May is when our rhubarb starts coming up, and it’s looking good this year! When someone offers you a bunch of rhubarb from their overproducing plants (or if you can’t find anyone to take your extra rhubarb), just remember how awesome it can be in cocktails!

There’s nothing like rhubarb. By itself it will pucker your entire face. But dip it in a little sugar and unlock some summer magic! It makes a great jam, adds some extra zip to sweet bread, and best of all, it freezes for use year-round!

But wait - Didn’t someone mention cocktails? Yes! (That was us.) Let's talk about our favorite ways to enjoy some rhubarb with our handcrafted Wisconsin spirits.

How can you add that signature rhubarb zip to your favorite cocktails? Let’s start with the easiest way – simple syrup. A sweet, chilled cocktail is always a delight on a warm Wisconsin summer day, and rhubarb’s unique sweet/tart combination is perfect for anything citrus or berry based. It’s even good in a glass of Sprite for a mocktail!

Best of all, simple syrup stores well in the fridge, so you can make it once and have it on-hand all summer…if you can hold yourself back from adding it to lemonade, soda, fruity mixed drinks – in fact, just about everything!

Rhubarb Simple Syrup

4 cups rhubarb, finely chopped
4 cups water
1 ½ cups sugar
1 tablespoon orange zest

Cook everything together in a pot for 15-20 minutes until the rhubarb is soft, then strain the mixture through a fine mesh strainer to separate. Don’t throw out the rhubarb, though! Read to the end to find out why. 😉

Let the liquid mixture cool. Transfer to a large mason jar and stick it in the fridge. This recipe makes about 16 oz. Add a shot to your favorite cocktail, punch, or soda and voilà – your taste buds will know it’s summer!

Now that you’ve got some tangy simple syrup, you can use it to make a Lone Duck Cinnamon Whiskey Rhubarb Zing cocktail:

Rhubarb Zing

1 oz. chilled Lone Duck Cinnamon Whiskey
2 oz. Rhubarb Simple Syrup
2 oz. Orange Juice
Top off with lemon lime soda or ginger ale
Add a twist of lemon if you like

Rhubarb simple syrup is also a tasty addition to mojitos, mules, and even the Shorewood Summer Sipper!

If you really want to cool down as the heat rises, here’s a new/old favorite – who remembers slush mix? Like the old Brandy slush that you were too young to drink, so your parents scooped the slush mix into a glass and topped it off with ginger ale so you could toast with the adults. Nothing beats a rhubarb slush for summer!

Rhubarb Slush

8 cups Rhubarb (finely chopped)
8 cups Water
½ cup Lemon Juice
2 ½ cups Sugar

Cook ingredients together until the rhubarb is tender, about 10-15 minutes depending on how finely chopped the rhubarb is. Remove from heat and use a fine strainer to separate the juice from the pulp (again, don’t discard that pulp just yet). Stir into the juice:

1 box (3 oz.) box Strawberry Jell-O

Cool completely and store in an ice cream bucket in your freezer, where it will freeze just solid enough to scoop like ice cream. It keeps for a month or so.

When you’re ready for a refreshing Rhubarb Slush, grab your ice cream scoop and fill a 6-8 oz. glass with two scoops of slush, 1 oz. of Lone Duck Cinnamon Whiskey or Lakeview Vodka, and top it off with your favorite mix: 7-Up, strawberry soda, ginger ale, Squirt – or, for the ultimate Wisconsin experience: Jolly Good Sour Pow’r!

For a 10 or 12 oz. glass, you’ll use three scoops of slush and 2 oz. of your Northern Oasis Spirit of choice.

If you’d like to carry on the tradition of a kid-friendly NA slush mix, just scoop up the slush as above, and top with your mixer. Easy!

If you couldn’t tell, we’re always excited about rhubarb season. Once it’s big enough, the first thing we plan to do is grab a stalk and a little jar of sugar and enjoy a tart treat of fresh rhubarb. The second thing we’re gonna do is make a fresh batch of rhubarb simple syrup so we can enjoy it the rest of the summer!

Before we sign off, we didn’t forget about the solids left over from your Rhubarb Simple Syrup. Keep them in a sealed container and throw a spoonful on your ice cream sundae, waffles, stirred into yogurt, or anywhere else you enjoy tangy fruit preserves. Rhubarb is a great treat on almost anything, and we have a whole summer to enjoy it!

Locally distilled in Plover, Wisconsin.

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