Penicillin Cocktail Recipe

[Photo: Jennifer Hess]

It may not be as powerful as a flu shot or have the healing properties of the antibiotic it's named for, but the Penicillin Cocktail is a surefire cure for a chilly autumn night. Originally created by New York bartender Sam Ross, the Penicillin Cocktail takes the warming, soothing flavors of honey, lemon juice and fresh ginger, and fortifies them with a good dose of scotch whisky. And as if that isn't enough, the drink is topped with a thin pour of headily aromatic Islay malt, which gives the drink a fragrance as alluring as any woodsmoke-laced autumn breeze.

Other bartenders have taken Ross's formula and adapted it for drinks made with tequila, gin, and rum, all with great results, but the scotch-based original is always a good place to start. And one note on the preparation: the original drink uses a house-made ginger-honey syrup; since the spark of fresh ginger fades so quickly, home mixologists may be better served by simply muddling a few slices of fresh ginger in the drink, rather than mixing a batch of syrup that will likely lose its luster before the bottle is half gone.

Note: For the honey syrup, combine equal parts honey and hot water and stir until well mixed. Let cool before using, and keep refrigerated for up to 1 week.

Yield: makes 1 cocktail
Active time: 5 minutes
Total time: 5 minutes

Ingredients

2 ounces blended Scotch whisky (Famous Grouse works well)
3/4 ounce fresh lemon juice
3/4 ounce honey syrup (see note)
3 slices fresh ginger
1/4 ounce Islay single malt Scotch (such as Laphroaig)

Directions

Using a wooden muddler or mixing spoon, muddle the fresh ginger in the bottom of a cocktail shaker until it is well mashed. Add the blended Scotch, lemon juice, and honey syrup, and fill shaker with ice. Shake untill well chilled, about 20 seconds.

Strain into an ice-filled rocks glass (you may wish to double-strain through a fine tea strainer to remove the small flecks of ginger), and pour the Islay Scotch over the back of a bar spoon so that it floats atop the drink.

Special Equipment

Paul Clarke blogs about cocktails at The Cocktail Chronicles and writes regularly on spirits and cocktails for Imbibe magazine. He lives in Seattle, where he works as a writer and magazine editor.

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Penicillin

Cocktail recipe

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5 Ingredients

1oz Whisky 1oz Whisky 3 cl Whisky 30 ml Whisky 1oz Whisky 1 oz Whisky
¾oz Lemon Juice ¾oz Lemon Juice ¾oz Lemon Juice ¾oz Lemon Juice ¾oz Lemon Juice ¾oz Lemon Juice
1oz Dewar's Scotch whisky 1oz Dewar's Scotch whisky 3 cl Dewar's Scotch whisky 30 ml Dewar's Scotch whisky 1oz Dewar's Scotch whisky 1 oz Dewar's Scotch whisky
¼ oz Ginger liqueur ¼ oz Ginger liqueur 0.75 cl Ginger liqueur 7.5 ml Ginger liqueur ¼ oz Ginger liqueur 0.25 oz Ginger liqueur
½ oz Honey syrup ½ oz Honey syrup 1.5 cl Honey syrup 15 ml Honey syrup ½ oz Honey syrup 0.5 oz Honey syrup

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Whisky, Ginger, Lemon, Honey. YUM! Jamie is on Drinks Tube to show us how to knock up this modern day classic Whisky Cocktail, invented by Sam Ross at . ">Penicillin Whisky Cocktail | Jamie Oliver https://www.youtube.com/embed/nA7q4AKndr4

This modern classic cocktail uses blended Scotch, lemon juice, honey syrup, ginger syrup, smoky Scotch and candied ginger for garnish. It's a riff on a Whiskey . ">Penicillin - the Modern Classic Smoky Scotch Whisky Ginger Sour https://www.youtube.com/embed/ij3vizAW6SY

The Penicillin – Smoky and intense A heady concoction of smoke, spice and citrus, this is a truly exceptional drink best enjoyed as a nightcap History This . ">Penicillin Cocktail Recipe - The Whisky Exchange

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1oz Whisky Whisky ( )
¾oz Lemon Juice Lemon Juice ( )
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¼ oz Ginger liqueur Ginger liqueur ( )
½ oz Honey syrup Honey syrup ( )

