Behind the Beverage: The RSVP to High Tea at North of Bourbon
At North of Bourbon in Louisville, KY, bar director Emma Rice has transformed a beloved regional culinary specialty into a cocktail. The RSVP to High Tea draws inspiration from the Kentucky Benedictine, the cream cheese and cucumber spread that’s been a regional staple for generations.
The cocktail captures the creamy, tangy, savory essence of the original iteration through Carolina Gold rice-washed Old Forester 100, fresh cucumber, honey, Pimm’s, and a sweet cheese foam that sits at the top to create a modern and refreshing take. Rice says she was initially considering a pimento cheese and pickles inspired drink. She tried several iterations of that idea, but hasn’t yet been able to put together something to satisfy both texturally and flavor-wise.
So she started adapting and ultimately simplifying the idea: less salty and tangy and more of an easy-sipping cocktail that would pair well with a slightly sweet and creamy cheese topping. Keeping cucumber and cream cheese from the original inspiration at the forefront, “I started working more with a Benedictine-inspired flavor profile,” she says.
“From there, things came together rather easily. I know cucumber and Pimm’s work so well together, and we had a Carolina Gold rice-washed bourbon that we had previously used in an Old Fashioned that has a nice round nuttiness to it that I thought would work well with the idea as a whole.”
The cheese foam takes some inspiration from boba tea style “cheese caps,” says Rice. “It was difficult to figure out the right texture so that it wasn’t too light or too thick. Ultimately, I settled on this recipe.”
RSVP to High Tea
Ingredients
Instructions
Notes
100 g Carolina Gold Rice
1 L Old Forester
Lightly toast the rice grains in a skillet over medium heat until lightly colored and fragrant. Transfer the toasted rice to a blender and blitz until broken into a rough, sand-like texture. Add the rice and bourbon to a vacuum-seal bag, seal, and sous vide at 130 degrees for 3 hours. Fine strain out the rice after 3 hours. Rebottle the bourbon, let cool, and serve
**For Sweet cheese foam
10 oz. Cream cheese
4 oz. Heavy cream
4 oz. Milk
Emma Rice, bar director at North of Bourbon in Louisville, KY, created this recipe.
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