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Cocktail History
The Rosenthal is a modern cocktail that was created by Jon and Lindsay Yeager in Nashville, Tennessee and was first published in their book The Ultimate Guide to Beer Cocktails: 50 Creative Recipes for Combining Beer & Booze. It was based on the Caipirinha and uses a similar template of muddled lime, simple syrup, and cachaça, but this version tops the drink with a strong, malty barleywine ale.
Cocktail Ingredients
To make this cocktail, you’ll need the following ingredients:
Barleywine Ale: This is a type of beer made with English hops, malted barley, yeast, and water. We used Zymurgy Brewing Company Barrel-Aged Talisman 2022 English Barleywine because it has a rich, strong malty flavor.
Cachaça: This is a type of rum made with sugarcane juice in Brazil. We used Kachaça! Premium Cachaça because it’s smooth and well-balanced. For a lower-proof version of this drink, try Caleño Dark & Spicy Tropical Non-Alcoholic Spirit in place of the cachaça.
Simple Syrup: This is a sweetener made with white sugar and water. We made ours at home using Alex’s stovetop recipe.
Lime: This is a round, green, and sour citrus fruit.
Lime Slice: This is a lime slice that has been cut into a half wheel shape.
Bartending Tools
To make this cocktail, you’ll need the following bar tools:
Jigger: This is used to measure and pour ingredients. We used the Japanese jigger from the A Bar Above 14-Piece Silver Bar Set.
Paring Knife: This is used to cut ingredients. We used the OXO Good Grips 3.5 Inch Paring Knife.
Muddler: This is used to muddle ingredients. We used the HQY Stainless Steel Cocktail Muddler.
Boston Shaker: This is used to shake ingredients. We used the Boston shaker from the A Bar Above 14-Piece Silver Bar Set.
Hawthorne Strainer: This is used to strain out ice and solid ingredients after the cocktail is shaken. We used the A Bar Above Hawthorne Strainer.
Bottle Opener: This is used to open bottles. We used the OXO Steel Bottle Opener.
Tasting Notes
The Rosenthal has tropical aromas of cachaça and lime and begins with a fairly light-bodied taste made up of the funky spirit and citrus but with an underlying depth and darkness brought by the ale, which ends up backing down a bit on the finish to make way again for the lighter flavors.
Our Opinion of This Cocktail Recipe: Despite the wicked combination of moods brought forth in this drink, we both found The Rosenthal to be a very unexpectedly tasty mix of flavors.
Which of our palates is yours most like?
Find out if your palate is most similar to Alex’s or Kendall’s by answering five questions.
Which of our palates is yours most like?
Find out if your palate is most similar to Alex’s or Kendall’s by answering five questions.
Alex’s Take: ⭐⭐⭐
“This drink is basically a Caipirinha topped with expensive, strong beer. That isn’t a bad thing by any means, but I went into my first tasting thinking that, and I was a little bit surprised at how complex it was. I expected the festive, tropical Brazilian flavors to not mix at all with the strengthened beer, but it actually worked decently well. The beer offers a complexity that the original Caipirinha typically lacks, giving it a dark, brooding, and moody flavor that juxtaposes with the rest of the ingredients in a great way.”—
Kendall’s Take: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
“This is the most wonderfully weird variation of a Caipirinha yet. Its wildcard ingredient is a barleywine ale, which neither of us had ever tried before this tasting and got lucky by having access to a limited edition bottle from a local brewery. Wow, is it interesting… Alex is right on. It does mostly taste like a Caipirinha with a strong hit of the barleywine ale, but the mixture works quite well. I would try this again sometime… if I could drink beer, that is!”
Recipe
This cocktail recipe was adapted from The Ultimate Guide to Beer Cocktails: 50 Creative Recipes for Combining Beer & Booze by on and Lindsay Yeager.
Cut lime into three slices.
Add lime slices pulp side up to a shaker.
Muddle gently for 5-7 seconds.
Add cachaça, simple syrup, and cubed ice to shaker.
Shake for 10-20 seconds.
Pour into a lowball glass.
Top with barleywine ale.
Garnish with lime slice.
Ingredients
Directions
Cut lime into three slices.
Add lime slices pulp side up to a shaker.
Muddle gently for 5-7 seconds.
Add cachaça, simple syrup, and cubed ice to shaker.
Shake for 10-20 seconds.
Pour into a lowball glass.
Top with barleywine ale.
Garnish with lime slice.
Make It a Mocktail: Use Caleño Dark & Spicy Tropical Non-Alcoholic Spirit in place of the cachaça to try a lower-proof version of this drink.
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More Beer Cocktails
If you like this beer-based cocktail recipe, here are a few others we’ve tried that you may enjoy:
Calico Tea: A barleywine ale and apple brandy cocktail made with lemon juice, sage black tea syrup, Angostura aromatic bitters, and sage leaves
Stout Sangaree: A Irish stout beer and port wine cocktail made with nutmeg
Sicilian Pour Over: A coffee stout beer cocktail made with Amaro Montenegro, cardamom bitters, and an orange peel
Black Velvet: A stout beer cocktail made with sparkling wine and a lemon twist
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