After last week’s appallingly mainstream choice, this week’s cocktail is one shrouded in mystery, and its origins remain unknown. Yet another delightful import from the days of Prohibition, the Jack Rose is said to have come
from a watering-hole in the city of House of Cards itself — Washington
D.C. Despite having appeared in the Hemingway novel called The Sun Also Rises, it has fallen out of fashion and off the menus; hence why you’ll be hard pressed to find it anywhere in Oxford. Its rarity is partly due to the scarcity
of its main ingredient, Applejack, which is basically only found in North America and had its heyday during the American Colonial Period.
Made by concentrating cider to the heady strength of around 40%, this spirit isn’t one you’ll find in your local Co-op next to its own brand dry white wine. There is, in fact, only one company still trading that sells the stuff. Apple Brandy, in this case, is your best bet and I would recommend going for the more expensive stuff. You are just too old for cheap and nasty alcohol. Regular readers of the column (shoutout to my mother and my long-suffering tutor) might recognize my predilection for sour cocktails — indeed, House Bar know to start making a Lemon and Thyme as soon as I walk in — and the Jack Rose is no exception.
You’ll struggle to find this one on even the most sophisticated of cocktail menus, but feel free to give it a go with whatever motley band of ingredients you can cobble together in Tesco, it’s well worth heading back to the ‘20s to sample this concoction.
2 measures applejack / apple brandy
1 measure lemon juice
Half a measure of grenadine
