I love this recipe because it gives validation for all of us who had a bottle of Laird’s Applejack on the backbar, had no idea what to do with it, but never got rid of it. I think every bar I worked in had some dusty bottle of Laird’s buried on the back bar tucked behind flavored liqueurs that got brought out once a year for a random call for a grasshopper cocktail for which we would have to open an equally dusty Mr. Boston’s Bar Guide to remind us how to make it. Laird’s is one of the most historic alcoholic beverages in the United States. Laird’s is the first commercial distillery established in 1780. That sounds like a classic to me.
Ingredients
2 oz Laird’s Applejack (Applejack is Laird’s lightest flavored brandy. Check out their 100 proof, 7 1/2 year, 12 year)
1 oz Grenadine (For Shirley Temples use whatever, but for cocktails use something good like Stirrings.)
1 oz Lemon Juice
2 dashes of Peychaud bitters
Garnish
Lemon twist
Glassware
5-7 oz coop glass
Assembly
Chill glass. Fill a shaker with ice and add Lemon Juice, Grenadine, Laird’s and bitters to the shaker and shake until chilled. Strain into coop glass.
Suggestions
There was a day in the long long ago that as a bar man if you wanted it you made it. Grenadine, Irish Creams, flavored syrups, infused spirits, orgeat and Falernum would have all been made before service because there were no packaged options. I would like to throw a salute to Frankie’s Tiki Lounge in Las Vegas. In the old tradition, they make lots of their own syrups for their Tiki drinks. Now when you make your Jack Rose, you don’t have to make your own grenadine but at least use one that is a high quality product like you would use for any other items in your program.