Recipe ArchiveWeek 01 of 8 · First FrostServing This Week

The First Frost

Name: The First Frost
Prep time: 5 min
Total time: 5 min
Yield: 1 cocktail
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 2 oz bourbon; 0.5 oz brown butter syrup; 0.25 oz maple syrup; 2 dashes orange bitters

Named for the morning the windows finally fog over and the season stops pretending. Brown butter gives the bourbon the weight of a cold house warming up.

bourbon, brown butter syrup, maple, orange bitters · served rocks · No. 01 of 24, season 2026

The First Frost bourbon cocktail with a frozen cranberry-rosemary ice sphere and an upright frosted rosemary sprig

Method

01
Combine bourbon, brown butter syrup, maple and bitters in a mixing glass.
02
Add ice and stir 25 seconds until the glass frosts.
03
Strain over a single cranberry-rosemary ice sphere in a chilled rocks glass.

Garnish

Frozen cranberry-rosemary ice sphere, plus an oversized frosted rosemary “tree” standing upright in the glass.

Also on Week 01 · First Frost · opens November 2

Sugar & Snow — gin, elderflower liqueur, fresh lemon
Silver Bells — vodka, pear liqueur, ginger, lemon

Who's serving this

Featured at 10 Merry Bars near you

Every Merry Hour Partnership venue in the country pours the The First Frost in the same week — same name, same recipe, same spec. Drop your zip code in and we'll point you at the closest edition.

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The Nice List Showcase

One winner per city, chosen by our editors for the best execution of this season's menu — the pour itself, the service, the room's energy. Not decor. It isn't part of the Merry Hour Partnership and it can't be bought — but anyone can put a room forward.

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