Super Scrumptious Smoked Blueberry Old Fashioned

Super Scrumptious Smoked Blueberry Old Fashioned

This year for Christmas, Keith the Elf* left Jedd a very special present under the tree. Jedd has become a bit of an enthusiastic mixologist over the last few years. And he has a pretty well stocked bar set up, with muddlers, jiggers, glasses of varying sizes, and of course copper mugs for one of his favorite drinks, the Moscow Mule.

But Keith secretly snuck in and eyeballed (with the help of a step stool) all the shelves that encompass Jedd’s bar over the holidays.

And he realized one thing that Jedd was missing was a little handheld smoker to make amazingly delicious smoke infused cocktails!

So, when Jedd opened that magical present signed, “With warmest regards, your friend, Keith the Elf,” well, he was over-the-moon thrilled with his new toy!

Unfortunately though, sometimes even the coolest toys just get shuttled to the side after they’ve been played with a couple of times.

And the smoker sat dormant for a few months while we batted around ideas for lip-smackingly good cocktails. And then this spring, Mom came home with a pint of gorgeous blueberries – which gave me the thought that some blueberry simple syrup might play into our plans for an epic cocktail.

Being somewhat of a novice, I scoured the internet and found a fantastic recipe for a Smoked Bourbon Old-Fashioned, by a man named Brian Certain over at Bourbon Gospel. Oh, yes.

That would fit the bill quite nicely!

So, Jedd pulled out a jigger, a cocktail shaker, and a stirrer, and we went to work.

When Jedd took his first sip of that luscious, smoky, sweet, and delectable cocktail, a big grin slowly unfolded across his face.

This is a smoking good drink!

Note: We didn’t have good bourbon on hand, so we used some good whiskey instead.

*This cocktail is delicious! However, I’m employing a little inside joke in the telling of how Jedd got the handheld smoker for Christmas. Keith the Elf is a character I made up for a holiday story for my cousin’s daughters. To wit: Keith is a very important part of Santa’s crew. In fact, you could call him Santa’s “advance man.” He sneaks in and out of people’s apartments and houses in December and makes the decorations a little more festive. He checks to see what small gift people in his charge might enjoy. He also leaves the first small presents under the tree, and he checks to see what the pets want for Christmas. He’s also extremely busy and leaves notes that say things like: “Gotta go! Got lots to doooooooooooo!” Jedd and I fell in love with the fictional character, and now we actually do leave presents signed, “Your Pal, Keith the Elf.” So, we really appreciate Keith helping us create this smoked blueberry old fashioned!