Tasteful Tatters

I love cocktails. Love making them, love drinking them, love sharing them with my friends. When my dear friend Marlene came up with the cocktail using my favorite - whiskey I practically squealed with happiness. She is such a genius. She was inspired by things that I always have at my house : whiskey (duh), lavender, and citrus. An unlikely pairing you might be thinking... but, it is oh SO good. Even if you aren't a whiskey drinker - you will love this! It is probably the perfect "end of summer, beginning of fall" cocktail. That's right. You heard it here first.This recipe was originally part of a dinner party shoot we did for LaurenConrad.com. Be sure to check out the full LC post to see all the recipes from the shoot - they are soo yummy!Ingredients:

4 oz. pour (or 2 shots) whiskey (we used Johnnie Walker Red Label)
4 Tbsp. simple syrup (see recipe for homemade simple syrup below)
2 Tbsp. orange juice, fresh squeezed
pinch of cinnamon
orange rind

Instructions:

Mix together the whiskey, orange juice, simple syrup and cinnamon.
Serve over ice, and garnish with orange rind.

Lavender and Vanilla Bean Simple Syrup:

1 cup sugar
2 cups water
½ of 1 vanilla bean
1 to 2 sprigs of lavender

Combine the sugar, water, vanilla bean and lavender in a saucepan and bring to a boil until the sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

For fun, we froze lavender buds in our whiskey ice molds. They added a fun touch of color