9 Tips For Crafting The Perfect Summer Bourbon Cocktail, According To Gail Simmons

Gail Simmons is always up to something new, whether she's in her role as judge for "Top Chef," appearing on other food television shows, writing a cookbook, or participating in multiple culinary endeavors. Case in point, Simmons is currently collaborating with Old Fitzgerald. With a new Bottled-in-Bond 7-Year-Old Kentucky Straight Bourbon hitting the shelves and a concierge hospitality guidebook, "The Pleasure is Ours: Exceptional Guest Experiences, A Collection," the brand is highlighting the close relationship between hospitality and great food and drink.

Simmons is sharing her expertise to assist Old Fitzgerald in this exciting new project. Acting as the brand's hospitality concierge, she showcases some of her favorite spots in Seattle, New York City, and Chicago in the guidebook, leading customers to establishments that truly exude hospitality, one of Old Fitzgerald's key tenets. She describes them as "places that go that extra mile ... and really inspire me to bring it into my own life and carry those lessons from the bigger food and beverage world back home when I'm entertaining as well."

Additionally, she has developed two cocktail recipes to mix with Old Fitzgerald's latest bourbon release. We spoke with Simmons to get her expert advice on crafting bourbon cocktails for the summer. Spoiler: You'll want to load up on plenty of fresh produce from the farmers market to mix up some delicious bourbon-laced concoctions. Whether you regularly sip bourbon or have never purchased a bottle, Gail's tips will have you heading to the liquor store to try mixing a cocktail.

There are several different styles of bourbon, based on the ingredients the spirit is made with. You can find wheated, high rye, alternative grain, and corn bourbon, as well as styles that are aged for a minimum duration or produced from a single barrel. Each category offers distinct characteristics that lend themselves to certain flavor pairings. For example, Old Fitzgerald is a wheated bourbon, which Gail Simmons describes as being balanced and round, with a subtle sweetness and nuttiness on the palate. Corn bourbon, meanwhile, tends to have sweeter vanilla and caramel notes.

On the other hand, some styles can be quite spiced and harder to mix with other cocktail ingredients, like high-rye bourbon, which is usually a little spicier and richer, with flavors that might lend themselves better to more winter-themed cocktails. Subtler styles with a less potent spice character can make for an easier pairing with multiple ingredients, especially if you're working with vibrant, fresh summer flavors. Plenty of popular bourbon brands offer a balanced palate, which will taste great whether you're sipping it straight or mixed in a drink.

Gail Simmons loves pairing bourbon with fresh fruit to mix up delicious cocktails for summer gatherings. She points out, "In the heat of summer, I think people don't instinctively think about bourbon ... because it has that sweetness and nuttiness to it, it actually is a perfect foil for really bright fresh fruit." There are plenty of fruits that work well with bourbon, and Simmons is especially fond of peaches and blackberries and highly recommends mixing them with bourbon.

In fact, she incorporates blackberries in one of the cocktails she created for Old Fitzgerald: the Honey Bramble Smash, which combines muddled blackberries, lemon zest, and honey with bourbon. Simmons says, "I think that they are a really underestimated, underused berry in the berry kingdom. And they're very complex. They are tart, they are really juicy, they are beautifully colored, and they really do have an acidity and a complexity to them beyond just their sweetness." Though she highly recommends using them fresh in peak season, frozen blackberries can be used in a pinch. "Just thaw them first and dry them as best as possible so that they're not watered down and diluted," she advises.

The second cocktail Gail Simmons crafted for Old Fitzgerald is Gail's Old Brooklyn Spritz, which consists of bourbon, blood orange, and Champagne. "The Old Brooklyn Spritz is a cocktail I developed more for the holidays, using blood orange because it's such a seasonal winter fruit," she explains. Blood orange also has a slightly distinct flavor and a dazzling color that will make any drink stand out.

Simmons is a fan of incorporating citrus fruits into bourbon cocktails in all sorts of ways, as the tart flavors work well paired with the sweetness and round character of the liquor. For example, in the warmer months, a lemonade iced tea is a refreshing combination that evokes memories of summertime lemonade stands. Aside from the juice, Simmons likes to use citrus zest for its floral characteristics, as evidenced in her Honey Bramble Smash. "It brings out and rounds out the acidity and the tartness of the blackberry," she notes.

Additionally, citrus is a common ingredient in bitters. "At home, I only keep an orange bitter classic that I think has a little bit of that citrus-ness, but also just adds that touch of bitterness," Simmons says. Bitters work well in bourbon-forward cocktails, including Angostura, an iconic option with dried citrus notes.

Blackberry and citrus work for so many reasons, namely that they complement the qualities of bourbon. "What I think is great about fruit, like blackberry fruit, like blood orange, or really any citrus, is that the tartness, the acidity of those fruits, balances really well with bourbon," Gail Simmons explains. Considering that bourbon can have flavors of vanilla, caramel, butterscotch, and spice, it makes sense to pair it with ingredients that contrast and complement. This prevents the cocktail from becoming too one-note, ensuring that every sip is novel. You can achieve a satisfying pairing for your bourbon with other fruits, too, like peaches, cherries, grapes, and passion fruit.

