Ep. 136 The Impostor in the Glass: The Brown Derby and Derby Sour

Jules showed up to the recipe section of this episode with a drink in each hand, fully convinced the Brown Derby was a Kentucky Derby cocktail. She was wrong - but her enthusiasm was entirely justified. It turns out the Brown Derby has one of the stranger origin stories in cocktail history: invented in London, stolen by a Minneapolis greeting card tycoon, falsely credited to Hollywood, ignored for seventy years, and then resurrected by the craft cocktail revival as if none of that had happened. Brad walks through the whole beautiful mess, while Jules delivers an exceptional side-by-side breakdown of bourbon whiskey profiles that makes this essential listening for anyone who's ever stood in a liquor store aisle wondering what difference it actually makes. Three ingredients. A lot of history. Surprisingly few of it true.

Brown Derby

In shaker add 1.5 oz Bourbon 1 oz Pink grapefruit juice (fresh)

2 tsp Maple Syrup

Double strain into chilled coupe

Garnish with grapefruit twist

Derby Sour

Ingredients:

1.5 oz Bourbon

¾ oz Grapefruit juice

½ oz Lemon Juice

½ oz Orgeat syrup