High West Whiskey Sour

By Xania Woodman

Thursday, Jan. 21, 2010 | midnight

Whether you’re heading to the Sundance Film Festival this weekend or not, you can still drink like a “Utahn” (and no, that’s not a joke). High West, the state’s only distillery, served up this deceptively potent cocktail during its December grand opening—the magic is in the spiced lemonade! Nearby Shabu Restaurant adds sake for the High West Nowhere, served up; I whip up a quick ’n dirty version at home with organic lemonade and baking spices.

High West Whiskey Sour

Ingredients:

1.5 oz. High West Rendezvous Rye Whiskey

High West Mulled Lemonade (see below)

Method:

Fill a rocks glass with ice, add whiskey and top with 3-4 oz. mulled lemonade. Garnish with a fresh mint sprig.

High West Mulled Lemonade

Ingredients:

2 cups sugar

4 cups water

10 whole cloves

3 each cinnamon sticks

1 whole nutmeg

1 whole vanilla bean

Method:

To make the concentrated lemonade base, combine all ingredients in a sauce pan, bring to boil and simmer for one hour. Strain and cool the resulting syrup to room  temperature. To complete the lemonade, mix equal parts of this syrup with fresh lemon juice and water. For example if you want three cups of finished lemonade, mix one cup of syrup with one cup each of lemon juice and water and shake well. Store any remaining syrup in a covered container such as a sealed mason jar; syrup has a 30-day shelf life.