There’s a certain magic to a cocktail that can be enjoyed in the morning. For clarity, by morning I’m not talking 3am, last person left in the bar — that requires a far different drink. I mean rise and shine, peel your eyes open, draw the curtains, birds tweeting, pre-coffee, getting-ready-to-start-the-day morning.
A special few tipples make the cut during this delicate time: Tequila Sunrise (clue is in the name), the Bellini (refreshing and fruity), Bloody Mary (hair of the dog) and, of course, the kings: the Mimosa. It’s got orange juice, so it must be healthy, right?
An ever-present bastion of the hotel breakfast, a Mimosa could mean several things. It’s your wedding day, so perhaps a good idea to take the edge off. You’re on holiday, so it’s allowed. Or it’s Christmas morning (family are often more palatable after a glass of fizz).
Whatever the reason, kicking off the day with a Mimosa is usually a sign of excellent things to come. It sets the tone for the day, with just the right amount of excess to be exciting. Failing that, just remember the late Queen Elizabeth II enjoyed them, so you can be buoyed by an overwhelming air of class and sophistication.
However, Mimosas are a bit simple. Equal parts champagne and orange juice, it’s about as imaginative as cheese on toast. Uncle Nearest, the fastest-growing American whiskey in US history, has decided to shake things up with their concoction, the Grown Folk Mimosa.
Now, adding triple sec and whiskey to a Mimosa might sound excessive, but blowing off the dust and having the courage to shake up the drab and stagnated is what Uncle Nearest is all about.
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Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey pays homage to the world’s first known African American master distiller, a gentleman by the name of Nearest Green who earned quite the reputation for his distilling prowess during the second half of the 19th century.
Founded in 2017 by CEO Fawn Weaver, Uncle Nearest Whiskey has risen from strength to strength. Weaver was later joined by CBO Katharine Jerkens and master blender Victoria Eady Butler — the first person to win Whisky Magazine’s Master Distiller of the Year in consecutive years.
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The story could end there with the three women riding off into the sunset, probably sipping on an Uncle Nearest Grown Folk Mimosas and giving the occasional yeehaw. But like all great tales, there’s one final twist.
As luck would have it, it turns out that two-time master blending whiskey maestro Victoria Eady Butler, who has played such a pivotal role in Uncle Nearest Whiskeys’ recent success, is actually the great-great-granddaughter of Uncle Nearest himself, Nearest Green.
Pure coincidence or perhaps it’s in the blood, either way, Butler was blessed with the same prowess at the distiller as her great-great-grandfather.
And so, to this day, the whiskey produced which bears the name Uncle Nearest is still in the family. If that’s not worth a drink I don’t know what is. Who cares what time it is?
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Grown Folk Mimosa recipe
Ingredients
½ oz Uncle Nearest 1884 Small Batch Whiskey
½ oz triple sec like Cointreau
2 oz fresh orange juice
1.5 oz premium champagne
Method
Place Uncle Nearest 1884 Small Batch Whiskey, a champagne flute, and a bottle of Triple Sec into the freezer. Place the Fresh Orange Juice and Champagne in the fridge. Once all the ingredients are well-chilled pour all the ingredients except the champagne into the chilled flute and stir. Add the champagne and stir one last time very gently so as not to flatten the drink. Enjoy, and don’t let anyone tell you it’s too early.
See more Cocktail of the Week recipes here.
