Irish Apple Cider and Whiskey Highball with Lemon, Thyme and Crisp Soda

Make the syrup first: warm 1/4 cup honey with 1/4 cup water and 4 thyme sprigs until the honey dissolves, then steep off the heat 15 minutes and strain. It keeps two weeks refrigerated.

Serves 2

Ingredients

• 4 ounces (120 ml) Irish whiskey
• 6 ounces (180 ml) fresh unfiltered apple cider, well chilled
• 1 ounce (30 ml) fresh lemon juice
• 3/4 ounce (22 ml) thyme honey syrup (see step 1)
• 4 ounces (120 ml) chilled club soda
• 2 dashes aromatic bitters
• 2 thin apple slices, for garnish
• 2 sprigs fresh thyme, for garnish
• 2 wide strips lemon peel
• Large clear ice cubes

Instructions

1. Make the syrup first: warm 1/4 cup honey with 1/4 cup water and 4 thyme sprigs until the honey dissolves, then steep off the heat 15 minutes and strain. It keeps two weeks refrigerated.
2. Chill two highball glasses in the freezer for 10 minutes while you prepare the rest.
3. Combine the whiskey, apple cider, lemon juice and thyme honey syrup in a mixing glass with ice.
4. Stir for 20 seconds only. This drink is diluted mostly by the soda, so over-stirring here leaves it thin.
5. Fill the chilled glasses with large clear cubes and strain the mixture over them, dividing evenly.
6. Top each glass with 2 ounces of club soda, pouring down the side of the glass to keep the carbonation intact, and add a dash of bitters to each.
7. Express a strip of lemon peel over the surface, skin side down, so the oils spray across the top, then drop it in.
8. Slide in an apple slice and slap a thyme sprig against your palm to release its scent before adding it as garnish.
9. For a crowd, batch the whiskey, cider, lemon and syrup ahead in a pitcher and refrigerate up to 6 hours, adding soda and ice only at the moment of serving.
10. The Irish highball tradition leans on restraint: good whiskey, one clean modifier, and enough length to drink slowly through a long evening. Fresh unfiltered cider is doing the heavy lifting here, which is why bottled clear apple juice makes a noticeably flatter drink, and thyme rather than cinnamon keeps the whole thing on the herbal, early-autumn side of the season instead of tipping into holiday spice.

Nutrition (estimated, per serving)

• Calories: 225 kcal
• Protein: 0g
• Fat: 0g
• Carbohydrates: 22g
• Fiber: 0g
• Sugar: 19g
• Sodium: 15mg