What inspired you to create this cocktail? “I always try to create drinks that seem minimalist or simple to the eye, but once you understand and taste the drink you see the complexities within it. I wanted the method of making this drink to be simple, but the taste to be complex. It should be delicious and creative.” 

When would you serve this drink? “5 PM, best time of day for drinks.”

What music would you pair it with? “Anything that is relaxing, anything from Jungle to Mile Davis to Kendrick Lamar.” 

What food would you pair it with? “I don’t think it personally needs food, the drink is just easy going and can be enjoyed as someone pleases.”

Name the person (dead or alive) you’d like to make this cocktail for. “At the moment, I would make it for my wife Hana, who I am quarantined with.”

By Nathan McCarley-O’Neill

INGREDIENTS:

• 1.5 oz Olive-Oil–Infused Elijah Craig Bourbon* (Order on Drizly)
• .5 oz Coconut-Infused Rittenhouse Rye** (Order on Drizly)
• .25 oz Honey syrup (2 parts honey Miel, one part hot water)
• Glass: Rocks
• Garnish: Orange peel

DIRECTIONS

Add all the ingredients and a large ice cube to a rocks glass. Stir, and garnish with a coin-size piece of orange peel.

Add 200ml of olive oil and 750ml Elijah Craig Bourbon to a large bowl. Whisk until combined and allow to sit at room temperature for 6 hours. Once rested, place in a quart container and seal with a lid. Store in the freezer for 24 hours. Then remove from the freezer and pour the mixture through a clean piece of linen towel or a coffee filter or a tea towel. Pour the infused-bourbon into a clean bottle and store in the refrigerator.

Add 25g of dry shredded coconut and 750ml Rittenhouse Rye Whiskey to a bowl. Stir, and pour back into the bottle, seal and refrigerate for 24 hours. Once rested remove from the refrigerator.

Nathan McCarley-O’Neill is a talented New York bartender. In 2017, he won Heaven Hill’s Bartender of the Year competition.

Thank you Heaven Hill Bartender of the Year for partnering with Half Full on the Bartenders At Home cocktail video series.

You can find more Bartenders At Home cocktail tutorials here!

Interview has been condensed and edited.