Try Out This Flavor Boost For Cheap Bourbon The Next Time You Go Camping

Even though bourbon has to be made in accordance to some pretty strict guidelines, there's still a ton of variation from one bottle of corn liquor to the next. For every truly valuable bourbon out there, there's another bourbon that you'd be better off leaving on the shelf. But if you find yourself with a bourbon that just isn't speaking to you, don't simply let it sit in your cabinet collecting dust — put it to good use instead with a touch of creativity and a childhood throwback.

There are a bunch of easy ways you can upgrade the taste of cheap bourbon, and one of them is perfect for those warm summer campfire nights. Hear us out — toast a marshmallow and drop that into your glass of bourbon. In a move not too far removed from making your own flavored vodka via infusion, this will allow you to impart the marshmallow's sweet and toasty flavors into your bourbon, making your liquor bearable at worst and delicious at best. Better yet, it gives you an excuse to roast even more marshmallows at your next campfire!

You can't just roast any old food and toss it into your bourbon expecting greatness, but roasted marshmallows work in this case due largely to the flavors it shares with bourbon at a base level. Bourbons reliably have a sweeter note compared to many other whiskeys, and typically have some presence of vanilla, caramel, butterscotch, and/or a woody note to them. All of these are perfect complementary flavors to toasty, wood-roasted marshmallows, and the marshmallow's burnt sugar flavors should match well with whatever cheap bourbon is in your glass.

Of course, some bourbons are going to be balanced differently than others. Some may have more spicy rye notes, and some cheap options might simply have too much of an ethanol note for your taste. But the great thing here is that, since your roasted marshmallow has such gravitas in terms of flavor, it could actually help to mute those otherwise overwhelming tastes. And hey, if all else fails, you could always find some practical ways to use up cheap bourbon long after the fire has died out.