The Kiss and Tell

More About This Recipe

• The only real restaurant experience I've ever had is behind the bar. This is ironic; I mainly write about food and cooking and I've never actually worked in a professional kitchen.
  
  Booze though. Booze I know. I'm a professional.
  
  People do some crazy stuff with drinks these days. I mean heck, just look at the latest Taste of Adventure blogger, Michelle, from Jelly Shot Test Kitchen. She’s doing some pretty mind blowing things with jelly shots.
  
  I'm a simple man, though. So I'm giving you a simple cocktail that has a few ingredients but tastes really unique. I think it will really wow your friends over the holidays.
  
  I call it The Kiss and Tell because when you kiss it, you're gonna want to tell somebody about it. It's that good.
  
  The awesome thing about The Kiss and Tell is that it can be served over ice, chilled up in a martini glass, out of a punch bowl, or even warmed out of a slow cooker. It has a lot of different possibilities - kind of like kisses.
  
  The base of this drink is just bourbon and apple juice, which is a very winter combination. They work great together as-is. You could mix these two over ice and call it a day.
  
  To spice it up a bit though, I recommend making some ginger sugar, which is, just crystallized ginger and sugar combined in a small food processor, coffee grinder, or with a mortar and pestle. If you don't have any of those things, you could mash the ginger up with a fork and stir it together that way.
  
  Use a lemon wedge to wet the edge of your glass and dip it in ginger sugar before you pour in the drink to take The Kiss and Tell to another level. The ginger and apple combination is fantastic!
  
  There are a few optional items that you can toss in if you have them. I really love bitters in almost any drink with whiskey or bourbon in it, so a dash of that definitely doesn't hurt. A maraschino cherry just looks pretty in the glass. And the soda water at the end gives the drink some bubbles which some people like.
  
  You can dress it up or dress it down, but it's hard to go wrong with this guy. Give it a shot if you're serving cocktails at any of your holiday parties!
  
  Nick uses bourbon and apple juice for fuel on his blog, Macheesmo and for his Tablespoon profile.