|
|
 The name may not inspire you, but this drink actually surprised me. If you dig around in old cocktail books for this recipe you find that they are all different. Flipping through the pages of the Savoy, for example, you find a recipe that lacks the Applejack and has no citrus. It doesn’t sound like something I want to try. You can find versions that add brandy to the mix and even some with cream. One might specify lemon while another will call for lime. It seems that darn near anything that had a light pink hue was once called a Pink Lady—a name you could just pass by thinking it’s a girlie drink before you started comparing vintage recipes. Even Ted “Dr. Cocktail” Haigh goes to great lengths in his Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails to avoid revealing the name of this drink until you turn the page. But looking
Take a bigger gulp of this article. . .
 There’s no reason to take any of this mixology stuff too seriously. Whether or not you consider the art of mixing drinks a science, it would be hard to convince most people that it’s an exact science. Everyone has an opinion about what mixes well together, what proportions work best, what tastes good and what should be avoided. The whole reason I created Summit Sips was to introduce readers to ingredients, flavors and techniques that might be new to you—because so much of it was new to me—and let you decide what to like or dislike. The journey so far has led to homemade ingredients, unusual spirit categories, tools, techniques and some fascinating history. It all adds up to a deeper understanding of what goes into the shaker so that we are all better appreciators of what comes out. Today, we pull together a variety of interesting ingredients to
Take a bigger gulp of this article. . .
 The first good sign of a decent cocktail bar is that they are using fresh ingredients. I’m not talking about lemon twists or lime wedges, I mean that they squeeze their fruit to make juice à la minute, and that they aren’t using sour mix. But even if they take the time to use fresh citrus, it doesn’t mean they know how to balance a drink. This is when a spirit-driven cocktail can save the day. A quick scan of the back bar may help you pick a winner without asking your bartender if they have this, that or the other thing. Of course, not all good drinks require obscure ingredients, but every once in a while you have to be willing to gather what you need yourself.
I can think of a few good bars in town that could make our drink of the week with what they
Take a bigger gulp of this article. . .
  The other day, the booze fairy delivered a bottle of Laird’s Applejack. Well, OK, it wasn’t actually the booze fairy, but rather a good friend “paying” me for some technology assistance. It happens that I occasionally do handy work and technology support for friends who sometimes see fit to compensate me this way. Am I complaining? Certainly not! So, this week’s Drink Of The Week is brought to you by the Technology Support Department at Summit Sips. We don’t advertise “Will Work For Booze” but it sometimes works out that way!
All of my recent posts regarding bourbon left me considering the fact that although it is truly an American spirit, it wasn’t actually the first to be produced in this country. That honor goes to Applejack, a brandy-based spirit produced from fermented apples. As one of our readers pointed out in a comment to my Kentucky Teaser, it was Laird & Company that obtained License #1 in 1780—our country’s first legal distiller. The Jack Rose cocktail pays tribute to this unique spirit. Classically portioned, this smallish cocktail can be made with either lemons or limes—both are delicious—and a few dashes of grenadine. There are many theories as to how this cocktail got its name, and you can entertain yourself with the research. However, I believe some things are often just as simple as they seem. It’s made with Applejack, and it’s rose-colored.
Click here and take a bigger gulp of this article →
|
|
Subscribe to Summit Sips
Fan
Most Popular