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Penicillin: The Cocktail Cure-All

The new age of cocktails has a cosmo deficiency. Penicillin is the remedy

Jamie Chung for TIME

Are you a survivor of the tyranny of the cosmopolitan? Freshly made or frozen, buoyant and regal, it dominated every club and bar, enthroned on the stiletto-thin stem of a martini glass—empress of early-’00s nightlife. Sharing the name of the magazine that championed female libidinal liberation, adopted as the in-house cocktail of HBO’s Sex and the City, the cosmo became an affordable accessory for women—and to a large extent, gay men—who aspired to a lifestyle that was otherwise fantasy. It almost didn’t matter how it tasted.

Eventually, the dictatorship of vodka, triple sec and cranberry juice was overthrown; a culture of cocktails that was idiosyncratic and loca-bar, both retro and avant-garde, took over. Still, however, the shadow of the ancien régime persists. Today’s mixologists can barely disguise their annoyance when asked, “When are you going to create something new that’s as successful as the cosmo?”

They will argue that a number of drinks have emerged as new classics, taking a seat at the bar and imparting the new philosophy. Case in point: Penicillin, which has spread from a bar in Manhattan’s Lower East Side to establishments around the world. A fancy French bistro overlooking the Las Vegas Strip boasts that its Penicillin is the cocktail of the year (though it did not originate there). Meanwhile, Brooklyn Brewery has created a Penicillin-like beer as a tribute. “Friends send me pictures of Penicillin on the menu from all over,” says Sam Ross of Milk & Honey, who concocted the drink in 2005 and proudly shares the recipe. He says the name is a joke about its being a cure-all.

Essentially, Penicillin is a transmogrification of a whiskey sour with a peaty single-malt, richly muddled ginger and honey, and a heady overlay of an Islay scotch like Laphroaig—tangy, sweet and smoky all at once. Compared with the cosmo, it is a universe of complexity, the ferocity of the single-malt absorbed and lathed by the honey and ginger. In Ross’s hands, Penicillin is particularly luscious, perhaps because of the viscosity of the bar’s freshly made honey-ginger syrup. “Most successful new cocktails are variations on the classics and use only a few ingredients,” says Ross. “Sasha Petraske”—owner of Milk & Honey—“says that if we’ve concocted something with seven or eight, we haven’t been working hard enough on the recipe.” Ross is set to inherit the Milk & Honey space in October and plans to turn it into a new bar called Attaboy.

Penicillin is the most popular creation of the neo-speakeasy culture that emerged in the middle aughts—one full of secret entrances to tiny bars, long wait lists compiled through arcane connections, sometimes vulgar showmanship and a stunning connoisseurship of flavors that blend, complement and adhere despite conflicting natures. It is easy to spoof the new mixology: there is at least one YouTube satire set to hip-hop. But its brashness—in adopting molecular gastronomy even as it revives old recipes—is bracing. The result is a mixology renaissance not seen since Prohibition. There may not be a new cosmopolitan, but its place has been filled. Says John deBary of the seminal neo-speakeasy PDT, an adviser to the Momofuku restaurant empire: “The cocktail is the new cosmo.”

2 oz. any favorite single-malt or blended scotch (lightly peated)

1⁄4 oz. Islay scotch

3⁄4 oz. fresh lemon juice

1⁄8 oz. honey syrup

3⁄8 oz. sweetened ginger juice

candied ginger to garnish

The New Classics

The Bramble

Created by British mixology legend Dick Bradsell, it predates the cosmo, but its friendly-flirty spirit remains nouvelle—thanks to the blackberries

1 oz. fresh lemon juice

1⁄2 oz. simple syrup

3 oz. muddled blackberries

Gin-Gin Mule

Invented by Audrey Saunders—one of the luminaries of the current cocktail scene—it’s like a first ride on a swing: cheerfully addictive fun

1 oz. fresh lime juice

1⁄2 oz. simple syrup

1⁄2 oz. sweetened ginger juice

Oaxaca Old-Fashioned

Disarming but treacherous, it slides you into a new kind of intoxication with its substitution of mescal and tequila for bourbon. Only real Mad men need apply

1 1⁄2 oz. reposado tequila

1 tsp. agave nectar

dash of Angostura bitters

orange peel with pith

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Strong Medicine

It’s not even three weeks into the new year, and here I am already breaking my “don’t blog” resolution by finally putting up a drink post (that Jan. 1st thing was more an announcement, so don’t bug me with the details). What’s prompted me to break my long blogging drought? Mixology Monday, what else, this round hosted by A Mixed Dram, and focusing on “New Horizons” — in short, mixing with stuff you don’t usually use.

