I knew I’d like Tyler Zielinski’s new book, Tiny Cocktails, from the jump. It’s always been clear to me that the first sip of a drink is the greatest one, and the excitement dims from there.
Some nights, I want to hop from cocktail to cocktail, sampling a whole menu; other nights I just don’t desire a whole glass full of booze. And anyone who has been involved in a cocktail photo shoot has seen how quickly drinks fade, their fizz dissipating, the ice beginning to melt and then to over-dilute, the drifting apart of ingredients that were meant to be mingled.
Gimme a little drink that I can enjoy at its best, and then make it gone.
Of course, if you’re making cocktails at home with a friend, you can simply shake or stir one full-sized serving and split it between two glasses when you pour. Some of the measurements when you size down a cocktail get a little awkward. One-third ounce? Apologies.
Still, I had to share this recipe from Tyler’s book because I really love it and it’s truly easy to execute at home. You’ve probably had whiskey sours before, and maybe even good ones, but this version—a riff on the Gold Rush, which is just a whiskey sour sweetened with honey—is special thanks to one addition. A spoonful of white miso blended into the honey syrup seasons the drink, giving it salt but also an umami side.
The simple four-ingredient cocktail is both tart and caramel-rich, with a savory character that feels, at first, surprising on the tongue, but then makes sense.
If you like both salted caramel and bourbon, the combination of flavors will speak to you. Bourbon has that caramel side anyway. This time, it’s heightened. The flavors are bold. But the glass is empty before you get overwhelmed.
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Make yourself a little rhubarb Champagne cocktail or a tomato and elderflower spritz and other tiny, bar-worthy drinks with this new book by Tyler Zielinski. To enter to win a copy of Tiny Cocktails, all you need to do is make sure you’re subscribed to this newsletter and leave a comment below by Monday, March 17, 2025.
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Miso Gold Rush
Makes 1 tiny cocktail
Adapted from Tiny Cocktails, copyright © 2025 by Tyler Zielinski. Published by Clarkson Potter, an imprint of Crown Publishing Group.
Maggie’s note: As in most cocktail books, Tiny Cocktails offers a standard honey syrup that can be dolled up in different ways for different recipes. For this drink, though, I’m guessing you don’t want to make a big batch of honey syrup, measure some of it, then add miso. So I’ve adapted the syrup slightly to consolidate.
The classic Gold Rush (bourbon, honey syrup, and lemon juice) is one of the most influential cocktails of the modern era. Created by T. J. Siegal at the pioneering Milk & Honey, in New York City, in 2001, the drink became a modern classic, recognized and served in bars all around the world. It was also the base recipe for bartender Sam Ross’s iconic Penicillin cocktail.
My Miso Gold Rush is a subtle twist on Siegal’s perfected recipe. Instead of the standard honey syrup, I use a richer Miso-Honey Syrup, which adds a sweet-umami flavor to the drink, which goes hand in hand with bourbon.
For the Miso-Honey Syrup (makes about ½ cup):
⅓ cup honey
2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons freshly boiled water
1 tablespoon white miso
For the cocktail:
1 ounce bourbon
⅓ ounce Miso-Honey Syrup
2 teaspoons lemon juice
Garnish (optional): piece of honeycomb
First, make the syrup:
In a tall container, blend honey, hot water, and miso using a hand blender or milk frothing wand until completely dissolved. (You could use a full-size blender here instead, but you may need to double the recipe to yield enough liquid to blend properly.)
Strain through a fine-mesh strainer into a clean jar or bottle. Let cool slightly, then store in the refrigerator, tightly sealed, for up to 1 month. Shake before using.
For the cocktail:
Put an ice cube in a chilled tiny rocks glass. If you like, lay a piece of honeycomb on the ice. Combine the bourbon, Miso-Honey Syrup, and lemon juice in a cocktail shaker with ice and shake to chill and dilute. Strain the drink into the rocks glass and serve.
