Brandy Smash
ClassicBrandy, mint, and lemon over crushed ice. The Julep's quick cousin.
Cool, minty, and fruity. Muddled mint adds a green freshness, lemon keeps it lively, and brandy brings soft grape and vanilla notes. Light on the palate with a gentle warmth underneath.
Ingredients
- 2 oz Brandy
- 0.5 oz Fresh Lemon Juice
- 0.5 oz Simple Syrup
- 6 Mint Leaves
- Mint sprig · optional garnish
Method
- 1
Gently muddle the mint leaves with the simple syrup in a shaker.
- 2
Add the brandy, lemon juice, and ice, then shake.
- 3
Strain into a rocks glass packed with crushed ice.
- 4
Garnish with a mint sprig.
The Story
The Smash is a 19th-century cousin of the Mint Julep, built the same way but shorter, brighter, and quicker to make. Brandy smashes appear in the earliest American cocktail guides, when brandy was the dominant spirit of the American bar. Whiskey eventually took over the style, but the brandy version is still the more delicate and fruity of the two.