These days, Applejack is basically Apple Brandy distilled from cider (Lairds Bottled in Bond is the best), but it started back in the olden times being “jacked” from cider by leaving the barrels outside in the winter and skimming off the ice. Each freeze would remove water and leave behind alcohol and tailings.
Over the past month, I used the same mug I use for making clear ice to deep freeze, top down, an 8-pack of leftover apple-marionberry cider (thus the color). Each day, I took the frozen slush, dumped it into a shaker, and strained it using a Hawthorne strainer with a tight coil. It took about 4 days per 16 oz to get it down to where it would no longer freeze, about 2 oz remaining each time. A final trip through a coffee strainer removed remaining sediment from the collected product.
That process resulted in 375ml of rocket fuel you see here. A a final test, I tried freezing it one last time. As every child that tried to replace a tipple with water in their parents’ freezer vodka has learned, high enough ABV stops freezing. This one didn’t even have ice crystals after 48 hours. Tastes like a strong liqueur. Hoping I got it above 35%.
The destination cocktail is a grenadine-lemon-applejack combo, the Jack Rose. Have some leftover cider of your own? Give it a shot. Toast the pilgrims as you tip one back!
- 1 1/2 oz Applejack (Lairds Bottled in Bond or homemade, adjust based on ABV)
- 1/2 oz Homemade Grenadine (Morgenthaler recipe)
- 3/4 oz Fresh squeezed lemon juice
Shake with ice and strain into a chilled coup
Garnish with a lemon wheel
