An evening on the porch sipping sweet tea is a great way to enjoy the South in summer. In a recent North State Journal feature, we share Nightbell’s recipe for the “Asheville On My Mind,” a peachy sweet tea cocktail made with bourbon.
Bartender Dan Byers is quoted in the feature, and he shares the story behind the drink.
Dan Byers is one of the lead bartenders at Nightbell.
“Being in the South, we wanted to do a sweet tea cocktail—but not the same sweet tea vodka-based drinks everyone else is making. So we took flavors of the South and incorporated them into an Old Fashioned by creating sweet tea bitters and peach-infused bourbon. You still get those notes, but the cocktail remains spirit-forward, as an Old Fashioned should. Imagine sitting on your porch in a rocking chair with a glass of bourbon, while also experiencing subtle flavors of sweet tea. It’s an ode to sweet tea in classic cocktail form.”
North State Journal
The recipe:
Asheville On My Mind
- 2 ounces peach-infused bourbon*
- 2 dashes sweet tea bitters
- ¼ ounce demerara simple syrup*
Combine equal parts demerara sugar and water, heat and stir until combined, then cool. Pour ingredients into a rocks glass with an oversized ice cube. Stir, then garnish with a lemon peel.
Peach-infused bourbon
- ½ pound dried peaches
- 1 750-ml bottle Bulleit bourbon
Let peaches soak in bourbon for five days, then strain.
Sweet tea bitters
- 8 ounces Everclear
- 2 teaspoons loose-leaf green tea
- 2 teaspoons loose-leaf black tea
- 2 teaspoons brown sugar
- zest of 1/2 lemon
Fill a half pint Mason jar with Everclear. Add tea, brown sugar, and lemon zest, then cover. Shake once a day for a week, then strain.
Enjoy those summer evenings with the Asheville On My Mind at home, or make a reservation at Nightbell to try this or another of our craft cocktails with your meal.
