Spirited Cocktails

There’s something deeply satisfying about an apple. The combination of the sweet and the tart. The crunch of that first bite, and the soft flesh inside. Apples have always been one of my favorite fruits, and I relish the idea of bringing them to one of my other favorite things – cocktails!

The Jack Rose is an absolute classic. It has appeared in hotel bars for over a century, and has even shown up in the writing of Ernest Hemmingway. It’s made in the traditional sour style, using the 2:3/4:3/4 ratio, as you’ll see below. Read More

Last week, in a fit of oppositional defiance against the Mint Julep, I introduced you to the Apple Julep. I should first explain that my opposition to the mint julep was based only upon the over-abundance of coverage of the drink in advance of the Kentucky Derby. I’m a huge fan of the cocktail myself, and highly encourage you to give it a try. Have a look at Lush Life’s coverage of this classic with Dale DeGroff, and perhaps we’ll cover the drink ourselves during non-derby season (again, just to be defiant).

In any case, after posting about our alternative, one of our friends via Twitter – Pia Mara Finkel (whom you can and should follow at @piamara) – suggested a possible alteration. Her suggestion was to try the cocktail with Calvados – a French apple brandy – as opposed to the Applejack we used. This was, of course, a wonderful suggestion.

The history of Calvados is rich indeed. We won’t bore you with the details here, but you can read more on Wikipedia, or in the book Calvados: The World’s Premier Apple Brandy by Henrik Mattsson. Read More

So the Kentucky Derby is coming up this weekend, which means that everybody and their brother will be making Mint Juleps. There’s a long and storied history behind the Mint Julep – it’s preparation, and it’s relationship to the Kentucky Derby – on Wikipedia, so I won’t bore you with it here. I’m not going to make a Mint Julep either; it’s too cliché. Instead, we’re going to make an Apple Julep.

Many of my readers from the South will cry sacrilege here, but I find the Apple Julep to be a refreshing and creative adaptation. Don’t yell at me until you’ve tried it! Read More