Your cocktails at home can go far beyond rum and coke. We know you’ve missed going out to your favorite distilleries and cocktail lounges, so we decided to bring the drinks to you. This is your chance to build your recipe roster and lift your spirits at the same time.
Be your own mixologist with these easy-to-follow cocktails, featuring spirits from local distilleries.
Moonshine Mule
Michigan Moonshine Distillery
4005 Chicago Dr. SW, Grandville
michiganmoonshine.us
The Moonshine Mule is not only Michigan Moonshine Distillery’s bestselling cocktail, it’s also a staff favorite. It features a unique rye moonshine mixed with freshly squeezed citrus and brown sugar syrup. Customize it at home with your favorite ginger beer.
Ingredients:
2 oz. 80% Corn 20% Rye Grain Moonshine
1½ oz. fresh-squeezed lemon/lime juice
1½ oz. brown sugar syrup
Ginger beer
Lime wedge
*brown sugar syrup: equal parts brown sugar dissolved in hot water
Pour moonshine, lemon/lime juice and brown sugar simple syrup into a shaker with ice. Shake well and strain over ice into a copper mug. Top with ginger beer and garnish with a lime wedge.
Mia Wallace
Coppercraft Distillery
184 120th Ave., Holland
coppercraftdistillery.com
Coppercraft Distillery describes this perfect summer sipper — much like Mia Wallace from Pulp Fiction — as beautiful yet perplexing. This cocktail features Coppercraft Citrus Vodka, naturally flavored with lime, lemon, orange and grapefruit peels. The vodka mixes beautifully with strawberry syrup, fresh lime juice and subtle notes of basil.
Ingredients:
2 oz. Coppercraft Citrus Vodka
¾ oz. strawberry syrup
¾ oz. lime juice
5 basil leaves
Pour Coppercraft Citrus Vodka, strawberry syrup, lime juice and basil leaves into a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a Collins glass, if you have one. Top off with sparkling water and garnish with a strawberry and basil leaf.
The Long Road Cosmo
Long Road Distillers
537 Leonard St. NW, Grand Rapids
longroaddistillers.com
Long Road Distillers loves The Long Road Cosmo because it features two of the staff’s favorite things: Long Road Vodka and Long Road Orange Liqueur. A recent release and an instant hit, Long Road Orange Liqueur boasts bright citrus notes yet is also balanced and slightly herbal.
Ingredients:
1 oz. Long Road Vodka
1 oz. Long Road Orange Liqueur
1½ oz. cranberry juice
½ oz. fresh lime juice
Combine all ingredients in a shaker filled with ice. Shake vigorously and double strain into a coupe or cocktail glass. Easy!
Apple Pie Moonshine
Wise Men Distillery
4717 Broadmoor Ave. SE, Suite F
wisemendistillery.com
This cocktail features Wise Men Distillery’s award-winning vodka and delicious Apple Pie Moonshine. The vodka’s subtle sweetness and fruitiness melds well with the rich cinnamon, apple, and buttery flavors of the moonshine.
Ingredients:
1½ oz. Wise Men Distillery Vodka
1 oz. Apple Pie Moonshine
½ oz. lime juice
Ginger beer
Lime wheel
In a copper mug full of ice, pour vodka, Apple Pie Moonshine and lime juice. Top with ginger beer and garnish with a lime wheel.
The Piña Piña
Buffalo Traders Lounge
950 E. Fulton St., Grand Rapids
buffalotraderslounge.com
This drink is perfect for sipping on a warm summer night, reminiscent of grilling pineapple on your backyard grill. With only two bottles to buy, it’s also easily made from a home bar. The uncomplicated recipe, designed by Joel Ruberg, allows two products we know and love to shine, giving this familiar flavor profile a rich complexity: fruity, smoky and bright.
Ingredients:
1 oz. Banhez Ensemble Mezcal
1 oz. Plantation Pineapple Rum
¾ oz. fresh lime juice
½ oz. rich simple syrup (2 parts sugar, 1 part water)
Lime twist
Cherry
Combine Banhez Ensemble Mezcal, Plantation Pineapple Rum, lime juice and rich simple syrup in a shaker filled with ice. Shake vigorously and strain into a chilled coupe. Garnish with a lime twist and cherry.
Maple Whiskey Sour
Bier Distillery
5295 W. River Drive NE #100, Comstock Park
bierdistillery.com
Bier Distillery loves this recipe not only for its simplicity and easy-to-find ingredients, but also for how easily it can be modified. If you don’t have — or simply don’t enjoy — maple syrup, you can use another simple syrup: strawberry, cherry, blueberry, cinnamon, vanilla, caramel or the classic. Take this cocktail a step further by adding one ounce of egg white to your shakerful of ingredients to add a different mouthfeel and body.
Ingredients:
2 oz. Bier Distillery Sole Cry Rye Whiskey
1 oz. lemon juice
¾ oz. maple syrup
1 lemon
Pour Bier Distillery Sole Cry Rye Whiskey, lemon juice and maple syrup into a shaker filled with ice. Shake well and strain into a glass of your choice. Garnish with a lemon slice.
