six easy cocktails to make for father’s day
Father's Day is the one day a year Dad gets to sit back and let someone else handle it. Return the favor with one of these six crowd-pleasing cocktails — all easy enough to pull off before brunch, and impressive enough to earn some serious brownie points.
PAPER PLANE
Ingredients
- 3/4 oz bourbon
- 3/4 oz Aperol
- 3/4 oz Amaro Nonino
- 3/4 oz fresh lemon juice
Directions: Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake well and strain into a coupe glass.
Equal parts everything — this is the cocktail for the dad who likes things balanced and no-nonsense. Shaken hard and served up, it's bright, a little bitter, and totally refreshing.
OLD FASHIONED
Ingredients
- 2.5 oz good bourbon
- 6–8 dashes orange bitters
- 6–8 dashes aromatic bitters
- 1 bar spoon agave
Directions: Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass with ice. Stir until well chilled and strain over a large ice cube. Garnish with an orange peel.
The classic. The legend. If Dad has a favorite whiskey, this is how you show it off. Skip the soda water and the fruit salad — this one's all about the bourbon.
Psssttt… shop my old fashioned essentials here.
Smoked Blackberry Whiskey Sour
Ingredients
-2 oz blackberry whiskey
- Juice of half a lemon (fresh squeezed)
- 1/2 oz simple syrup
- 1 egg white
- Handful of blackberries
- Garnish: fresh rosemary, -blackberries, dehydrated lemon
Directions: Muddle the blackberries in a shaker. Add remaining ingredients and dry shake (no ice) for 15 seconds to build the foam. Add ice and shake again. Double strain into a rocks glass over ice. Garnish.
This one's a showstopper. The egg white gives it a silky, frothy top and the blackberry whiskey keeps it deep and fruity. Fancy-looking, easy to make — Dad doesn't need to know.
KENTUCKY BUCK
Ingredients
- 2 oz bourbon
- 3/4 oz fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 oz simple syrup
- 2 dashes bitters
- 1 medium strawberry, quartered
- Ginger beer to top
Directions: Muddle the strawberry in a shaker. Add bourbon, lemon juice, simple syrup, and bitters with ice. Shake and strain into a glass over fresh ice. Top with ginger beer and garnish with a strawberry.
Strawberry. Bourbon. Ginger beer. This one practically makes itself —and it goes down dangerously easy on a hot afternoon.
TRANSFUSION
Ingredients
-2 oz. vodka
-3/4 oz. fresh lime juice
-2-3 oz. concord grape juice
-2-3 oz. ginger ale
Directions: Fill a glass with ice. Add vodka, lime juice, and grape juice. Top with ginger ale and give it a gentle stir. Garnish with a lime wedge.
Golf course in a glass. The Transfusion is a cult classic on the back nine, and for good reason — it's sweet, fizzy, and dangerously drinkable. If Dad golfs, this one's mandatory.
Salted Grapefruit Mezcalita
Ingredients
- 1.5 oz mezcal
- 3/4 oz Aperol'
- 1/2 oz orange liqueur
- 1/4 oz agave
- 1/2 oz lime juice
- 1.5 oz fresh grapefruit juice
Directions: Salt (or Tajín) the rim of a rocks glass and fill with ice. Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice, shake well, and strain into the glass. Garnish with a grapefruit wedge.
For the dad who likes a little smoke with his citrus. This mezcal riff on a margarita is complex without being complicated — the Aperol adds a gorgeous color and a touch of sweetness that ties it all together.
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Whichever one you make, the real ingredient is the effort. Happy Father’s Day 🤍
-Jordan