I’m perhaps more prone to habit than most, and as a result my liquor closet is literally overflowing with the predictables — rum, rye, gin, assorted liqueurs — and rather slim on spirits I rarely use, such as vodka, pisco and cachaca (though the good folks who market Leblon, Boca Loca, Cabana and probably someone else I’m forgetting have made sure I have plenty around should the mood hit). Shamefully, one of the spirits that rarely makes its way into my mixing glass is scotch whiskey. I suppose I have some excuse — as agreeable as scotch can be on its own, it has a predisposition to surliness when forced to room with other ingredients — but still, for a spirit that has such a wide flavor profile and so many appealing characteristics, it’s one I rarely use (not that I dislike it in a cocktail, though — drinks such as the Blood & Sand or the Cameron’s Kick are in my permanent repertoire).

Here’s a relevant cocktail that I’ve had scribbled in my notebook for a while, but until tonight have yet to put together: the Penicillin Cocktail. Created by Sam Ross of Milk & Honey in New York, the Penicillin is not only made with a base of blended scotch — which tends to have a gentle, mellow flavor that typically makes it more versatile as a cocktail ingredient than single malts — but it’s served with a float of Islay scotch, a style of the spirit so bristlingly potent in aroma and flavor that it takes the blend’s twin descriptors of “gentle” and “mellow” and smashes their little heads together in its burly grasp. Easing the meeting of the two is a good dose of ginger-honey syrup, along with a bit of lemon, which helps everything balance out.

2 ounces blended scotch (I used Famous Grouse)

3/4 ounce fresh lemon juice

3/4 ounce ginger-honey syrup

1/4 ounce Islay scotch (I used Laphroaig)

Combine blended scotch, lemon juice and syrup in a shaker, fill with ice and shake well. Strain into an ice-filled rocks glass and float Islay scotch on top.

For ginger-honey syrup (my recipe; chime in if you use something different): combine 1/2 cup honey and 1/2 cup water in a saucepan over medium heat and whisk until well combined. Add an ounce or so of peeled, sliced fresh ginger and bring to boil; reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Allow to cool completely; strain.

Wow — between the ginger and the lemon, the whisky’s assertive tendencies are kept well in check. Not that they’re suppressed — Laphroaig’s trademark smokiness fills the glass, but the drink is balanced, enticing and, dare I say it, gentle.

That’s my mix for this round of Mixology Monday; head on over to A Mixed Dram to see the roundup of all participants’ posts.

32 Responses to Strong Medicine

Wow, that sounds great–and I have some Laphroaig to use in it (will the Quarter Cask still work? I think so…)

I’ll try to make up some ginger honey and report back.

At my last party, our resident mixologist was mixing the Laphroaig and Benedictine, and I think a dash of grapefruit bitters. It was pretty amazing–does it have a name?

This sounds good, I love Laphroaig. Has to be better than “swilling hot gin”.

Wow, what a coincidence. I was drinking a penicillin on Sunday night at Seven Grand. Love the way the ginger and honey play with the strong smokey notes of the Scotch. Really complex drink that’s loads of fun to explore.

I’m not a big Scotch whisky drinker, but the Penicillin really is a delightful drink. Door 74 in Amsterdam serve a great variation too, the Mr Antoni, that uses a heavily aged genever – good stuff.

[…] I did it! I managed to get Paul to break his new year’s resolution and post again! He pulls himself out of the rum-rye-gin rut that so many of use are in (in my case it’s just a rum rut), and gets down the bottle of Scotch to make a penicillin cocktail. […]

Thanks for posting this great recipe, Paul! I made this drink last night as one of our Robert Burns night offerings, and it was a huge hit. Delicious!

