This Raspberry Bourbon Smash is the perfect Summer cocktail! Loaded with tons of fresh raspberries, cozy bourbon and fresh mint + lime! Delicious and refreshing! Cheers!
This recipe was originally published in May 2020 – I’ve since updated the photos!
Y’all, we are still in the middle of Winter. We deserve a fresh, bright pick me up.
So, here we are! A brand new cocktail recipe on OBB that is so super light, refreshing and full of flavor that makes you crave sunshine!
Why You’re Going to Love This Drink:
So this particular cocktail is just THE BEST. It’s fresh – with both fresh fruit and herbs in it and I love the warming coziness of the bourbon that helps balance it all out.
Raspberries are super underrated in my opinion and they really shine in this drink! They have an amazing mix of sweetness and tartness. They are the perfect fruit to stand up to the intense bourbon. The fresh lime really helps bring out the sweetness and adds a nice *zing* to the drink.
By the way – you do add a little dash of simple syrup in this drink to help add cut the bitterness from the alcohol – but you can choose how much or little you’d like to add!
The mint adds an amazing amount of freshness to this drink and a cooling effect.
Combined with the bubbly club soda (or see my list below for substitutions), it’s so delightful and is the best drink to sip on during these last few weekends of Winter – it’s sunshine in a glass!
Ingredients You Need:
- Bourbon – I like using Elijah Craig or Woodford Reserve, however, any high quality bourbon should work!
- Fresh raspberries – I used fresh raspberries for this recipe, however, if they aren’t in season, use frozen and let them thaw ahead of time
- Squeeze of lime – Fresh lime please!
- Fresh mint – The mint adds such amazing flavor to the drink – don’t skip it!
- Club soda/seltzer – You can use club soda, plain seltzer or your favorite flavored seltzer! Whatever bubbly and carbonated drink you prefer.
- Dash of simple syrup – Make your own or use store-bought. You can also sub in agave for simplicity!
How to Make Raspberry Bourbon Smash in 5 Simple Steps:
- Add fresh raspberries and mint to your favorite cocktail glass. Use a muddler to muddle them – making sure they’re mashed and really incorporated with each other.
- Add the bourbon, simple syrup and lime to the drink. Stir to combine
- Add ice.
- Top with club soda/seltzer. Garnish with fresh raspberries and extra mint.
- Enjoy and sip away!
Tips for Making This Drink:
Make sure and muddle the raspberries and mint together – this will really help the flavor go a long way and give it a much better depth of flavor.
Taste and adjust! Before you add the simple syrup, I recommend tasting the drink and then adding either 1-2 tbsp of simple syrup and make it as sweet as you like it!
Garnish with fresh mint and extra raspberries – not only does it look pretty BUT it adds great texture to the drink itself.
If you prefer a stronger bourbon flavor, I suggest using 2 oz of bourbon to 1.5 oz (which is my normal). If you want more raspberry lime flavor, I would suggest sticking to 1.5 oz of bourbon! It’s all up to you though 😉
Substitutions/Ways to Jazz it up:
- Instead of club soda, use ginger beer or my all time favorite seltzer: Spindrift in the flavor Raspberry Lime! You could also get really crazy and maybe put a splash of prosecco in it as well!
- No raspberries? Sub with blackberries! Or try it with raspberry preserves!
- Don’t have mint? Try out thyme!
- You can use dark or white rum in place of bourbon if desired.
- To make this drink a mocktail, skip the liquor all together and add more seltzer instead!
Whatever you do, just try this drink! It’s delicious and smashing 😉 Food puns for the win! Stay safe, friends. XO – Haylie
Did you enjoy this recipe? Here are a few more you might like:
Orange Pineapple Ginger Spritz
Thank you so much for following along here, friends! Want to see more? Be sure to follow ourbalancedbowl on Instagram and tag me with your photo if you end up making a recipe! You can also post a photo of your recipe to the Our Balanced Bowl Facebook page! Like a recipe that you saw? Follow me on Pinterest here! I always love to see your re-creations! If you do make a recipe, it would make my whole day if you were to rate and comment so I can get your feedback! Lots of love! – Haylie
Raspberry Bourbon Smash
This Raspberry Bourbon Smash is the perfect Summer cocktail! Loaded with tons of fresh raspberries, cozy bourbon and fresh mint + lime! Delicious and refreshing! Cheers!
Ingredients
- 1.5 oz bourbon (see notes!)
- 1 tsp freshly squeezed lime juice
- 1/4 cup raspberries
- 4-5 fresh mint leaves
- 1-2 tsp simple syrup (depending on how sweet you like it)
- heavy splash club soda or seltzer
- ice
Instructions
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Muddle the raspberries and mint together in the bottom of the glass.
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Add in the lime, simple syrup and bourbon. Mix together with a spoon.
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Add ice and a heavy splash of club soda or seltzer. Mix together one last time. Taste and add more sweetness if needed. Garnish with additional raspberries and sprig of mint. Enjoy!
Recipe Notes
If you prefer a stronger bourbon flavor, add 2 oz. of bourbon instead of 1.5 oz.
My favorite seltzer to use in this recipe is the Spindrift Raspberry Lime flavor! See substitutions above in the post for other recommendations.
Raspberries are so good! Since they mush anyway, they’d be perfect for muddling in a cocktail! Can’t wait to try this one. Cheers, Haylie!
Great point about the raspberries – definitely very easy to mush and muddle! Thank you my friend!
Such a gorgeous colour Haylie and looks so refreshing. It’s a perfect summer drink. Our weekend is looking nice here, and this would be perfect for sipping on while relaxing on my back deck under the sun!
Thank you so much, Leanne! It is super refreshing!! 🙂
Hey Haylie, this sounds amazing! Does it HAVE to be bourbon? Is there any thing you could substitute with?
Hi Cynthia – thank you so much for the compliment! 🙂 I haven’t tried it – but I think it would work with silver tequila or rum (dark or white would work I think!) Or you could have a fun mock-tail! Let me know how those turn out for you! Best – Haylie