Meanwhile, another way to craft a cocktail with balance is to aim for different textures. Simmons notes that bourbon "goes great with a little effervescence to brighten it up but, again, not overpower it." Though adding a soft drink like Coke could work for a simple mixed drink, if you want to highlight the qualities of the bourbon itself, you're better off choosing a subtler choice. Simmons suggests "a Champagne or a Prosecco that also can balance it out and give it just a tiny splash of sunshine."

Some cocktail bars have become known for their garnish game, but that doesn't say much about the drinks themselves. "I am always one for keeping it fairly simple with garnishes. You don't want too many garnishes that they take away from the drink itself," Gail Simmons notes. Much like her fruit recommendations, a garnish can be as simple as citrus. "Sometimes a twist is all you need," she says, before going on to specify "a great classic lemon twist to just bring out the aroma and the oil, the essences of the essential oil of a lemon or an orange."

If you want to add a sophisticated touch without going overboard, she recommends fresh herbs, like mint in the summer, though you can switch it up depending on the season. Consider the ingredients in your cocktail and go from there. "A little sprig of rosemary can be great in the cooler months. And even something like tarragon that has a little bit of a licoricey essence in the background that just adds to that sensory experience, that olfactory experience," she notes. Just be sure not to overdo it. "It doesn't have to hit you over the head ... you also don't want to mask what you're actually drinking," Simmons warns.

Several classic cocktails use bourbon, including the Manhattan, old fashioned, mint julep, and whiskey sour. "Sometimes I just like to keep classics classic, and it's then just about balancing the proportions," Gail Simmons notes. Indeed, these familiar drinks are tried and true, and they're great options to experiment with if you're new to bourbon. "Those classic flavors are these timeless ideas — the dark fruit, spice flavors — that I think you are really drawn to, that blend really well with bourbon," she says.

Additionally, she notes that many classic cocktails are alcohol-forward, without many extra ingredients. "It's something that, when you want it, it's a very different type of order than, let's say, if you're sitting on your porch with a bourbon lemonade," Simmons points out. Although these cocktails have standard recipes, there's leeway to experiment: muddling in some fresh blackberries, adding a squeeze of lemon juice or a pinch of zest, or transforming them into a spritz. There's a time and a place for these dark and cozy drinks, as Simmons describes, but they can also serve as inspiration for further experimentation.

There's no need to have a drawer full of ice molds (unless you have plenty of cabinet space and a penchant for fun ice), but Gail Simmons does recommend one format above all others. "If you can get a mold for big ice cubes and just use one big ice cube, it'll melt way slower and you'll be able to enjoy a really cold drink for longer without it flattening out," she explains. Whether you've decided to have a glass of bourbon on the rocks or are mixing up a fruity summer cocktail and want to keep it chilled, this is the best option to ensure the composition of the drink remains balanced.

"I do think especially with a cocktail that has the complexity, if you're using bourbon, you don't want to fill it with crushed ice and water it down, especially in heat." There's no use in crafting the perfect cocktail with a balance of sweet, tart, and bitter flavors if they're promptly going to become diluted. Similarly, any effervescence will quickly fade as the ice melts, so do what you can to delay that outcome as much as possible.

Crafting the perfect cocktail can make you step into your mixologist shoes for a moment, but if you're hosting a crowd, you'll be wearing them all night if you didn't plan ahead. Instead, consider batching a cocktail or two so your guests can serve themselves without having to involve you each time. Gail Simmons is a fan of this hosting trick and says, "It's such an easy way to make one signature cocktail and then have it ready for people to make their own." That said, it's important to keep a few things in mind to ensure your well-balanced cocktail doesn't fall flat ... literally and figuratively.

For starters, Simmons recommends, "You want to keep a lot of ice on hand, but not mix it in and water down the cocktail in advance." Still, you don't want to serve a warm drink, so make sure to chill it ahead of time and have ice available for people to add to their glass. "Also, if you are using a component like a club soda, or even a Prosecco or a Champagne, or anything that has effervescence, you definitely don't want to batch that in at the same time that you're making the base of the cocktail," she warns. Keep a bottle next to the base as an add-in for guests to pour on the spot. This way, the flavors and bubbles will remain intact.

If you aren't accustomed to drinking bourbon or mixing bourbon drinks — or any cocktail for that matter — you might be hesitant to start. "I think that people get a little afraid of mixing bourbon because they want to use the right bourbon," Gail Simmons notes, adding, "And bourbon can be intimidating because it's not a cheap spirit. It's a real labor of love in every iteration. It's complex." Unless you're super familiar with bourbons, you might worry about picking the right bottle and pairing it with complementary ingredients.

Although a professional mixologist might make the process seem super elaborate, Simmons says, "I think that the most important thing about making bourbon cocktails is making them taste round and balanced." As long as you keep a few key pointers in mind, you can experiment by using ingredients that suit your taste. Gail lists a few pointers, like "making sure that there is some acidity and contrast. Making sure that you don't go even sweeter, because bourbon can also read sweet on its own." Summertime is the best time to start experimenting with bourbon cocktails, because the abundance of sweet, juicy, and tart fruits is unlike any other time of year.

Gail Simmons is taking on a role as Old Fitzgerald's hospitality concierge, highlighting her favorite spots in Seattle, NYC, and Chicago in "The Pleasure is Ours: Exceptional Guest Experiences, A Collection." She's also crafted two exclusive cocktail recipes with the brand's new Bottled-in-Bond 7-Year-Old Kentucky Straight Bourbon.