Drunk Uncle

Bartender Kaitlin Fellers creates cocktails for every holiday personality.

Even if you don’t have a literal drunk uncle, you can still find someone exuding Drunk Uncle Energy at the dinner table. The prototypical Drunk Uncle loves brown spirits and big ice cubes, so why not give him both with this variation on the Old Fashioned? The good news? After a few of these, a turkey dinner, and a La-Z-Boy, he’ll be passed out with the remote in no time. Hey, don’t change the channel…he’s watching that!

Drunk Uncle

Ingredients

4 cups brown sugar

2 cups water

1 stick salted butter

1 oz Remy Martin VSOP Cognac

1 oz Old Overholt 114 Rye

1/2 oz brown butter syrup

4 dashes Angostura bitters

2 dashes Regan’s Orange bitters

Orange peel

Instructions

For the syrup: In a pot over medium heat, add 4 cups brown sugar to 2 cups water, stirring until completely dissolved. In a small saucepan, add 1 stick of salted butter, whisking continuously over medium-low heat until the butter has melted completely and it begins to brown and foam. Remove from heat and slowly add your brown butter into your brown sugar syrup. Remove brown butter syrup from heat and let sit for 30-40 minutes or until it reaches room temperature. Strain through a cheesecloth or fine mesh strainer. Bottle and refrigerate for up to one month.

For the cocktail: Add all ingredients to a large mixing glass, top with ice, and stir to combine–about 20-30 seconds. Strain into a rocks glass over a large ice cube. Garnish with an expressed orange peel.

STORY BY MAGGIE WEAVER/RECIPES BY KAITLIN FELLERS/ PHOTOGRAPHY BY DAVE BRYCE/STYLING BY KEITH RECKER