We at Templeton Rye would like to congratulate B.J. Hoffman for winning the 2010 Iowa Farm Bureau Cookout Contest with his The Good Stuff Barbeque Chicken Thighs recipe. B.J. used Templeton Rye as a part of his winning recipe and as the theme for his presentation, including a custom Templeton Rye table that he build himself using 144 of our story coasters. We have to say B.J., we knew you would win. You can’t go wrong with The Good Stuff!
Ilina from Raleigh, North Carolina featured this Templeton Rye cocktail recipe on her blog Dirt & Noise a few weeks ago as part of her 5:00 Fridays cocktail series. Ilina’s recipe was inspired by a neighborhood tradition called “Brown Liquor Night,” and features a homemade basil simple syrup.
Many of us have outdoor fire pits or fireplaces so we engage in porch pyrotechnics on a regular basis. Brown Liquor Night just begs for some rocks glasses clinking fireside. So far the drinks flit between whiskey on the rocks or bourbon on the rocks. It’s high time to jazz things up a bit, no?
So for the gentlemen (and occasional gentle women who join the par-tay) here’s my contribution to Brown Liquor Night:
Porch Rye
1 ounce Templeton Rye
3 ounces ginger ale
2 teaspoons basil simple syrup (or a tish more if you like it sweeter like I do)
For the simple syrup:
Stir together 1 cup water, 1 cup sugar, 1 cup torn basil leaves in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir frequently and heat until sugar is dissolved. Strain into a container and chill about 30 minutes. This should keep up to a month in the fridge, but I bet you’ll use it up before then.
Mix all the ingredients together in a rocks glass filled with ice. Garnish with a basil leaf or two. If you are feeling particularly industrious, add basil leaves to an ice tray, fill with water and freeze. Voila, basil ice cubes! Go on and go all Martha Stewart on your friends.
Cheers Llina! I love the “Brown Liquor Night” - it sounds like something every neighborhood should start up! Drinking American whiskies straight up or mixed in cocktails is a growing trend as palates change and a quest for domestic products increases.
Nothing says I am a cocktail person more than ordering a rye whiskey cocktail. Rye whiskey offers the perfect combination of dry spicy notes that can stand up to the sweet, herbaceous or fruit juices you might be mixing it with. Making your own different syrups with local seasonal products is easy, just follow the 50/50 water to sugar ratio, steep your creation and strain. Don’t be intimidated.
Michael Killmer, Templeton Rye Brand Manager and Brand Ambassador for Chicago, demonstrates how to make a cocktail he created called The First Lady in honor of Michelle Obama.
The Green City Market is Chicago’s only year-round farmers’ market promoting local, sustainable farmers, producers and chefs. Last night I joined over 75 of Chicago’s most innovative chefs at the Green City Market Annual Chef’s BBQ in Lincoln Park. It was a celebration of all things local, from farm to plate.
The chefs shopped the market Wednesday morning, and then went back to their kitchens in a giant tailgate-like setup to create the freshest dishes in the city. Chef Rick Gresh from David Burke’s Prime House even included a little of The Good Stuff in his dish. All of his ingredients originated from less than a thousand miles from Chicago. He started with dry aged prime ribeye, topped with fingerling potatoes combined with Templeton Rye to make a warm potato salad. It was amazing!
While the chefs were busy firing up the grills, I was busy with 3 of the top mixologists in Chicago batching cocktails. BOKA’s Dan De Oliveira and Sepia’s Josh Pearson and Peter Vestinos all volunteered to create special cocktails for TR, Death’s Door Spirits and Casa Noble Tequila. Josh from Sepia created a Templeton Rye cocktail called the R&R Smash, which included fresh-pitted cherries supplied by Pete from Seedling Fruits in South Haven, Michigan.
BOKA’s Dan De Oliveira and Sepia’s Josh Pearson and Peter Vestinos making the R&R Smash cocktail
The event was a huge success and we made lots of new fans. Thanks to everyone who stopped by and said hello and who are embracing the “farm to table” movement.
Back in April, our blogger friends Marshall Fawley and SeanMike Whipkey announced a contest on Scofflaw’s Den that challenged their readers to create and submit spring-inspired rye whiskey cocktail recipes. Each submission was graded on a ten point scale for the following categories:
-Does the cocktail have a spring theme?
-Is it a rye whiskey base?
-Taste
-Color/Presentation
-Uniqueness
A big congratulations to to the winners, Craig, Jeff, and Gabe. See all three winning cocktail recipes here. We’d like to thank Marshall and SeanMike for creating the contest in our honor and for sharing The Good Stuff with their first place winner, Craig “Dr. Bamboo” Mrusek, who received a bottle of “Marshall’s Mountain Moonshine Bitters” and a bottle of Templeton Rye. Here’s his winning cocktail recipe.
Jetpack by Craig “Dr. Bamboo” Mrusek
1 oz Rye
1 oz Zubrowka Bison Grass vodka
.5 oz Schladerer Kirschwasser (I used Clear Creek)
.5 oz simple syrup
.5 oz lime juice
1 dash Fee’s Mint Bitters
Shake all with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
Scott Wegner from Salt Lake City, Utah, sent us a TR cocktail recipe for a concoction he created last spring called The Wall Street. He wrote us again this spring to share this story and remind everyone that The Wall Street makes for a great summer cocktail.
