Welcome back, friends - it's Anders.
Today is a good day - again. Every Friday is a good day.
Today we are making the Jack Rose Cocktail.
A classic!
Kind of disappeared for a little while, but people are making it again,
and I'm excited because this is a great drink for autumn - the season of.
I didn't do it last year, and I've been thinking about it ever since.
Three ingredient cocktail calling for applejack or apple brandy - I'll discuss the difference later.
I'm gonna show you, actually, two ways to make it. It calls for lemon OR lime, so I've seen bartenders do both.
In fact, I've done both. I always have to think, "Which direction am I gonna take this drink?"
So today I'm gonna make it both ways. I'm gonna make it with lemon, I'm gonna make it with lime,
and..
drink 'em.
If you're new to the channel, hit that subscribe button for more sips, tips, and recipes,
and let's go make the autumnal favorite, the Jack Rose.
To the bar.
[intro music]
The Jack Rose dates back to the early 1900s, but we don't know how it got its name, Jack Rose.
There are a few different stories. One is that it was a New York gangster named Baldy Jack Rose.
Who was actually bald.
I've looked at pictures and he's wearing a hat in all his pictures.
But then I read that when he was four years old, he contracted typhoid and it made him permanently bald.
So they decided it would be okay to call him Baldy Jack Rose.
Anyway - this New York gangster claimed that he invented the cocktail.
However, the drink was around before his rise to fame.
So he probably didn't come up with the Jack Rose Cocktail.
But that's okay, there are a couple other bartenders that claim they invented it.
One was named Joseph Rose - or Jack.
Jack is a nickname for Joe.
Actually it's a nickname for Joseph because Joe is also a nickname - it doesn't matter.
He was a pretty well established bartender. At one point he held the title
World Champion Bar, Mixologist - Guy.
Which is pretty impressive.
But then there's another bartender named Frank J.May who claimed he invented this.
In 1905 he took out an ad in the Police Gazette claiming he invented the Jack Rose Cocktail
and it was named after him because he was more commonly known as Jack Rose than Frank May.
Then there's the Jack Rose, which is a flower.
Some people say it's named after that.
But what makes the most sense to me is the color of the drink is a rose color,
and it's made with applejack.
So Jack Rose.
Now the booze.
We are going to need applejack,
grenadine,
lemon,
or lime
juice.
Freshly squeezed.
The applejack I'm using is Laird's Straight Apple Brandy.
Applejack got its name from the jacking process, which is how they made -
I know, it sounds ridiculous.
Which is something that they did years ago. They would take a hard cider,
and they would leave it outside overnight in the winter, and in the morning they would find that some of it froze.
And they would scrape off the frozen bits, which was frozen water,
and they were concentrating the alcohol inside the cider.
So they were actually making a stronger spirit that they called applejack.
The thing is, this process is a little dangerous because you also create methanol.
Which could make you go blind - it could kill you. It's just a dangerous technique.
Don't go jacking your apples.
So now when they make applejack, they use stills just like you would any other spirit.
Because you have more control and it's safer.
Now the bottle I have here says straight apple brandy.
It doesn't say applejack, but this is what applejack used to be until the 1960s.
What happened in the 1960s is the public's taste in spirits shifted to clear spirits like vodka and gin.
So now if you make applejack, it only has to be a small percentage of apple brandy.
The rest can be neutral grain spirits.
So you get a lighter spirit that would appeal to that crowd that likes the light spirits.
My preference is the straight apple brandy. It's just bigger apple, it's closer to what it used to be.
If you'd like this bottle, check out my link down below,
and you can get it through my friends over at Curiada. They'll ship it to you!
Otherwise you can use applejack, you could use calvados, you could even use cognac in this recipe.
It's not going to be appley, but I've made this with cognac and it's still very good.
As for the grenadine - good quality grenadine. If you need a recipe, I've got one for you.
As for the citrus, I've got lemon and lime because you can use either one.
Even Harry Craddock in The Savoy Cocktail Book says "juice of one lime or juice of half of a lemon,"
but I'm gonna make one of each because they do taste different.
So, let's build.
Now I'm gonna build these at the same time just because
they are exactly the same build. I'm just swapping out the citrus.
So don't be alarmed. It's pretty straightforward.
Start with an ounce and a half of applejack,
three quarters of an ounce of grenadine,
and three quarters of an ounce of lemon or lime.
Now we can add ice, and shake.
Give it a shake for about 10 seconds,
and double strain right into the cocktail glass.
And there we have the Jack Rose.
Cheers!
Lemon, lime. Let's start with the lime.
Mmm
Very refreshing!
Bright, little sweetness from the grenadine,
and apple on the end - and I like that apple. Let's try it against the lemon.
Mmm - they are similar but there is a difference.
Az, do you want to try these?
Oh, okay. I'll try it.
Yeah this is the - this is the lime.
That's the lime.
Okay.
Here we go.
Mmm - soft apple, refreshing! Go with the lemon.
Ooh - that's weird.
Weird good, or weird bad?
Yeah weird good! [laughter]
Sorry, I need more tastes. Now that I've had like 17 sips of both of them.
This one's just more limey. Feel like lime has that sharper citrus taste.
The difference is subtle. I feel like the lemon and the apple go really well together.
Which do you prefer? Yeah.
I think I like the lemon.
I don't know, maybe because it's fall. Seasonally right now I think I'm in the mood for -
For the lemon?
For the lemon. It's a little softer, rounder, but really, really subtle.
Anyway, goodbye. I'm going back.
Bye, Az!
Now it's your turn. And let me know if you prefer lemon or lime.
Thank you for watching.
Like and subscribe.
I'll see you next time.
Cheers!
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