Many moments in the year provide opportunities for us to pause and reflect on where we are – personally, professionally, and socially. From birthdays and anniversaries to large-scale cultural events and holidays like New Year’s Eve, we’re faced with new beginnings or a chance to stay the course. These landmark days provide us the chance to make or keep resolutions, craft new plans for better health, goals for work, education, and professional development, and moments to consider personal commitments and relationships.
The new year gives us an opportunity to set the tone for how we want to live life year-round, and our favorite beverages can enhance those moments. Great spirits and cocktails, premium wines, and even well-crafted beers are often a part of our experiences, but living well and loving deeply are the core of these moments.
Pausing and reflecting on the interplay of celebrations and commemorations with alcohol is the mark of responsible consumption. To help facilitate that, brands like Herradura, Jack Daniel’s, and Woodford Reserve are launching their Pause and Twist campaign in 2023 in collaboration with ReserveBar to encourage responsible spirits consumption.
Well-Crafted Drinks for All
In recent years, the Dry January movement has encouraged people to take a month off drinking to reset our relationship with alcohol. It’s a great idea, but it’s not for everyone. It’s a great opportunity to rethink your relationship with alcohol. In fact, the Pause campaign began as an internal program for Brown-Forman to inspire employees to think about alcohol responsibility, and it met with so much success someone finally asked, “Why don’t we take this out of the office and get our brands more involved in encouraging responsible drinking?”
Responsible drinking isn’t just good for individuals; it’s good for a company that produces and distributes alcohol because it leads to a safer drinking environment and respectful culture. Distillers who go to so much trouble to craft delicious, thoughtful, premium spirits really want consumers to savor the liquid and experience. They’re meant to be sipped, savored, and mixed into well-crafted cocktails. So Brown-Forman, ReserveBar, and their associated brands would like to invite you to Pause to think, reflect, and, if you choose, to savor.
Push Pause
Telling someone to stop drinking inevitably comes with a little judgment, and the negative connotation is hard to avoid. What if, instead, someone empowered you by saying, “Take a pause. Give yourself time to make good choices. Maybe you have a cocktail or maybe you don’t.” It hits differently. It takes the conversation from pushy to encouraging, from judgmental to concerned. More than that, it creates space for people to make mindful decisions for themselves.
New Year’s Day is certainly a good time for this, but so is a typical Friday when you want to extend the evening. Even Derby Day, when Woodford Reserve flows freely into mint juleps, or when friends and family gather with spirits throughout the year. The pause is just a way of gathering thoughts and giving yourself time to make the best choice for yourself and to savor the moment. Maybe you have a drink, or maybe you don’t.
Brown-Forman and ReserveBar have created a list of cocktails and zero-ABV concoctions to empower mindful choices around our products. Give someone a bottle of water or diet soda, and they suddenly feel like the designated driver. Give them a thoughtful and interesting zero ABV option, and suddenly, you've curated an inclusive and festive atmosphere. The pause is for everyone; the twist is for those who want to go back to enjoying a cocktail after the pause.
Pause: “Old Fashioned” Iced Tea
An “old fashioned,” but make it new. This low-ABV beverage combines the barrel-aged bitters and aromatics of cherry and orange from the Woodford Reserve Old Fashioned Cocktail Syrup with the delicate sweetness of iced tea to craft an “Old Fashioned” to be enjoyed at your leisure.
6 oz Iced Tea
Combine syrup and tea in a tall glass or to-go cup and add ice. Stir gently to chill and serve.
Twist: Woodford Reserve Old Fashioned
The classic American cocktail may have been created in the 1800s, but its finest iteration can be enjoyed right now in the 21st century with Woodford Reserve. By combining bourbon, demerara syrup, bitters, and an orange peel, you will surely understand how this cocktail has stood the test of time.
2 oz. Woodford Reserve Bourbon
½ oz. Demerara Syrup
3 Dashes Angostura Bitters
2 Dashes Orange Bitters
Garnish Orange Peel
Add ingredients to a mixing glass and top with ice. Stir ingredients for 30 to 40 seconds. Strain into a serving glass and add one large ice cube or sphere. Garnish with a lightly expressed orange peel.
Pause: Game Day Sour
You know what every big game needs? A lightly sweetened alcohol-free cocktail with hints of sour, citrus, and bubbles. The Game Day Sour is the perfect teammate for a day of football viewing with your friends and family.
2 oz. Lemon Simple Syrup
2 oz. Ginger Ale
¼ oz. Grenadine
Crushed Ice
Lemon Slice and Cherry (Garnish)
Add lemon simple syrup, ginger ale, grenadine, and crushed ice to a highball glass. Garnish with a lemon slice and cherry
*Lemon Simple Syrup:
½ cup Sugar
¼ cup Water
¼ cup Lemon juice
Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan. Heat over medium-high heat until it starts to boil. Pull off of heat and let cool to room temperature. Store in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
Twist: Gentleman Jack Sour
This sour is made for sippin’. By combining the exceptionally smooth Gentleman Jack and its perfectly crafted Whiskey Sour Mix, you will have the perfect balance of sweet and sour to enjoy anytime.
2 oz Gentleman Jack
1 Egg White
Lemon Peel (Garnish)
Combine ingredients in a shaker and shake well. Add ice and continue to shake. Strain into chilled glass. Garnish with expressed lemon peel.
Pause: FREE-A-RITA
The tried and true “margarita” doesn’t have to include tequila in our alcohol-free take. Our FREE-A-RITA recipe substitutes aloe vera juice for the spirit and provides the bitter, citrusy flavor sure to satisfy your palate.
2 oz. Aloe vera juice
1 ½ oz. Lime juice
½ oz. Agave nectar
½ oz. Lemon-lime soda
Lime wedge (Garnish)
Add aloe vera juice, lime juice, and agave nectar to an ice-filled shaker. Shake vigorously until chilled. Top with lemon-lime soda. Transfer to rocks or margarita glass. Garnish with a lime wedge.
Twist: Horseshoe Margarita
A true classic from a true hacienda, the Horseshoe Margarita uses Tequila Herradura’s Reposado expression, which is aged for 11 months to achieve remarkable smoothness.
2 parts Tequila Herradura Reposado
1 part Freshly squeezed lime juice
½ - ¾ parts Agave nectar (to taste)
Combine all ingredients and shake with ice to chill. Strain into a salt-rimmed glass over fresh ice and garnish with a lime.
Pause or Twist
Ultimately, Brown-Forman and ReserveBar believe you are the best person to make these choices. By equipping you with excellent spirits, which you can enjoy when you slow down and savor the moment, as well as providing you with low or zero-ABV options so that the party is truly for everyone, it’s the best way to encourage you to Pause – reset, reflect, refresh – and Twist all through the year.
Shop the entire Pause and Twist collection here.
Please Drink Responsibly.
Brown-Forman Beverages, Louisville KY. ©2023 Brown-Forman Beverages. All rights reserved.
