Signature Sip: The Pursuit — A Toast in Bourbon to 250 Years
The Spirit Behind the Sip
Life. Liberty. And the pursuit of happiness.
This is Part 4 — the final chapter — of our American Spirits Series: Celebrating 250 Years. We've come a long way this month. If you'd like to read the whole journey: The Liberty Colada (Part 1), The Philadelphia (Part 2), The Founding (Part 3).
Thomas Jefferson's three promises have been debated, interpreted, and celebrated for 250 years. The pursuit of happiness — the most personal and the most American of the three — is the one that has always felt most alive. It is the permission to reach for something. To build something. To believe that tomorrow can be better than today.
Bourbon is that spirit made liquid.
Distilled from at least 51% American corn, aged in new charred American oak barrels, produced nowhere else on earth and legally defined as a distinctly American product, bourbon is not just a drink. It is an industry built by generations of American families, farmers, and craftspeople who believed in what they were making. Kentucky became its home, but bourbon belongs to the whole country — warm, generous, layered with complexity, and unmistakably itself.
The Pursuit is the final cocktail in our 250th Anniversary series, and it is the one we've been building toward all month. Bourbon, fresh peach (the fruit of American summers), a touch of honey, and a splash of ginger beer for life. It is everything the season and the occasion call for.
Here's to 250 years. And to everything still ahead.
The Pursuit
Glass: Rocks glass or julep cup
Ingredients:
2 oz bourbon (choose an American craft bourbon if possible — this is the moment for it)
0.5 oz fresh peach purée (or 2 thin fresh peach slices, muddled)
0.5 oz honey syrup (1:1 honey and warm water)
0.5 oz fresh lemon juice
2 oz ginger beer, to top
2 dashes Peychaud's bitters
Garnish:
Fresh peach slice
Fresh mint sprig
Lemon wheel
How to Build It
If using fresh peach slices, muddle gently in the bottom of your shaker — just enough to release the juice, not so much that you break down the flesh.
Add bourbon, honey syrup, lemon juice, and bitters to the shaker with ice. Shake well.
Strain into a rocks glass over fresh ice, or into a julep cup packed with crushed ice.
Top with ginger beer — pour gently to preserve the effervescence.
Garnish with a fresh peach slice, mint sprig, and lemon wheel.
Pro Tip: Fresh peach is the soul of this drink — don't substitute with peach schnapps or artificial flavoring. If fresh peaches aren't available, a high-quality peach purée works beautifully and is far easier to batch for larger events. Taste your peaches before service; if they're under-ripe, add a touch more honey syrup to compensate.
Mocktail Version
Peach and ginger are a natural pair that needs no whiskey to shine. Build the mocktail with peach purée, honey syrup, fresh lemon, and a generous pour of ginger beer over crushed ice. Add a couple dashes of non-alcoholic bitters or a small splash of pomegranate juice for depth and color. Garnish identically. This is a mocktail that earns its place on the menu — not as an afterthought, but as a genuinely delicious summer drink in its own right.
Garnish Guide by Event Style
Intimate (under 30 guests): Fresh peach slice, full mint sprig, lemon wheel — the full garnish. Build each drink individually. At this scale, the julep cup is a beautiful touch that guests will remember.
Mid-size events (30–75 guests): Pre-batch the shaken base (bourbon, peach purée, honey syrup, lemon, bitters) and keep chilled. Top with ginger beer to order — always fresh. Pre-slice peaches and keep in a chilled citrus tray with lemon wheels and mint sprigs ready to go.
Large events (75–150+ guests): Batch the full base. Top with ginger beer individually at pour. Simplify the garnish to a mint sprig and peach slice — still beautiful, manageable at volume. If using julep cups, pre-pack them with crushed ice before service begins so the bar team can move quickly.
The Pursuit is the final cocktail in our American Spirits Series — a month-long celebration of 250 years of American drink culture, one spirit at a time. We hope you've enjoyed every glass.
The complete series: The Liberty Colada | The Philadelphia | The Founding | The Pursuit
From all of us at FS Event Staffing: here's to the pursuit. In every sense of the word.
Ready to close out your summer season with a cocktail program worth remembering? Our bartenders and mixologists are here for every glass of it.
