Robert Forto

Recipe Rants

Homestead Old Fashioned

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homestead old fashioned Robert Forto

Simple to put together and with endless potential for experimentation, the old-fashioned formula of spirit, sugar, water, and bitters is a blueprint that honors what’s in the bottle with creativity and accenting flavors that can be tailored to fit any mood or occasion. Spencer Warren’s version leans into the season for a comforting, spiced send-off to winter. The warmth of cardamom, clove, cinnamon and pops of pink and black peppercorn unexpectedly unlock the fruity qualities of rye whiskey in this sipper, reinforced in classic fashion be a cherry on top.

Ingredients

2 oz rye whiskey

½ oz winter spice syrup

3 dashes (not drops) black pepper bitters

3 dashes (not drops) orange bitters

1 spritz orange oil

1 black cherry

Stirred

Served in a rocks glass

Instructions

  1. Add the rye, syrup, and both bitters to a dry mixing glass. Fill the glass with ice and use a bar spoon to stir until the mixing glass feels ice-cold (20 to 40 seconds, depending on the ice size).
  2. Strain into a rocks glass over a large ice cube.
  3. For the aromatic finishing touch, add the cherry and then spray the orange oil over the drink.

Enjoy!

The Java Screw

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The Java Screw cocktail Robert Forto
Inspired by our love for coffee and whiskey, this tasty drink was inspired from a TikTok video and our friend’s YouTube channel. It is something that we had to run out and try right away.
You can pick up a little frother at the local grocery for about 12 bucks and it makes instant whipped cream! The secret to this drink is the sprinkle of cinnamon and sugar on top!

🥃 The Java Screw

Ingredients

1.5 oz @screwball_whiskey
1.5 oz cafe dulce coffee liqueur
Top off with frothed heavy cream and a dash of cinnamon sugar over ice

Hiwassee River Water

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When it comes to making whiskey, it’s hard to overstate the importance of the water sources in Tennessee – thousands of creeks and springs that’ve hydrated the process from the start arrive naturally filtered by limestone, pitching in purity and a unique minerality. The aquatic artery Nneka Ijeoma nods to with this cocktail, though, hasn’t factored into the prevailing lore of the spirit, but with a rush of refreshment like this bearing its name, that could change. Have a taste of this cooling mix of whiskey, honeydew, and a bit of lemongrass, and let the chill vibes of a lazy river day wind their way right to you!

Ingredients

1 ½ oz of Tennessee Whiskey

¾ oz honeydew syrup

4 dashes (not drops) lemongrass tincture

3 – 3 ½ oz tonic water

Shaken

Collins Glass

Instructions

  1. Add the whiskey, syrup, and tincture to a shaker. Fill the shaker with ice cubes and shake vigorously until it is ice0cold and shows frost on the outside.
  2. Double strain the shaker’s contents into a Collins Glass over fresh cubed ice, then stir gently and tip with about 1 ½ oz of tonic water -we recommend using your bar spoon to force the carbonation all the way down to the bottom of the glass. Place the spoon, standing straight up, down into the center of the glass. Place the mouth of the soda bottle near the top of the handle, right at the edge of the spoon, and pour, letting the soda spiral down the handle all the way to the bottom of the glass.

Enjoy!

Pretty & Poppin’

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Pretty Poppin' cocktail Robert Forto

Delicate by design, this delight by J’Nai Williams asks that you lean in to detect all the surprising, soft nuances of Scotch, which are set afloat by a flurry of citrus and floral scents and flavors. Oh, and one more request straight from the drink’s creator: Do so while feeling fly with friends at the beach or by the water. Her highball is an homage to the women who unapologetically take the bull by the horns in life, and despite a mellow profile of grapefruit, elderflower, and lavender, it likewise struts with a confidence that comes from a base as assertive as single-malt Scotch.

Ingredients

1 ½ oz Scotch

1 oz grapefruit-elderflower barmalade

1 tsp agave nectar

4 dashes (not drops) lavender bitters

2-3 oz club soda

Shaken

Large Collins Glass

Instructions

  1. Add the Scotch, barmalade, agave nectar, and bitters to a shaker. Fill the shaker with ice cubes and shake vigorously until it is ice-cold and shows frost on the outside.
  2. Strain the shaker’s contents into a large 14 oz collins glass over fresh cubed ice, then top with the club soda, stirring softly to combine.

Enjoy!

Pancho and Lefty

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Pancho and Lefty cocktail Robert Forto

Like its namesake, the elegiac tune by Townes Van Zandt, this cocktail is a staggeringly deep number to wax wistful to while sitting around the campfire. In a play on just how much wood features in the makeup of Tennessee whiskey (maple charcoal filtering and charred oak aging), this old-fashioned finds Samir Osman doing the spirit one better by adding a maple syrup that itself features the flavors of smoked pecan wood. Despite all these like-minded elements, though, it’s all summer beauty and none of the burns when the delightful taste of peach puts a classic Southern spin on your night under the stars!

Ingredients

2oz Tennessee Whiskey

½ oz smoked maple syrup

3 dashes (not drops) of peach bitters

1 dash citric acid solution

1-2 spritzes white sage hydrosol

Stirred

Served in a Rocks or Nick and Nora glass

Instructions

  1. Add the whiskey, maple syrup, bitters, and citric acid solution to a dry mixing glass. Fill the glass with ice and use a bar spoon to stir until the mixing glass feels ice-cold.
  2. Strain into either a rocks glass over a large ice cube or a chilled Nick & Nora glass (without ice).
  3. Spray the white sage hydrosol over the top of the drink or if you’d like to have one on hand – shake a sage leaf to awaken the aromatics, and then place it on top of the drink.

Enjoy!