If you love Texas whiskey, you're in the right place. This is your go-to guide for mixing drinks at home with the best bottles Texas has to offer. From Hill Country craft to Gulf Coast boldness, these cocktails highlight whiskey from award-winning Texas brands featured at the Texas Whiskey Festival. Whether you're searching for your next favorite pour or just want to sip something new, start shaking things up—Texas-style.
Andalusia Triple Distilled Mojito
The Andalusia Triple Distilled Mojito is delicious modification on the classic cocktail. We are making this in time for St. Patrick’s Day but this is a great summer drink as well. The mojito is a Cuban cocktail that is usually made with rum, sugar or simple syrup, mint, and soda water. And like most cocktails, there are several ways you can make it.
Real Spirits Rusty Nail
The Rusty Nail is a funny name for a cocktail. This is a drink named after a reddish-yellowish-brown flaky coated metal spike. A name that makes livers shake and would be drinkers run in fear. In reality, it is relatively tame. We share our Real Spirits Rusty Nail to help you put this cocktail into perspective.
Andalusia Mule
The Andalusia Mule is a delightfully fizzy drink. Made with fiery ginger beer, Andalusia Triple Distilled Whiskey, and fresh lime.
Smoking Gun Cocktail
Aaron Pollack, the bar manager of The Dawson’s in Chicago created the Smoking Pistol Cocktail. We modified the drink to fit our tastes and call it the Smoking Gun Cocktail.
Godfather Cocktail
The godfather cocktail named after the revered trilogy does it justice. Like an offer from Corleone, you won’t refuse this drink. A simple, yet powerful mixture of whiskey and amaretto.The traditional recipe uses equal parts, but we prefer to let the whiskey shine. We adjusted the mixture to 2 to 1 whiskey vs. amaretto.
Affinity Cocktail
The affinity cocktail is an old-school style drink with no fruity liqueurs or fancy herbs. Created in the early 1900s after a broadway play, however, the exact performance is unknown.
Autumn Ash
The autumn ash is a whiskey drink made with Scotch. So we swapped it for one of the many great Texas single malts.
Arnold Palmer with whiskey
The Arnold Palmer is a classic non-alcoholic drink named after the famous golfer. It is light and refreshing, perfect after a round of golf. Over the years, people have made a vodka version called the John Daly.
Hair of the Dog
We have all been there the day after a bit of overindulgence that we are willing to try about any cure available to make the pain go away. While most reach for the ibuprofen and water, some prefer the hair of the dog.
Balcones Rye Manhattan
The truth is no one knows who or where the Manhattan Cocktail was invented. In truth, it does not matter. I want to share the Balcones Rye Manhattan with you. I do feel some history is appropriate.
Ben Milam Horsecar
The horse-drawn tram (horsecar) was an early form of public rail transport that became the name of a drink. We do not know it’s origins, but that it appeared in the 1956 edition of the Esquire Drink Book. The Ben Milam Horsecar is a variation on the unknown cocktail.
Canadian Sneak
The Canadian Sneak is a creation from Heather Greene. The combination of maple syrup, cinnamon, bitters, and rye whiskey create the perfect fall cocktail.
Suburban Cocktail
The suburban cocktail is a change-up to the traditional old-fashioned. A unique cocktail combining rye whiskey, rum and port.
Sex on the Beach Cocktail
Less sugar, more swagger.
This Texas twist on the Sex on the Beach swaps vodka for whiskey—bringing bold flavor to a fruity, easy-drinking classic. It’s sunshine in a glass, minus the sugar crash.
Strawberry Whiskey Smash
As we approach summer, days stretch into the night. Making way for more backyard BBQs, get-togethers (someday) and pool parties. Fresh fruits seem to replace the heavy winter snacks. Even our drink choices shift with the seasons. Its time to break out the summer cocktails. Introducing an original festival cocktail, the strawberry whiskey smash.
The Brain-Duster
According to the annals of cocktail history, the Brain-Duster got its name in 1895 by bartender George J. Kappeler. Now, and likely back then, a brain duster is what you give someone when you smack them upside the head, so you can see how it was a fitting name for this drink…
Churchill Breakfast Cocktail
Winston Churchill’s alcohol intake is the stuff of legends. The man could put back some booze. He would wash down is breakfast and cigar with a weak mixture of Johnny Walker Red Label and soda. The Churchill breakfast cocktail is an homage to the celebration of whiskey in the morning.
The Fault Line Cocktail
How the fault line cocktail came to be. “One day, I was at the bar when a regular came in, sat down, and challenged me to prove her wrong about Campari. I’ll admit I had no idea what I was going to come up with…
Whiskey & Soda
There is a simple yet overlooked cocktail called the whiskey & soda. This classic highball is often frowned upon by whiskey snobs. Ignore them and drink whiskey the way you want.