With a bottle of The Famous Grouse and a few ripe strawberries, you’re halfway to a Seasonal Buck. Top it with ginger beer, or try the Orchard Cooler if you have sparkling apple juice and mint on hand. Four of these Famous Grouse cocktails use the classic blended Scotch. For the maple Old Fashioned, reach for Smoky Black.
Seasonal Buck | Orchard Cooler | Grouse & Grapefruit | Famous Coffee | Smoky Old Fashioned
What does The Famous Grouse taste like?
Matthew Gloag introduced his blend in Perthshire, Scotland, in 1896. The classic Famous Grouse combines malt and grain whiskies. It’s golden in the glass, with candied fruit, buttery shortbread and citrus peel on the nose. The flavour is soft and fruity, with a smooth finish.
The Famous Seasonal Buck with Strawberries and Ginger Beer
Muddle the strawberries to release their juice. Lemon adds tartness, and a splash of ginger beer gives this Scotch highball its fizz.
50ml The Famous Grouse
12.5ml Lemon juice
3 Muddled strawberries
5ml Sugar syrup
Ginger beer
1 Highball glass
Cocktail shaker
Add ice to glass and stir to chill
Add non-carbonated ingredients to shaker
Shake for 10 seconds, then fine strain into glass
Top with ginger beer, and garnish with a strawberry and mint
Orchard Cooler with Sparkling Apple Juice
A squeeze of lemon keeps the sparkling apple juice bright. Build this one over ice and tuck a sprig of mint into the glass.
50ml The Famous Grouse
5ml Lemon juice
Sparkling apple juice
Handful of mint
Ice
1 Highball glass
Fill a highball glass with ice
Pour The Famous Grouse, and add the lemon juice
Top with sparkling apple juice
Garnish with a lemon twist and mint
Grouse & Grapefruit with Honey
Equal measures of Scotch and pink grapefruit juice give this cocktail its tart edge. Stir in the honey before topping up with soda.
50ml The Famous Grouse
50ml Pink Grapefruit Juice
12.5ml Honey
Top with Soda
Grapefruit Wedge
Ice
1 Cocktail glass
Fill a glass with ice
Pour The Famous Grouse, and top with grapefruit juice, soda & honey
Lightly stir & top with more ice if necessary
The Famous Coffee with Scotch and Espresso
Brown sugar sweetens the espresso and Scotch. Pour the cream on top and finish with coffee beans.
50ml The Famous Grouse
2 tsp Brown Sugar
150 ml Espresso
10 ml Cream
1 heat-resistant glass/glass coffee cup
Add 50ml The Famous Grouse
Stir in 2 tsp brown sugar
Add 150ml espresso coffee
Top with cream and coffee beans
Smoky Old Fashioned with Maple Syrup
Use The Famous Grouse Smoky Black for this one. Maple syrup softens the smoke, and Angostura bitters bring spice.
50ml The Famous Grouse Smoky Black
10ml Maple syrup
2 dashes Angostura bitters
Ice
1 Rocks glass
Combine The Famous Grouse Smoky Black, maple syrup and Angostura bitters in a mixing glass
Stir and strain into a rocks glass filled with ice
Garnish with an orange twist
For another take on this classic, try our Marrakech Old Fashioned with saffron honey syrup. You’ll find more drinks in our cocktail archive.