I’ve got a bad cold right now, sore throat and all the symptoms of the common annoying cold. This recipe might be just what I need to numb the body ache and coat the throat with soothing glory 🙂

I watched them make this at White Star (one of Sasha’s sister bars), and they make it with Domaine de Canton Ginger Liqueur. They also have some kind of syrup that they use. I’m not sure how that affects your recipe, but it works pretty well with your honey-ginger syrup.

Great to see Sam’s amazing cocktail getting a plug, I think this is one of my favourite modern cocktails, from anywhere. Delicious, particularly in winter, and a great one to make at home if you have a few smoky single malts, all your guests can have a play at making one of their own. I have a weakness for Ardbeg 77. If you have a juicer you can skip the fussy peeling and just juice up a knob or so, it makes the syrup even more fiery, but very very delcious indeed.

This is a great cocktail, although I think your version where the ginger is cooked with the syrup misses out on the great spicyness of the original. The original, I am given to understand, used a half-ounce each of honey syrup and ginger syrup balanced against the 3/4 ounce of lemon. But at Milk & Honey and Little Branch this is made by juicing ginger and mixing the ginger juice with sugar into a 1:1 simple syrup. As you may imagine, this has quite a bit of bite to it.

It’s not really practical for home mixologists or pros who don’t expect to use very much of it in a night because gingerol, the chemical that makes ginger spicy and a relative of capsaicin, degrades significantly in 24 hours. Cooking ginger converts the gingerol to zingerone, which is not spicy.

The solution, I think, is to use 3/4 ounce of honey syrup and to muddle several generous slices of fresh ginger in the mixing tin. This necessitates double straining through a fine tea strainer to hold back the ginger particles, but provides the spicy bite of ginger that I think makes this cocktail special.

As a general rule of thumb I recommend against making a ginger syrup, unless you’re making it M&H style and using it all within a day or perhaps two at the most. Otherwise, I think it makes much more sense to simply muddle fresh ginger to-order with whatever syrup you’re using.

A couple days ago Murray made me a “Mexican” version of this when I requested a tequila drink. I think he used lime instead of lemon. Didn’t catch which tequilas were involved other than that the float was a reposado. Not sure if this variation is his innovation, but whoever had the idea should get a damn medal. The taste was magic.

Just had a great variation on the penicillin(the original of which is one of my very favorite drinks) at Flatiron Lounge last night. I had asked the bartender to improvise something that prominently featured the smokiness of mezcal, and after a bit of consideration she whipped up a penicillin variant with a tequila base(I believe silver but am slightly hazy on that) subbed for the famous grouse, and with a mezcal float subbing in for the laphroig. It was wonderful.

Thanks for the note Brett. We’ve been playing around with the tequila / mezcal variation out here as well; it’s one of my current favorites:

Paul, thanks for the honey ginger instructions, I think I’m going to make some today. I first had the Pencillin Cocktail at Little Branch a year ago when I was fortunate enough to stumble across Mr. Ross, I have been a fan ever since. I visited him at M&H earlier this month when I returned NYC.

At an exclusive cocktail joint in NYC I had this drink last night– it was the best cocktail I’ve ever had.

At that place, they juice the ginger using a juice machine, so the bar tender said- then they throw that in as an independent ingredient, along with the honey, lemon, and scotch- on the rocks.

it seemed to me like they were using more Laphroig than blended scotch, but maybe that’s just the strength of the smell. It smelled and tasted wonderful

[…] given muddled berries with gin, over crushed ice. Caroline likes ginger. Anthony had read about their famous Penicilin, made with blended scotch, ginger, honey, and lemon. Le has one of his regulars. Every drink is […]

[…] вариант – нечто среднее между мнениями Пола Кларка и Дэниела Надаси. May 5th, 2010 | Tags: cocktail, homemade | Category: Blended […]

[…] recipe via The Cocktail Chronicles. Now all I need is a bottle of […]

[…] with some other great syrup recipes). In writing about the Penicillin himself, Paul Clarke of the Cocktail Chronicles blog provides this recipe: For ginger-honey syrup (my recipe; chime in if you use something […]

[…] syrup: The Cocktail Chronicles recommends this recipe: Bring to a boil a one-to-one ratio of water and honey, add some sliced […]

