🍸🍹🥃 MacGyver Mixology: Cocktails From a Barebones Bar 🍒🍋🍋‍🟩

 

What is in your Cabinet of Curiosities? This is what I found in mine. 🍸

Sometimes you don’t need a fancy back bar full of obscure liqueurs and muddled herbs. Sometimes you just need what you’ve got, a little creativity, and the willingness to play bartender with the odds and ends. Today’s kit: Bulleit Bourbon, Hendrick’s Gin, Cuervo Gold Tequila, and a handful of mixers — lemons, limes, lemonade, orange soda, orange syrup, cherry syrup, Coca Cola, and a jar of maraschino cherries.

Here’s what I cooked up, MacGyver-style:

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1. Frontier Cherry Cola (Bourbon)

Think of this as a grown-up cherry cola, with enough bite to remind you it’s not from the soda fountain.

• 2 oz Bulleit Bourbon

• 4 oz Coca Cola

• ½ oz cherry syrup

• Garnish: maraschino cherry

How: Stir bourbon and cola over ice, drizzle in the cherry syrup, and drop a cherry on top.

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2. Garden Party Lemonade (Gin)

Bright, refreshing, and just slightly unusual — Hendrick’s herbal notes love citrus.

• 2 oz Hendrick’s Gin

• 3 oz lemonade

• ½ oz orange syrup

• Squeeze of fresh lemon

• Garnish: lemon wheel

How: Shake gin, lemonade, and syrup with ice. Strain into a tall glass, top with a squeeze of lemon, and float a lemon wheel.

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3. Desert Sunset (Tequila)

Sweet, tart, and glowing like the Utah desert sky.

• 2 oz Cuervo Gold Tequila

• 3 oz orange soda

• ½ oz cherry syrup

• Fresh lime wedge

How: Build tequila and soda over ice. Stir lightly, drizzle in cherry syrup so it “sinks” for a layered effect, then squeeze in lime.

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4. Improvised Old Fashioned (Bourbon)

No bitters? No problem. Orange syrup and a cherry 🍒 save the day!

• 2 oz Bulleit Bourbon

• ½ oz orange syrup

• 1 maraschino cherry (muddled)

• Garnish: orange wedge (if you’ve got one — optional)

How: Muddle cherry with orange syrup in a rocks glass. Add bourbon, stir with ice, and garnish.

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5. Three-Spirit Punch (All Together)

When you can’t decide, mix them all — and surprisingly, it works.

• 1 oz Bulleit Bourbon

• 1 oz Hendrick’s Gin

• 1 oz Cuervo Gold Tequila

• 2 oz lemonade

• 2 oz Coca Cola

• Squeeze of lime

• Garnish: cherry

How: Shake all spirits with lemonade, pour into a tall glass over ice, and top with cola. Add lime squeeze and cherry for flair.

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Final Word

Cocktail purists may cry into their bitters, but when you’re playing MacGyver bartender, the goal is fun over finesse. Try these out, tweak the ratios, and don’t be afraid to invent your own with whatever’s left in the fridge.

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