Friday Cocktail: The Solstice

In honor of tomorrow's Summer solstice, I bring you the Solstice cocktail. Creator John Deragon serves this drink in December for the Winter solstice, which makes sense for a booze forward whiskey cocktail. For those like me that drink brown liquor cocktails year round, however, this drink works just as well once the sun goes down on a 100 degree day in Atlanta. For a spirit forward drink, it is complex but also surprisingly balanced and drinkable. 

The recipe calls for Dubonnet Rouge, but any rose colored apéritif wine, such as Lillet Rouge or Cocchi Americano Rosa, will work well. In my opinion, there is no suitable substitute for the Amaro Nonino. As with any cocktail using grenadine, use a good quality grenadine or make your own to bring out the best in the rye and apple brandy.

Solstice

Adapted from recipe by John Deragon in PDT Cocktail Book

- 1.5 oz. Rittenhouse Bonded Rye

- .5 oz. Laird's Bonded Apple Brandy

- .5 oz. Amaro Nonino

- .5 oz. Dubonnet Rouge (or Cocchi Americano Rosa)

- .25 oz. Grenadine

Combine ingredients in mixing glass with ice.  Stir and strain into chilled cocktail glass. No garnish.

Friday Cocktail: The Jack Rose

Flipping through the excellent PDT Cocktail Book, I noticed that a lot of the recipes call for Laird's Bonded Apple Brandy. This product caught my eye because the label reads like a bourbon label in that it bears the "Bottled in Bond" designation.  This means that by law -- the Bottled in Bond Act of 1897 to be precise -- it must be aged in a bonded warehouse for at least four years and bottled at 100 proof. Although there are several bonded whiskies (Rittenhouse, Old Granddad, Col. E.H. Taylor), this is the only brandy I'm aware of bearing the designation. Unlike the French Calvados I've had, the Laird's is drier than expected with only a hint of apples. It could almost pass for whiskey. In any event, the stuff works great in cocktails and is a steal at $25. 

My new bottle of Laird's Bonded called for the most classic apple brandy cocktail, the Jack Rose. This recipe dates back to Boothby's 1908 book, The World's Drinks and How to Mix Them. The 100 proof Laird's is essential here, as the drink is diluted considerably with the grenadine and lemon juice. About the grenadine, if you can't make your own, try to spring for the good stuff. Jack Rudy Cocktail Co. makes a great one (the bottle even has a recipe for the Jack Rose on the side), and I'm sure there are others. The stuff you'll find at the grocery store won't do. For the citrus juice, I go with lemon juice, though some recipes call for lime.

Jack Rose

William Boothby, The World's Drinks and How to Mix Them

Adapted from the PDT Cocktail Book

- 2 oz. Laird's Bonded Apple Brandy

- .75 oz. Lemon Juice

- .75 oz. Jack Rudy Small Batch Grenadine

Combine in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake vigorously and strain into a chilled coupe. No garnish.