[…] It’s kind of like a cross between Erik Adkins’ Rhum Agricole Punch and Sam Ross’ Penicillin. This is not bad, not bad at all. It’s lacking a little in middle flavors, but the […]

[…] the pallet up I guess. The beer was actually made reflecting the Scotch-based cocktail called the Penicillion. Here’s the […]

[…] the weekend of September 16 for a special treat: $10 for a taste of The Brooklyn Concoction and a Penicillin, the distinctive and exceptional cocktail the beer is based on. What’s more is that The […]

[…] the meantime, we’ll have to try a recipe of our own. A natural start is the Penicillin: one of the cocktail world’s “new classics” (developed by Sam Ross of the influential […]

[…] Scotch .75 oz fresh lemon juice .75 oz ginger-honey syrup (Easy to DIY. Here’s a recipe from The Cocktail Chronicles blog) .25 oz Islay Scotch Combine everything except the Islay into a shaker, fill with ice, shake […]

[…] the weekend of September 16 for a special treat: $10 for a taste of The Brooklyn Concoction and a Penicillin, the distinctive cocktail the beer is based on. And don’t forget to try one of The Counting […]

[…] and strain into a bottle. I found this recipe for the ginger-honey syrup on the website cocktailchronicles.com. An alternative to creating a ginger infused honey syrup is to use a honey simple syrup and […]

I didn’t have any ginger and used some velvet falernum, the clove flavor goes great with the scotch and lemon

[…] strain method. Brenna found a delicious cocktail recipe that uses both honey and scotch called the Penicillin, and it cures what ails […]

I’ve been making this cocktail for years and its def one of my favorites.

Here is how I make my honey-ginger and I’m pretty sure it’s similar to what Sam does.

Syrup = 2 parts honey / 1 part hot water

If I am making 750ml I use a juicer to juice 1/3 cup

Of fresh (peeled) ginger root and shake it into my syrup!

The freshness and flavor you get from the juice beats boiling and it’s pretty consistent because you don’t have to worry about the boil/evaporation.

Sam Ross might even do a 3:1 syrup as he tends to do thicker syrups which lead to a nice mouth-feel and less dilution of the cocktail.

[…] aber im Speziellen den „Penicillin Cocktail“. Eine abgewandelte Version des Drinks, der im New Yorker Milk & Honey von Sam Ross erfunden wurde und bereits in einigen Blogs zum Thema […]

One of the best and most thoughtful modern drinks. If you like ginger dont hesitate on the pieces for muddling. Smoke, balance and spice, truly one of the best.

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Penicillin

Created by New York bartender Sam Ross in 2005, this heady concoction of scotch, honey-ginger syrup, and fresh lemon juice is something of a cure-all—hence the name. Like a deliciously smoky, chilled version of a toddy, the drink first delivers an assertive whiff of peat and brine—thanks to a floater of Islay scotch—that gradually gives way to something altogether more subtle and sweet. Get the recipe for Penicillin Cocktail »

Created by New York bartender Sam Ross in 2005, this heady concoction of scotch, honey-ginger syrup, and fresh lemon juice is something of a cure-all—hence the name. Like a deliciously smoky, chilled version of a toddy, the drink first delivers an assertive whiff of peat and brine—thanks to a floater of Islay scotch—that gradually gives way to something altogether more subtle and sweet.

For the Honey-Ginger Syrup (makes about 1 1/2 cups)

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Penicillin cocktail

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How to make:

SHAKE all ingredients with ice and strain into ice-filled chilled glass.

Comment:

Smoke and honey with subtle spice and plenty of Scottish attitude.

Adapted from a 2005 recipe by Sam Ross at Milk & Honey, New York City, USA. Sam’s original recipe calls for ¾ oz honey-ginger syrup in place of ginger liqueur and honey.

Peel and thinly slice a 6 inch piece of root ginger and place in a saucepan with 1 cup runny honey and 1 cup of water. Bring to the boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Allow to cool and place in a refrigerator in a sealed container overnight to steep. Strain, bottle and store in the refrigerator.

In place of the ginger liqueur used in our version of Sam’s drink, muddle 3 thumbnail slices of root ginger in the base of your shaker. Add Scotch, Islay whisky and lemon juice, and double the amount of honey water used. Shake and fine strain into ice-filled glass.

