Tag: Applejack

Cocktail of the Week: Apple Thyme

2014-09-27 19.29.51

It’s supposed to be fall right now, the produce department of our local Co-op certainly reflects the change of the season even if the weather outside stubbornly refuses to. I’m looking at you 95° weekend weather! With the transition to fall I’ve got to say goodbye to all the chilled drinks full of citrus and fruit! That’s okay though, because I’m looking forward to some hot drinks.

This cocktail was inspired by one D saw over on another blog (here), that called for a homemade brandy and quite a bit of alcohol in it. I took the recipe and tweaked it a little bit and ended up with a delicious cocktail with an herbal undercurrent, that wouldn’t knock D out. I replaced the brandy with applejack and balanced out the proportions.

The ingredients
The ingredients

Apple Thyme

  • 1 oz bourbon
  • 1 oz applejack
  • 1 oz thyme simple syrup
  • 1/2 – 1 oz lemon juice

Combine ingredients into an ice filled shaker. Shake vigorously. Strain onto ice in a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with apple slice and thyme twig.

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I didn’t have any expectations with this cocktail. I’d never considered using bourbon and applejack together and I’d never thought to infuse simple syrup with thyme. It turned out really well though! The lemon and thyme go together quite well and blend wonderfully with the bourbon and applejack. Depending on how much lemon juice you have a flavor that goes anywhere from an apple-y bourbon with hints of lime, and thyme to a whiskey sour with hints of apple. I heartily recommend this for relaxing on a cool fall evening.

Cocktail of the Week: Jersey Girl

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I bought Laird’s AppleJack without ever having it in a drink before. Apple liquor sounded good to me and I was already a fan of hard ciders. After purchasing a bottle though I was at a loss as to what to make with it…Thankfully, in this modern age we all have access to a near infinite well of information! Turns out you can use AppleJack in just about anything you’d use whisky for as well as anything you might use vodka in!

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Jersey Girl

  • 1 1/2 oz. AppleJack
  • 1 oz. Cointreau
  • 1/2 oz lime juice
  • 2 splashes of cranberry juice

Shake well with ice and strain into a chilled martini glass. Garnish with lime wedge.

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Turns out I like everything about this cocktail but its name. “Jersey Girl,” really? This drink looks and tastes great and the oldest joke in America is that there is nothing in Jersey that those two descriptors apply to…  The Jersey Girl reminds me of a Seabreeze, probably because of the cranberry juice. You wouldn’t think that apple and citrus wouldn’t mix well together but somehow it does. Somehow you can pick every ingredient out in this cocktail all while tasting them together. It was quite remarkable. A lovely little drink.

Cocktail of the Week: Washington’s Mule

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I’ve said here before that the Moscow Mule is one of, if not, my favorite cocktail. It was a Moscow Mule I had at Seattle Underground that served as half of the inspiration for this entire series of posts. So, when I see variants on the recipe, I’m developing my own right now, I’m excited to try them. This variant swaps out vodka for Applejack, as a cider fan I was excited to give it a shot.

The ingredients
The ingredients

Washington’s Mule

  • 1 1/2 oz. of Applejack
  • 1/2 oz. of fresh lime juice
  • Dash of Angostura bitters
  • Ginger beer

Combine applejack, lime juice, and bitters in a shaker full of ice. Shake. Strain into an ice filled glass (or go traditional with a copper mug!), top with ginger beer and garnish with a lime wedge.

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Oh, wow, that is nice! The Applejack is so smooth and crisp. The ginger beer is so sharp and spicy.  The bitters bring it all together. This is good. I don’t know if it’s Moscow Mule good, I’ll have to have a few more of both of them to decide that, but it is good. Washington’s Mule is also fairly light and I think it would make a good apertif or digestif. Or drink it on a hot day or warm evening out on the patio, that’s what I plan on doing…

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