The 🌷 Jack Rose 🌷 at Finn's Corner

Sorry for the delay on this post folks, working two jobs with one in the retail industry during the Holidays is making for a very stressful experience. I find that I am pulling 10-day straight runs between days off. During Thanksgiving, I worked 13 out of 14 days with Thanksgiving being my only day off. Then after a day off, I'm following that with a 17 out of 18 day clip. Luckily for me I'm motivated to get out of the hole of debt that I find myself in. But that is a conversation for another day. On to the Jack Rose Cocktail.  

I kept with the spirit of Laird's Applejack that I profiled in my last post to make this classic cocktail. The cocktail is mentioned at least twice in Ernest Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises. Papa Hemingway published that book in 1926. In said passages, protagonist Jack Barnes visits the Hotel Crillon in Paris and has George the Barman make him the Jack Rose Cocktail. Here are two passages that mention the Jack Rose from Chapter VI and Chapter VIII respectively.

Hotel Crillon in Paris is located at 10, Place de la Concorde, 75008 Paris, France and according to the Hotel de Crillon website, the building was built in 1758, having been commission by King Louis XV with the greatest architect of his day, Jacques-Ange Gabriel designing the edifice. It would become the Hotel Crillon in 1909 after the previous owners the family of the The Counts of Crillon. The hotel would close in 2013 for massive renovations, having reopened early this year.

In terms of the cocktail, according to author Philip Greene of To Have and Have Another in his blogpost The Jack Rose, the Jack Rose Cocktail made its way in cocktail recipe guides during the early 1920's. Its unsure if the cocktail is named after notorious New York gangster "Bald Jack" Rose or the flower General Jacqueminot Rose named after Jean-Francois Jacqueminot who was a general under Napoleon. Greene also notes that there are two versions to this cocktail. To read up on both the origins of the cocktail and its potential naming, I recommend you read the amazing post by Greene: The Jack Rose. On to the cocktail.

I decided to use the classic ingredient list for the Jack Rose which is the Laird's, citrus and grenadine.

Today's cocktail showcase keeps with last week's profile of the Laird's Applejack. I decided to make the classic Jack Rose cocktail that is featured in Ernest Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises.

Now there are a variety of different recipes for this cocktail. Some call for more Applejack and Grenadine with less lime and or lemon juices. Some call for only lime or lemon. Since I like tarter cocktails, I went the tart route. Here is the recipe I used for the Jack Rose.

🌷 Jack Rose 🌷
🔸1.5oz Laird's Applejack
🔸0.5oz of both freshly squeezed Lime and Lemon Juice
🔸0.5oz Rose's Grenadine

Build ingredients in iced filled shaker. Shake and strain into a fresh glass. Express oils from lemon peel over cocktail and and garnish with the peel. 

I find the ratios I used led to what I was looking for: a nice and tart beverage. If you don't like it so tart then bump up the Grenadine from half an ounce to a full ounce and maybe just use lime or lemon juices at a smaller ratio. But for my tastes buds, the ratios I used were a-ok!!!

The Jack Rose

I'm really surprised that the Jack Rose isn't one of the cocktails that has re-surged during the cocktail renaissance. Maybe we can do our part to get it . 😉 Here is my YouTube video for the Jack Rose.

For a later post I'll make the Harry MacElhone version of the Jack Rose which was listed in the 1922 cocktail guide Barflies and Cocktails. 

Next on deck is Repeal Day and Krampusnacht, both of which fall on December 5th. Curious as to what I'll come up with at Finn's Corner? Follow me at my Instagram @SiscoVanilla, my YouTube Channel SiscoVanilla, my Twitter @SiscoVanilla and my Facebook page SiscoVanilla.  

Until Then Happy Drinking,

SiscoVanilla

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Laird's Applejack: An American Original

I've had the honor of tasting many different spirits and liqueurs during my time in and out of the bar business. But until this past week, I had never had a taste of Applejack, specifically Laird's Applejack. What I enjoy more than a good spirit is a good backstory to said spirit...and this one has one. So taking a cue from my alter-ego History Sisco let's go back in time.

According to the label on the bottle of Laird's Applejack which is produced by Laird and Company, they've been in business since 1780 and the recipe for the Applejack was created by William Laird in 1698. The recipe proved to be so popular that it drew the attention of General George Washington when the applejack was being served to the troops of the Revolutionary army. General Washington loved the spirit so much that he asked for the recipe to make the applejack. And who can really say no to General Washington, right?

General Washington was given the recipe and he proceeded to distill some applejack. But that's not the only instance where a future President of the United States was linked to applejack. Our 16th President Abraham Lincoln used to serve liquor at the Berry and Lincoln grocery store in Illinois and applejack was undoubtedly one of spirits served. Rumor even has it that President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, whose mixology skills I profiled with the Haitian Libation, would add a splash of applejack to his martinis. And for the record, I would say without much doubt that FDR was knocking back Gin Martinis. In literary circles, applejack in the form of the Jack Rose cocktail is knocked back by character Jake Barnes in Ernest Hemingway's novel The Sun Also Rises. I'll profile the Jack Rose cocktail in a later post.

The spirit also owes its popularity to a 19th century pioneer and preacher who went by the name of Johnny Appleseed. Appleseed would make his way through parts of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois and West Virginia planting apple seeds for the apples that are used to make applejack. And since I mention the apples in applejack, let's shift gears as to what applejack is.