To those at Templeton Rye,
I have been drinking Templeton Rye for over a year now and continue to enjoy every sip. I grew up in Des Moines but now live in Salt Lake City. A few of my lucky friends have had the opportunity to try Templeton and fell in love. Unfortunately I can’t get Templeton in Utah so every trip home to Iowa I “bootleg” as many bottles as I can back to Utah. My friends demand for your whiskey far surpasses what I can fit in my suitcase. Anyhow, I work as a bartender and this is a recipe I invented and everyone seems to enjoy, especially during the summer. Hopefully in the future Templeton will be available in Utah so I can pour my favortie whiskey for my bar patrons and not just friends at my house. I hope you enjoy my recipe…
Scott Wegner
Click here to view Scott Wegner’s recipe for The Wall Street.
Last night I had the pleasure of sponsoring a BBQ book release party for one of Chicago’s famous BBQ experts Gary Wiviott. Paramount Room (415 N Milwaukee Avenue, Chicago, IL) graciously hosted the event. Paramount Room featured classic cocktails made with Templeton Rye, along with Paramount’s own creations The Daisy and the Carroll County Fair Sour.
Gary teamed up with author Colleen Rush to share his impeccable attention to detail and his gift for keeping it simple. Colleen waded through Gary’s boisterous personality and helped breakdown his methods and expertise. This book breaks down the basic techniques of BBQ and will make any novice into a pro. Gary also shares some of is time tested recipes for sauce, rubs and all things BBQ. It was a great night and I had the opportunity to talk with some of Chicago’s media and some of Gary’s companions at LTH Forum.
I think everyone is excited for warm weather BBQ and refreshing Templeton Rye drinks this summer. Please feel free to create some of your own cocktails this summer and share them with us. Bartenders all over the country are enjoying the spicy notes of Templeton and combining them with fresh and interesting ingredients.
Templeton Rye Brand Manager Michael Killmer demonstrates how to make the classic cocktail The Manhattan.
Click here for The Manhattan recipe (plus others), and don’t forget to follow Brand Manager Michael Killmer on Twitter to keep up to date on Templeton Rye events and classic cocktail tutorials in Chicago.
Here’s a delicious Templeton Rye and egg nog concoction just in time for the holidays. Serve some up at your holiday gatherings and let us know what you think!
Templeton Rye Egg Nog
2 oz. Templeton Rye Whiskey
4 oz. Egg Nog
Build in a whiskey glass, transfer to mixing tin and shake vigorously. Strain over ice and grate fresh nutmeg on top.
Uncle Buck’s, an Iowa-themed bar full of reclaimed barn wood located in West Des Moines, has recently added a special touch: the Templeton Rye Distillery Bar. We worked with their designers to recreate the personality and aura of our distillery inside their establishment.
The TR Distillery Bar will feature various Templeton Rye cocktails including the Rye and Ginger, Shirley Templeton, Classic Manhattan, Templeton Boilermaker and The Capone. The detailed recipes for these cocktails can also be found on our website’s barkeep page.
Fall has definitely arrived, and winter is close behind. Here’s a quick, delicious recipe to keep you warm (body and soul) during the changing seasons.
Hot Cider & Rye
1 1/2 oz. Templeton Rye Whiskey
Hot apple cider
Concoct one yourself and let us know what you think!
Juli Hale from Des Moines, Iowa, shared this great TR cocktail recipe with us:
The Temptress Ginger Simple Syrup
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
1 cup chopped fresh ginger
In a small saucepan combine water, sugar, and ginger. Bring to boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Let cool to room temperature. Strain and discard ginger.
The cocktail
Fill a cocktail shaker with ice
Add the juice of half a lime
3/4 oz. ginger simple syrup
2 oz. Templeton rye
Cover and shake well; strain into a cocktail glass
This is the first cocktail I have ever created. As a recovering Mormon, I’m awfully proud of myself.
Nicole of Chicago sent us this nice note along with a new TR recipe:
Just writing to tell you about my favorite use of Templeton. I discovered it because I was in Binny’s and asked the manager about the most proper way to make a Manhattan and he insisted I use your product and I needless to say I love it. During the summer I am a big iced tea drinker so I thought I’d see how the two get along and it’s fantastic … refreshing yet suspicious!
The Ryce-Tea Manhattan
1 tall glass of fresh brewed sun tea
Distilled ice cubes
1 & 1/2 oz of Templeton Rye
1/2 oz Sweet Vermouth
Splash of bitters
Slice of orange or lemon for garnish
Scott Wegner sent us with the following TR recipe, which we’re excited to try out.
The Wall Street
2 oz. Templeton Rye
1 tbsp. or so freshly grated ginger root
Fresh lemon juice (about 1/4 to 1/2 a lemon)
2 dashes bitters
(Shake these ingredients and pour over ice)
Fill with ginger ale
Garnish with a lemon wedge
Here at Templeton Rye we recently received this nice note from Aaron, an F-16 pilot in the U.S. Air Force, currently based in Italy:
Another F-16 pilot in my squadron is from Iowa and picked up a bottle for me while he was home visiting his family. He’s the one who introduced me to your whiskey and I’m a big fan. I’ll be moving to my next base in Las Vegas, NV at the end of April.
We thank Aaron for his service to our country, and also for this Templeton Rye recipe he passed along:
The Fighter Pilot:
4 Fingers of Templeton Rye
3 Ice Cubes (Optional)
Serve
The Good Stuff is all about Templeton Rye, our fans, our employees, our industry and our history.
We invite you to join the conversation by sharing your comments and stories.
Templeton Rye Whiskey
When Prohibition outlawed the manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages in 1920, many enterprising residents of a small Iowa town chose to become outlaws – producing a high caliber and much sought-after whiskey known as Templeton Rye.
Fall has definitely arrived, and winter is close behind. Here’s a quick, delicious recipe to keep you warm (body and soul) during the changing seasons.
