bourbon spiked maple lemonade.

Today was one of those days that I struggled to survive and upon returning home I felt dead from exhaustion.    I am not a cocktail every night kind of girl, but when I returned home this evening the bar cart was calling my name and I answered.  Bourbon is my liquor of choice.  I love it's smoky taste and how it makes me feel grown-up and a little old-fashioned.  I reserve drinking it neat for those really horrible days and thankfully today was not that bad so I resorted to my favorite cocktail - the bourbon spiked maple lemonade.  This is everything a cocktail should be - easy and quick to make and requiring ingredients most everyone (probably) already has at home (and if you don't I would consider these to be three very necessary ingredients to have around at all times). It's tart and sweet and smoky and utterly refreshing.  It warms you in the winter and cools you down in the summer making it the perfect year round drink.  It's a wonderful reward for those really stressful days.  


Bourbon Spiked Maple Lemonade
Recipe from Smitten Kitchen

1 cup freshly squeezed lemonade (about 8-10 lemons worth)
2 1/2 cups of cold water
1/4 - 1/2 cup maple syrup
Bourbon
Lots of ice

Mix lemon juice with 2 1/2 cups water and 1/4 cup maple syrup. Taste for sweetness. If you like your lemonade sweeter, add remaining 1/4 cup maple syrup. If you found the sweetness just right, add an additional 1/4 cup cold water instead. Stir to mix. This will yield 1 quart of maple lemonade.

Fill a glass with ice. Pour  1 or 1 1/2 shots of bourbon over the ice, fill the glass the rest of the way with maple lemonade.  Stir and drink.