It can be hard to get up and get moving in the morning. It is even harder during the late winter months. One thing that gets me up in the morning, other than the pesky “work” responsibility, is the chance to see the alpenglow on Pike’s Peak. The early morning and late evening glow over the mountains was the inspiration for our newest cocktail, the Purple Mint Majesty. The purple hue of our newest cocktail reminds me of the morning alpenglow.
The purple color of the Purple Mint Majesty is due to huckleberry. I absolutely love huckleberries. On our summer trips through Wyoming and Montana, I’m on the lookout for all things huckleberry. Huckleberry beer? Check. Huckleberry cocktails? Check? Huckleberry candy? Check. Huckleberry ice cream? It gives my favorite mint chocolate chip a run for its money.
During one of our late fall camping trips, I happened to see huckleberry honey on the shelves of one of the gift shops we visited. I couldn’t resist picking it up in hopes that I could craft an amazing cocktail from the honey. It ended up becoming the base for the simple syrup in our Purple Mint Majesty cocktail.
Huckleberry Honey Syrup
We found the texture of our huckleberry honey was too thick to add directly to the cocktail. It didn’t dissolve well, even with vigorous shaking, so we opted to make a honey simple syrup. We started with 1/3 cup of huckleberry honey and 1/4 cup of water. The simple syrup was sweet and flavorful. It also gave our cocktail a wonderful purple color.
The huckleberry simple syrup can be stored for 2-3 weeks. We used a tightly sealed mason jar and made sure to refrigerate the simple syrup to keep it fresh.
Purple Mint Majesty
For the Purple Mint Majesty, you need to start with high-quality huckleberry honey, such as this one from The Huckleberry Patch located in Hungry Horse, MT.
In addition to the huckleberry honey, you want to make sure you have mint liqueur on hand. Our go-to is Dekuyper Muddled Mint Liqueur. However, any creme de menthe liqueur will work in this cocktail.
For the whiskey, we went with our favorite daily drinker, Evan Williams Bottled in Bond. You can find our review of Evan Williams BiB here.
This is an excellent cocktail for anyone who loves huckleberry or mint. Give it a try and let us know what you think. You can leave us a comment here or find us on our Instagram @wildernesswhiskeywomen.
Happy Exploring!
