Given such a wide platform, the popularity of the Gold Rush, likeable and easy to replicate, ballooned rapidly. Petraske, meanwhile, brought the Gold Rush to a number of bars he went on to open, according to Perez, including landmark taverns like Little Branch in Manhattan, Dutch Kills in Queens and The Varnish in Los Angeles. Boston cocktail guide, which he was editing at the time, and The PDT Cocktail Book, a bestselling recipe collection published in 2011. He also included the recipe in the widely distributed, annually issued Mr. Meehan would go on to make the Gold Rush at every subsequent bar he worked at. It was “a perfectly balanced Bourbon Sour,” he recalls. When he drank one during his first visit to Milk & Honey in 2003, he was bowled over. The result, as far as the Gold Rush was concerned, was a Whiskey Sour so silky and deeply flavored it amounted to an “aha!” drink for many people, including bar owner Jim Meehan. “My idea was to add as little water as possible to make it pourable while retaining the most honeylike qualities,” explains Maloney. Maloney had a hand in fashioning the house honey syrup, which was not a simple equal-parts affair instead, it was a rich syrup, made of three parts honey to one part water. The drink got a critical assist from Toby Maloney, the first bartender Petraske hired. Honey syrup shines in this Whiskey Sour update. created the Gold Rush, it took off running.” “I remember the Mojito and the Queen’s Park Swizzle and the Bee’s Knees being the ones that customers asked for the most. “It’s hard to say that the Gold Rush was the first hit drink at Milk & Honey,” recalls Kelvin Perez, an early barback at the bar and the first person Petraske hired. Soon, the Gold Rush was being suggested to whiskey lovers as a “bartender’s choice.” By early 2002, it was a staple at the bar. Since Milk & Honey famously didn’t have a menu, drink orders were arrived at through a conversation between server and customer. “I like names that bring a feeling or a thought or a chuckle, not names that have a hidden meaning or connection to the origin of the drink.” “It was right the first time,” recalls Siegal of the drink. The bourbon used that night was Knob Creek, but soon after, it was replaced by Elijah Craig 12-year-old, which was then plentiful and cheap, and became the house bourbon at Milk & Honey. For the recipe, Petraske employed his usual sour formula of two ounces of spirit, one ounce of juice and three-quarters of an ounce of sweetener. Siegal asked him to make his usual Bourbon Sour with that new honey syrup instead of the typical simple syrup. “I had finished a long shift at work in Midtown,” recalls Siegal, “and I sat down for a Bourbon Sour as I had many nights previous-on the rocks, without egg or garnish.” Petraske told him about a honey syrup he had put together in order to make an old drink called the Honeysuckle Cocktail (basically a Daiquiri made with honey). In fact, he came up with the idea for the Gold Rush not while standing behind the bar at Milk & Honey, but while sitting at it, sometime in 2000. It’s an achievement made all the more remarkable considering that Siegal is not primarily a bartender.

Irish gold rush cocktail