Category: Cocktails

Lots of people taste honey when they first try Batch 22, even though there is no honey in it. The effect of all the main flavor components, along with the rich mouthfeel, can easily be experienced as “honey.” It turns out that adding honey syrup to an aquavit cocktail, along with a little boost of citrus, works beautifully, and makes for a delightfully light and sweet treat. Here’s our riff on the classic Prohibition cocktail, called the Bees Knees, which uses honey in its build. 

Ingredients

• 2 ounces Batch 22 Classic Gold
• ¾ ounce freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1/2 ounce honey simple syrup (1/2 cup honey & 1 cup water)
• Garnish with lemon twist

In a cocktail shaker with ice combine the aquavit, lemon juice, and simple syrup.

Shake to chill and strain into a chilled Nick & Nora glass.

Garnish with a lemon peel.

This is our riff on the classic Sidecar, which is traditionally cognac based. By substituting Batch 22 for the cognac, you wind up with a herbaceous, not too sweet cocktail that’s had its citrus component turbo-charged. 

Ingredients

• Orange wedge and sugar for rim
• 1½ oz. Batch 22 Classic Gold
• ¾ oz. orange liqueur
• ¾ oz. freshly squeezed lemon juice
• Orange peel for garnish

To prepare the rim, rub the rim of the glass with the orange wedge. With the sugar on a saucer, dip either half or the entire rim of the glass in the sugar to coat.

In a cocktail shaker with ice, combine aquavit, orange liqueur, and lemon juice.

Shake well to chill and strain into the prepared glass.

Garnish with an orange peel.

Like classic espresso, this dessert cocktail combines flavors of coffee and lemon with some of the added zing of herbs and spices.

In a rocks glass mix:

• 2 oz. Batch 22
• 2 oz. Mario’s (or coffee liqueur)
• 1 oz. Limoncello

Add ice and stir. Garnish with lemon peel twist

In many ways, absinthe is aquavit’s more potent cousin, but it’s a delicious, spicy, herbaceous ingredient that adds a lovely layer of complexity to any cocktail. One of the best-known absinthe cocktails is called the Corpse Reviver 2 and, when we wanted to play with the possibilities of mixing absinthe and aquavit, we came up with this intriguing mix of spirits that does, indeed, warm the heart. 

Ingredients

• .75 oz. Batch 22
• .75 oz. Lemon juice
• .75 oz. Cocchi Americano
• .5 oz. Triple sec
• 1 oz. Fierce and Kind Bourbon
• Absinthe for rinse.

Combine all ingredients except the absinthe in a shaker. Add ice and shake vigorously. Add absinthe to a chilled coupe or Nick and Nora glass, swirl, and dump. Double strain cocktail into glass.

Famed New York publican Danny McDonald owns and runs some of Manhattan’s most popular and successful bars. While throwing back pints of Guinness with him at his bar, Swift Hibernian Lounge, we heard him ask his lead bartender to try an experimental cocktail with Batch 22. He asked for a Collins glass with ice and two simple ingredients: Batch 22 and fresh-pressed green apple juice. When he ran the idea past us, we were skeptical, but when we tasted it, we were floored. This simple combination turns out to be one of the best aquavit cocktails we’ve ever had. Hats off to our friend Danny for this one.

Ingredients

• 2 oz. Batch 22
• 4-6 oz. Fresh-pressed green apple juice (a macerating juicer works best)

In a Collins glass with ice, combine Batch 22 and apple juice. Stir to chill.

Garnish with an apple peel twist. 

Nordic 75

The French 75 is a classic gin drink that’s been a cocktail staple for decades. It combines the elegance of champagne (or sparkling wine) with the crispness of gin and the sourness of lemon to create a truly light and delicious sipper. Our version of this classic substitutes aquavit for the gin and adds a special herbal note by using a bit of sage-infused simple syrup. 

Ingredients

2 oz. Batch 22

1 oz. Lemon

1 oz. Sage agave simple syrup 

Sparkling wine for finishing

Combine ingredients (except sparkling wine) in a shaker with ice. Shake well to chill. Strain into a chilled flute and top with sparkling wine of your choice. Garnish with a lemon twist. 

When we met the Los Angeles rep for San Pellegrino in a Studio City bar, we became fast friends (Amica means “friend” in Italian). And what do friends in the beverage industry do best? They collaborate! Here’s a great cocktail that showcases the luscious flavors of San Pellegrino’s Arancia Rosso (Blood Orange soda). 

In a rocks glass mix

• 2 oz. Batch
• 1 oz. Amaro
• 4 oz. San Pellegrino Arancia Rosso
• 3 dashes orange bitters

Add ice and stir to chill well. Garnish with an orange peel or orange section. 

This cocktail, inspired by a strawberry-infused drink called Mother’s Blush, pays homage to all the moms out there who love over-sharing information about their children to anyone who will listen. This trait, though well-meaning, is often most unbearable when the child (or children) are present and are being referred to in the third person. While this cocktail was created to honor the mother, a few of them in quick succession will work wonders for the children as well. 

• 1 oz. Batch 22
• 2 oz. Lillet Rose
• 1 oz. Sparkling wine
• 2 Fresh strawberries

In a tall glass, muddle the strawberries with the Batch 22. Add the Lillet and ice and mix. Top with sparkling wine, stir gently, and garnish with an orange twist.

We’ve spent the last couple of years telling people that we don’t like the traditional aquavit flavors of fennel and anise, but in some cases, those flavors are actually a positive addition for us. For coffee cocktails in particular, an anise component combines beautifully with the coffee and the aquavit base to create a wonderfully rich and luxurious dessert elixir.

Ingredients

In a shaker with ice combine:

• 2 oz. Batch 22
• .5 oz. Sambuca
• .75 oz. First Light Coffee Whiskey
• 1.5 oz. espresso, freshly brewed
• 3 dashes orange bitters
• 2 dashes chocolate bitters

Shake until well-chilled and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with coffee beans.

Here’s a great coffee cocktail that packs a punch and works as well after dinner as it does as an eye-opener in the morning. The cocktail was inspired by a recipe that originally used cognac, but we wanted it to be a bit less heavy, sweet, and boozy, so we used Batch 22 instead. Fantastico.

Ingredients

• 1.5 oz. Batch 22 
• 1/2 oz. Mario’s Hard Espresso
• 1/2 oz. Averna amaro
• 1/2 oz. Xila liqueur (like a spicy mezcal)
• 1/2 oz. cold-brew coffee*
• 2 dashes chocolate bitters
• Mint leaf for garnish

Add the Batch 22, Mario’s coffee liqueur, amaro, Xila liqueur, cold-brew coffee, and chocolate bitters into a shaker with ice and shake briefly to chill. Strain into a double rocks glass over a large ice cube. Garnish with a large fresh mint leaf.

*Use your favorite bottled cold-brew coffee or make it yourself by soaking 140 grams ground coffee beans in a coffee filter with 32 oz. water for 12 hours. After steeping, remove the grounds from the coffee filter.