jam in a big bowl
    -fill that jar up with bourbon and pour in bowl
    -fill the jar up with OJ and pour in bowl
    -fill the jar halfway up with triple sec and pour in the bowl

    Then I put in about 10 ice cubes, whisked it real good and funneled it back into the gallon OJ container I bought. I repeated this with 3 more jars of jam, and I had an easy-to-serve drink ready to go when I showed up at the party. Really surprised at how delicious this was, and everyone loved it.

    • Katy says

      I love this batch idea. Any idea how many you think that one-jar-this-half-jar-that version (gotta love the ease of a basic 2-1-1 recipe) would serve? 5 drinks?

  13. Diane says

    Trying to put together some drink recipes for the holidays. This looked yummy so I thought I’d try it. I used what I had… Bonn Maman raspberry preserves, Weller’s Special Reserve and Cointreu. Oh sweet Lord, this is delicious! I wish I had an orange because I’m sure that would put it over the top. Can’t wait to serve this to my family and friends.

  14. Amanda @ Once Upon a Recipe says

    I am clearly very behind in my blog reading (PS. Happy New Year!), but this looks like a smashing cocktail. :) I am envisioning myself making one with a citrus marmalade and grapefruit juice for a real citrus kick.

  15. eat.drink.frolic. says

    this looks awesome! I made a cocktail similar to this but with strawberry jam. So good! Thanks for sharing.

  16. Joy // For the Love of Leaves says

    This looks fantastic! I want some right now…which is probably bad seeing as it’s 8:30 in the morning, but hey, it’s got orange juice, right?

  17. Michelle says

    My husband loves bourbon. And I usually do not. But after making this cocktail, we are both in love with the subtle sweet flavor. This is a keeper recipe !! Thanks for sharing :)

  18. Tammy Thiele says

    For someone that keeps joking that drinking is going to be her new hobby this recipe came along the right time! Seriously, I love getting the history on the drink, and it sounds amazing. Truly hoping to try this soon!

  19. Ellen says

    Seeing as it is Monday and I’m on an exercise bike while typing this on my phone maybe I shouldn’t be getting this excited about bourbon. But I am! Real life. I live the idea of incorporating jam into a cocktail.

  20. Dixya @ Food, Pleasure, and Health says

    im not much of a bourbon person but looking at the picture and raspberry preserve I think I will like this a lot. Happy New Year :)

  21. Jamie @ Dishing Out Health says

    Omg this is my perfect drink!! I love the idea of using fruity jam to amp up the flavor. I can’t wait to try this!