My husband and I are in the midst of moving. Sort of. More like selling our stuff, storing the rest, and packing up to travel for a while (which is fantastic but requires an entirely new level of logistical planning in packing). Whew. So as I sit in my kitchen amongst boxes and packing tape and bubble wrap, I keep thinking about how last summer we had all the time in the world to sit on the front porch and drink summery cocktails.
I made this one a lot, since it’s full of so many of my favorite flavors – fresh lemonade, spicy ginger, mint from the backyard. And bourbon, of course. I named it “front porch lemonade.”
Sadly, sitting on the front porch drinking front porch lemonade can’t be really high on our list of priorities right now. We also don’t really have any chairs to sit on or glasses to drink it out of at the moment, which is probably a bigger issue than time. 
Front Porch Lemonade
- Total Time: 1 hour 35 minutes
- Yield: 1 1x
Description
Bourbon, lemonade, ginger, and mint – a perfect drink to sip on a lazy summer evening.
Ingredients
- 4-5 mint leaves, plus mint sprigs for garnish (if desired)
- 1 1/2 oz. (45 ml) bourbon
- 3 oz. (90 ml) lemonade
- 1 oz. (30 ml) ginger syrup
Ginger syrup
- 2 cups (480 ml) coarsely chopped ginger (you'll chop more finely in a food processor or blender)
- 3 cups (720 ml) granulated sugar
- 6 cups (1.4 L) water
Instructions
- Muddle mint leaves in the bottom of a cocktail shaker (alternatively, chop leaves and strain out after shaking cocktail).
- Fill cocktail shaker halfway with ice.
- Add bourbon, lemonade, and ginger syrup to cocktail shaker. Shake. Strain into cocktail glasses with ice; garnish with mint sprig (for extra mint scent while drinking).
- Optional: As desired, you can play around with quantities and with extra ingredients – like squeezes of lemon juice, ginger ale, extra simple syrup, or bitters.
Ginger syrup
- Process chopped ginger in a food processor or blender until minced.
- Place ginger, sugar, and water in a large pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to an active simmer.
- Simmer the mixture for 1 to 1 1/2 hours. After simmering for about 45 minutes, pour the mixture through a mesh sieve or colander to remove the ginger. This can be done at almost any point during the simmering process, based on your preference for spice level. I removed it the first time about 1 hour in, which made it fairly spicy. You could remove it after 30 minutes (or less) if preferred; it’s up to you!
- Continue simmering the mixture until it has reduced to about 4 cups of syrup. You can increase the heat to a boil to speed up the process, if you like. The syrup may be fairly thin, but that’s okay – it will thicken slightly as it cools. Remove from heat, and let cool before pouring into a jar or some other container. This syrup will last at least a few months in the refrigerator.
- Prep Time: 5 mins
- Cook Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Category: Cocktails
- Cuisine: American
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 cocktail
- Calories: 190
If You Liked This Recipe, You’ll Love These
- Memorial Day Cocktail: Waterloo Pineapple Fizz
- How to Order a Cocktail: Tips from Bar Experts
- Discovering Dublin, Ohio’s Vaso Rooftop Bar
- Bourbon Gift Guide – Sharing the American Spirit
Frequently Asked Questions
The ginger syrup takes over an hour — can I buy it instead?
You can use a store-bought ginger syrup if you’re short on time. The homemade version — simmering 2 cups of chopped ginger with 3 cups of sugar and 6 cups of water for 1 to 1½ hours — produces about 4 cups of syrup that lasts at least a few months in the refrigerator, so one batch flavors many cocktails.
How do I control how spicy the ginger syrup is?
The recipe specifically addresses this: the earlier you strain out the 2 cups of ginger from the simmering liquid, the milder the syrup. Straining after 30 minutes gives a gentle heat; leaving it in for the full hour or more — as the author did — makes it fairly spicy. Each cocktail uses 1 oz (30 ml).
Can I adjust the cocktail itself once mixed?
Yes — the recipe explicitly invites you to play with proportions and add extra ingredients: squeezes of lemon juice, ginger ale, extra simple syrup, or bitters. The base ratio is 1½ oz bourbon, 3 oz lemonade, and 1 oz ginger syrup, shaken over ice.
This sounds delicious!
I don’t want to make ginger syrup right now, so I am going to try it using 1 tablespoon fresh-squeezed lemon juice instead of the lemonade, and 4 or 6 ounces strong ginger beer, and no ginger syrup. Maybe add some simple syrup, or mint simple syrup, if it isn’t sweet enough.
Thanks for the recipe!