The daffodils have emerged from their long winter slumber inside our raised beds, signaling to everyone within viewing distance that spring has officially arrived. Early spring is always such a funny time for produce, it’s still too cold for most of the traditional spring goodies like rhubarb and spring onions to be readily available, but the colorful signals from nature are beginning to arrive, letting us know that it has much, much more in store for us if only we can wait just a bit longer. And to hold me over until the colorful array of fruits and vegetables hits the market and my garden, I’m making do with the last bit of winter citrus season in the form of this blissfully tart + bright tangerine whiskey sour.

Traditionally, a whiskey sour is made up of whiskey, lemon juice, and a touch of honey or simple syrup as a sweetener. Since tangerines are sweeter than lemons and have more natural sugars in their juice (while still being more sour than your standard navel orange), I significantly cut down on the amount of sweetener needed in this. That being said, if you like your whiskey drinks on the sweet side, you could add a touch more honey if you like. I, however, very much enjoy tart and sour flavors, so I’m all in for the full force of this tangerine and lemon juice concoction.

As for the preparation of this tangerine whiskey sour, it’s pretty easy and straightforward. Just mix the lemon juice and honey together until the honey dissolves, then mix it with the whiskey and tangerine juice, shake with some ice, and serve. It’s the kind of cocktail you can have within 3 minutes of thinking of it, including juicing time. Yes, you’ll have to get some juice out of a tangerine, but it’s very easy. I’m sharing with you my trick for getting an obscene amount of juice out of citrus, but BE CAREFUL. I’m not going to be liable for anyone stabbing their hand with a fork, okay? Promise? Okay.

So first, just cut the citrus in half. Easy enough, right? Ha! Not so fast. It *must* be cut in half across the equator, because you want to open up as many of the “cells” of the citrus as you possibly can (which means more readily accessible juice for us later). Next, you hold one of the halves of the citrus in the palm of your right hand, with the cut side facing out. Then, you take a fork in your left hand, and stick it into the citrus in your right hand, and start twisting the fork around while applying just enough pressure to burst the juice cells, but not enough to stab yourself with the fork. And this should be done over a glass or bowl or whatever you want to catch all the juice in. And if you’re worried about seeds, just put a little strainer over the bowl or glass and it will catch them for you. And that’s it! Pretty simple really. It’s slightly more dangerous than using a reamer, but you get SO much more juice out of your citrus that it’s more than worth it, in my opinion. Hope you enjoy this tart little beverage, and that you get lots of use out of this juicing tip. I’ll be back again soon with some sweeter recipes on the horizon!

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Tangerine Whiskey Sour

Course Drinks

Keyword whiskey sour

Prep Time 3 minutes

Total Time 3 minutes

Servings 2 people

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 2- inch peeled zest of organic tangerine
• 1/2 cup bourbon whiskey
• 1/3 cup freshly squeezed tangerine juice

Instructions

• In a small glass or bowl, whisk together the honey and lemon juice until the honey is completely dissolved. Set aside.
• Rub the inside of two serving glasses with the orange-colored side of the tangerine zest, then discard the zest and set the glasses aside.
• Add the lemon honey mixture, the whiskey, and the tangerine juice to a cocktail shaker with some crushed ice, seal the shaker, and shake for 15 seconds. Strain the whiskey sour into the two serving glasses and enjoy.