Midas Touch

Sahil Mehta

Jan 24

Here’s an apropos toast to a man with the golden touch. It was created by Boston based bartender Sahil Mehta, who is known for his love of sherry and his creative use of it in many of his incredible cocktail creations. It features Barenjager Honey and Bourbon liqueur, which was a new product imported to the US from Germany in 2012. A common marketing strategy for new spirits distribution is to host a cocktail competition, and this is what led Mehta to invent the drink at the time. Barenjager (bear hunter) is a modern spiced honey liqueur which derives from Barenfang (bear fang), a spirit originally created by monks from 15th century Prussia. The “honey bourbon” label simply adds American bourbon to the mix.

Naturally, being the ascetic monk that I am, I mixed up my own version of spiced honey bourbon for this cocktail, but Barenjager is readily available as well. If you are feeling ambitious, combine a winter spice (cinnamon, cloves, allspice, citrus peel, vanilla) infused neutral grain spirit or vodka in equal parts with raw honey. Then mix equally again with your choice of bourbon. The final drink has a lovely sunny honeyed herbal flavor that is bright and perfectly balanced. It reminds me of the Loki’s Last Lie, a similar mead inspired Last Word variation I once made using aquavit as the main base spirit, or an herbal Gold Rush. The bourbon and sherry blend incredibly well in this drink. It’s simply golden. Cheers!