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Why the Penicillin Became the Most Riffed-On Modern Classic

Among the most well-traveled of the modern classic cocktails, the Penicillin has also become the source of countless riffs. Kara Newman on how bartenders are building on the original template, with recipes.

When Sam Ross first created his smoky-spicy Penicillin cocktail back in 2005, “I was happy with it, but didn’t really think too much of it,” he says.

Penichillin

The Braveheart

Rouge Tomate Penicillin

That drink, a mix of mellow blended Scotch whisky, ginger juice, honey and lemon, crowned with a float of peaty Scotch, became a cocktail mainstay. Among the most well-traveled of the modern classics, the Penicillin has also become the source of countless riffs.

Yet, the Penicillin itself is a riff: Ross created it during his tenure at Milk & Honey, the space reborn in 2013 as Attaboy, as a variation on the bourbon-based Gold Rush, another Milk & Honey drink created by T.J. Siegal in 2001. The Gold Rush, meanwhile, has the DNA of an updated whiskey sour.

So it’s oddly satisfying to see it inspire yet another round of fresh variations. The question is whether any of them might become part of the next generation of modern classics.

Perhaps the most celebrated (and Instagrammed) right now is the frozen Penichillin at Brooklyn’s Diamond Reef, which is owned by the Attaboy team. Yet, the riffs range broadly. At Sidecar in Jacksonville, Florida, bartender Robbie Freeman turns out tall, foamy Penicillin Fizzes, built Ramos-style with heavy cream, egg whites and soda water; Atlanta’s AMER makes casual, fizzy Penicillin Pops with ginger beer in place of ginger syrup; and at NYC’s Rouge Tomate, the drink is given a culinary-minded makeover with the addition of fermented local honey and a bee pollen garnish. In place of peated Scotch, a spritz of jasmine-infused mezcal adds a smoky exhale.

Los Angeles has been particularly fertile turf for Penicillin variants; in 2007, Ross headed there as a consultant, building the bar program at the since-shuttered Comme Ça. “The bartenders I trained over there and introduced the Penicillin to, they went on to do their own programs at different places around town,” Ross recalls. “That’s how the Penicillin really spread hard throughout the West Coast.”

One of the most enduring West Coast variations is the Medicina Latina, credited to Marcos Tello, formerly of The Varnish, which substitutes tequila and mezcal for the blended and peated Scotches (and also subs in lime for lemon). This opportunity for a spirits split-take is one of the reasons that bartenders love experimenting with the Penicillin, Ross surmises.

“The idea of putting a fairly mild example of a spirit in as the meat of the cocktail, and then floating an extremely flavorful, smoky, funky variation of the base spirit on top—that’s an interesting idea to work with,” he says, noting that concept can expand beyond whiskey to agave (tequila or mezcal), rum (mild or funky) and beyond. “It’s a way of introducing people to more extreme flavors and sensations.”

Another popular LA riff: The Braveheart, a non-smoky variation that adds a rosy touch of Angostura, was created by Devon Espinosa during his tenure at The Tasting Kitchen in Venice Beach. Removing the smoky element made the drink “a lot more palatable,” while the bitters add depth, explains Espinosa. “People fell in love with it because it was delicious, but also easy to take down.” (He describes the Braveheart as “a down-the-hatcher.”)

Even though Espinosa left The Tasting Kitchen several years ago to take over the bar at The Venue, his drink remains a popular off-menu call. “I took that drink off the menu four years ago and it’s still our most popular drink,” said bartender Justin Pike in a 2015 interview with Los Angeles Magazine. “That damned Braveheart—the Penicillin variation that won’t go away.”

Penicillin Cocktail Recipe

The first time I tasted a penicillin was unforgettable. In fact, you could probably pin the blame for my home cocktailing zeal on this moment. There was a nose full of scotch smoke up front, a bit of numbness on the lips at first sip, and then a fiery kick of ginger on the tongue. This was followed by a surprisingly smooth finish, balanced between honey, lemon, and a mellower scotch. This drink falls into that elusive complex but drinkable category, and the strong flavors and soothing qualities make it a perfect nightcap. Obviously, I can’t afford to order these at Milk & Honey or Dram that often, so I had to try creating it at home.

