Many of us leave fan­cy cock­tails to the experts at expen­sive bars and cock­tail lounges, and have some­thing sim­ple (and bor­ing!) at home. Well, cock­tail mas­ter Aaron Gold­farb is here to help you expand your mixol­o­gy skills in your very own kitchen.

Aaron is the hottest name in all things booze, as a writer and jour­nal­ist of drink­ing cul­ture – writ­ing for major pub­li­ca­tions such as Esquire, Food & Wine, Vine­Pair, PUNCH, and oth­ers. He was recent­ly writ­ten up in The New York Times in an arti­cle that fea­tured his new cock­tail book, Gath­er Around Cock­tails, which lists forty-five recipes to make for hol­i­days through­out the year, includ­ing ones for Hanukkah, Purim, and even a kosher-for-Passover cock­tail you could serve at your seder.

Join us for a hap­py hour con­ver­sa­tion with Jew­ish Book Coun­cil’s Nao­mi Fire­stone-Teeter, Vine­Pair’s Adam Teeter, and Aaron Gold­farb, includ­ing a spe­cial work­shop to make a Shavuot-inspired cock­tail. A list of ingre­di­ents and tools will be shared with reg­is­trants for the program.

The Shavuot Sour

Accord­ing to Deut. chap­ter 8, ​“For the LORD thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of foun­tains and depths, spring­ing forth in val­leys and hills; a land of wheat and bar­ley, and vines and fig-trees and pome­gran­ates; a land of olive-trees and hon­ey” and Shavuot was the first day on which indi­vid­u­als could bring these Bikkurim (first fruits) to the Tem­ple in Jerusalem. This cock­tail brings the Bikkurim too, with a wheat­ed bour­bon, the grape-based brandy Cognac, as well as fig pre­serves and hon­ey for a sweet­en­er. For indi­vid­u­als not want­i­ng to use egg whites, sub­sti­tute aqua faba, or just skip that ingre­di­ent altogether.

1 oz wheat­ed bour­bon (look for Mak­er’s Mak­er, Weller, or Larceny)

1 oz Cognac

1 oz fresh-squeezed lemon juice

0.25 oz honey

1 tea­spoon fig preserve

egg white

Add ingre­di­ents to a cock­tail shak­er, with­out ice, and shake vig­or­ous­ly. Now add ice and shake again. Strain into a rocks glass with one large ice cube.