Grilled Peach Bourbon Smash Pitcher

Grilling the peaches is what makes this worth doing. Raw peach in a pitcher gives you a faint sweetness and not much else. Ten minutes over direct heat caramelizes the sugars and adds a smoky edge that reads as expensive. It costs nothing extra, and if you are already grilling dinner the peaches go on at the end while the coals burn down.

This is also the rare recipe that wants the ugly fruit. The bruised, overripe peaches in the reduced-price bin are sweeter than the firm ones on display, they are usually half the price, and since everything here gets charred and muddled, appearance is irrelevant. Ask at the counter. Most produce departments will sell a bag of seconds to anyone who asks.

The two-hour rest is not optional. Muddled fruit needs time in the bourbon to give up what it has. Served immediately, this tastes like bourbon with a peach floating in it. Two hours in the refrigerator and the whole pitcher turns amber and smells like the grill.

Grilled Peach Bourbon Smash Pitcher

Peaches charred on the grill, muddled into bourbon and lemon, and rested for two hours — ten servings built from the bruised fruit at the bottom of the bin.

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 10 minutes mins

Total Time 2 hours hrs 25 minutes mins

Course Drinks

Cuisine American

Servings 10 drinks

Ingredients

  

• 6 peaches ripe, halved and pitted
• 1 tablespoon neutral oil
• 2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/4 cup hot water
• 2 cups bourbon
• 1 cup lemon juice fresh, about 5 lemons
• 3/4 cup honey syrup from above
• 12 fresh basil leaves or mint
• 1 pinch salt
• 2 cups club soda chilled, or ginger ale
• 10 basil sprigs for serving
• 1 peach sliced into 10 wedges, for serving

Instructions

 

• Heat a grill or grill pan to medium-high. Brush the cut sides of the peach halves with oil and sprinkle them with the brown sugar.
• Grill cut-side down for 4 to 5 minutes without moving them, until the flesh is deeply marked and the sugar has caramelized. Turn and give the skin side 2 minutes more.
• Let the peaches cool for 10 minutes, then slip off the skins — they come away easily once grilled — and roughly chop the flesh.
• Whisk the honey into the hot water until it dissolves completely. Honey seizes into a lump in cold liquid, so this step is not one to skip.
• Put 4 of the chopped grilled peaches into a large pitcher with the basil leaves and the salt. Muddle firmly, pressing and twisting, until the fruit breaks down and the basil is bruised but not shredded.
• Add the bourbon, lemon juice, 3/4 cup of honey syrup, and the remaining chopped peaches. Stir well.
• Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or up to 12. Stir once partway through.
• Strain into a serving pitcher if you prefer a clean drink, or leave the fruit in for a rustic one. Add the club soda just before serving, pour over ice, and garnish each glass with a basil sprig and a peach wedge.

Notes

Ask the produce department for seconds. Bruised and overripe peaches are often half price or less, they are sweeter than the display fruit, and grilling erases every flaw.

Peaches are cheapest at their local peak — late July through August in most of the country. Outside that window, use frozen peach slices: thaw, pat dry, and grill them in a pan.

A mid-shelf bourbon is right. Between the char, the honey, and the lemon, nothing above about twenty-five dollars a bottle registers.

Grill the peaches while you are already cooking. The heat is free if the grill is on, and they keep 3 days refrigerated.

Grilled peach halves are worth making extra of — over vanilla ice cream, on a salad with goat cheese, or chopped into a salsa with red onion and lime.

Basil and peach is the better pairing here, but mint works and most people have it. Do not use both.

Make it alcohol-free: replace the bourbon with 2 cups of strong brewed black tea, chilled, plus 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar. The tea brings the tannin and the vinegar brings the sharp edge bourbon would have — together they keep it from tasting like peach lemonade.

Serving note: 2 cups of bourbon across 10 servings is about 1 3/5 ounces each, right at a standard drink.

Keyword big-batch cocktail, bourbon smash, grilled peaches, summer cocktail