Replicating a spot-on penicillin cocktail recipe involved a bit of trial and error. Aside from the usual experimenting with proportions, my first penicillins seemed to lack spice. I soon realized that I had to make the ginger syrup fresh every time. I had seen recipes saying you can make the syrup ahead of time and store it, but for whatever reason the spiciness would dissipate so fast that I had to use the syrup right away to get the flavor right. Getting enough juice out of the ginger root became much easier once I bought a sturdy stainless steel muddler. It cost about $8 and was a worthwhile investment. Another issue my with my first attempts was a lack of smokiness. The recipe calls for two kinds of scotch and I’d tried making it without Laphroaig, since you only need 1/4 oz per drink and a bottle is $50. Without the smokey nose this cocktail falls flat, so I finally broke down and bought a bottle since I like the taste anyway. Even now that I have penicillin-making down to a science, I wouldn’t bust this drink out at a party. Save this one for special moments with a select few. So, the recipe:

2 oz blended scotch. Famous Grouse works well.

1 oz ginger honey syrup

1 oz fresh squeezed lemon juice. No bottled lemon juice!

1/4 oz Laphroaig

To make the ginger honey syrup, combine 1/2 oz water and 1/2 oz honey in a short, heavy-bottomed glass and stir until dissolved. If you don’t have honey you can use sugar instead. Peel about a thumb-sized portion of ginger root and cut up into 5 or 6 chunks and add to the glass. Using a muddler, press and swivel the ginger pieces to release the juice. Strain into a shot glass, and add to the cocktail shaker.

Shake the blended scotch, ginger honey syrup, and lemon with ice. Pour into an old fashioned glass over a large ice cube. You can buy large ice cube trays at Crate and Barrel. Next, float the Laphroaig on top. To do this, pour about 1/4 oz into a shot glass and balance the back of a bar spoon on the edge of the glass. Angle the spoon down against the side of the glass and slowly pour the Laphroaig over it so it’s evenly distributed on the top. Serve as is, or for extra fancy points, with a piece of candied ginger speared on a swivel.

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Penecillin Cocktail

How to Make a Penicillin Cocktail

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Penicillin Cocktail Recipe

Created by Sam Ross ex Milk and Honey NYC and now Attaboy, the Penicillin cocktail is considered a modern classic that has stood the test of time.

The cocktail dates back to 2005 and was one of the early drinks that used single malt in whisky cocktails. The drink is based on a whisky sour where blended Scotch, fresh lemon juice and honey ginger syrup are shaken with ice and the drink is finished with a peated Islay whisky float.

For the honey ginger syrup, Sam Ross uses 3:1 honey to water ratio then adds freshly juiced ginger with granulated sugar stirred through it so as not to add further dilution.

The Penicillin cocktail brings a delicious balance of smoke, sweet and sour notes with the bite of ginger.

Penicillin Cocktail Recipe

Created by Sam Ross

20 ml blended Scotch whisky

20 ml fresh lemon juice

20 ml honey ginger syrup

10 ml peated Islay single malt whisky

For the honey ginger syrup:

45 ml honey

15 ml water

2 tablespoons of white sugar

1 large piece fresh ginger

Glassware: old fashioned glass

Garnish: candied ginger

To make the honey ginger syrup, stir the honey, sugar and water in a small bowl. Juice the ginger or grate it finely then put in a cheesecloth and squeeze to separate the juice. Add 45 ml of the juice to the honey water mix and stir until dissolved. You may need to heat the mixture ever so briefly to dissolve the sugar.

In a cocktail shaker, add all ingredients except the Islay whisky and shake with ice. Double strain into a chilled old fashioned glass with ice cubes. Using a bar spoon, gently float the Islay single malt whisky on top. Garnish with candied ginger.

Photo by Cocktails & Bars – © Copyright: All rights reserved.

Corinne Mossati

Corinne Mossati is the Founder/Editor of Cocktails & Bars and popular online magazine Gourmantic. She is named in the Australian Bartender Magazine Top 100 Most Influential List since 2013, is a member of The World’s 50 Best Bars Academy who judges the World’s 50 Best Bars. She has also judged the Australasian Whisky Awards and various national cocktail competitions. Read the full bio here.

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