According to the article One Family's Story: Apples to Applejack by Frank J. Prial from the New York Times dated May 4, 2005:

The best apples for making applejack are small, late-ripening Winesaps, Larrie Laird said, "because they yield more alcohol." Sixteen pounds of apples produce about 25 ounces of applejack.

The colonial American method for making applejack was to make hard cider from the apples, leaving the cider in barrels outside during the winter and as the water portion of the cider froze, it would be removed leaving the fermented and potent apple spirit. This process was knows as "Jacking."

Today Laird's Applejack is a 80 proof spirit made up of a blend of about 35 percent apple brandy and 65 percent neutral grain spirits. The spirit also be made from whole apples and must be aged four years in used bourbon barrels.

For the last 237 years, the Laird Family has been making applejack for countless generations of American drinkers. Now its my turn. For my next post, I'll highlight the Washington Applejack Mule that I made this past Tuesday.

Until Then Happy Drinking,
SiscoVanilla
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#SiscoVanillaAtTheMovies
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#SiscoVanillaisStepping

For Further Reading:

- One Family's Story: Apples to Applejack by Frank J. Prial from the New York Times dated May 4, 2005

- HOW APPLEJACK BECAME THE SPIRIT OF AMERICAN PRESIDENTS by DAN Q. DAO from the Saveur Magazine website dated FEBRUARY 22, 2017

- Jersey Lightning Karen Tina Harrison from New Jersey Monthly dated July 13, 2009

- Applejack by Troy Patterson from Slate.com dated December 7, 2011

- Elements: Applejack by Paul Clarke from Imbibe Magazine dated January 18, 2009

The Old Pal at Finn's Corner

After three and a half years of being retired from the bar business I, like Douglas MacArthur have returned. Well, its not as dramatic as that LOL. But as you can imagine my excitement, I get a second shot at redemption in the bar business. I'll be behind the stick at Finn's Corner, 660 Washington Avenue in Brooklyn on Tuesday nights. So in honor of my friend Pete who offered my the opportunity to return to bartending, here is the Old Pal Cocktail.

The Old Pal

Now the Old Pal's origins lay with legendary bartender Harry MacElhone of the legendary Harry's New York Bar in Paris, France.  It is believed that MacElhone had created the drink in honor of his friend William "Sparrow" Robinson who was a sports columnist at the New York Herald-Tribune's Paris office. Now there is some dispute as to when the drink was created. For that I'll refer you to the article Classic Drinks: The Old Pal and a New Friend by Nick Caruana from the Serious Eats website.  On to the cocktail.

Some of you might see the recipe and think that it is a riff on the classic cocktail known as the Negroni. Whether it is or not I can not say. I have also seen this cocktail made with a 2:1:1 proportion with the whiskey having the larger share but for simplicity sake, I decided to make it as originally created. Here is the recipe for the Old Pal.

The Old Pal
1 Part Rittenhouse 100 Proof Rye Whiskey
1 Part Dolin Dry Vermouth
1 Part Campari

Combine all ingredients in ice filled shaker. Stir until the shaker is frosty and cold. Strain into a glass. Garnish with a lemon peel.

I found the Old Pal to be rather balanced, considering you have a 100 proof Rye and Campari making up two thirds of the ingredients with a hint of the bitterness of the Campari at the back of the tongue after taking a sip. If that aspect of Campari might be a bit harsh for your palate, I would recommend replacing the Campari with Aperol for a less harsher experience.

Here are my thoughts straight from behind the bar.

If you decide to have one let me know what you think. Have you tried it with another Rye Whiskey? Drop me a line and let me know at SiscoVanilla@gmail.com or give me a follow on Instagram at @SiscoVanilla

Until Then Happy Drinking,
SiscoVanilla
#SiscoVanilla
#SiscoVanillaAtTheMovies
#SiscoVanillaAtTheBookstore
#SiscoVanillaisStepping

For Further Reading:

- The Mystery of the Old Pal Cocktail from Cold Glass.com

SiscoVanilla Has a SoCo Lime at McDermott's Pub

Hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day. I was out having lunch with Momma-San and Gabba Gabba at McDermott's Pub (2634 E Tremont Ave, Bronx, NY 718-792-4490) when for whatever reason, my eye focused on the bottle of Southern Comfort that sat on the back bar. Not sure why, but I decided to order something I haven't ordered in ages: Southern Comfort and Lime aka Soco Lime on the rocks. Before I go into the cocktail, I wanted to shed light on Southern Comfort.

According to the Southern Comfort website, Southern Comfort, which is known as The Spirit of New Orleans was created by M.W. Heron in 1874. Now until now I always thought that Southern Comfort was a whiskey of some sort. As per the website, the original Southern Comfort is 60-proof. At this point I wasn't sure if it was a whiskey or not (There's also an 80-proof and 100-proof version of Southern Comfort available.) A quick internet search somewhat clarified the issue for me.

The article So What Exactly Is In Southern Comfort, Anyway by Julie Thompson from Huffington Post dated October 10, 2014 states the following:

Most people think of Southern Comfort as a whiskey. A look at Google’s search trends shows “Southern Comfort Whiskey” as one of the more popular search terms. And the bottle of brown liquid often sits next to the whiskey at your local liquor store, but it is not in fact a whiskey. Or a bourbon. Or a Scotch. Don’t let its golden color make a fool of you.

Southern Comfort, which was first named Cuffs & Buttons, is in fact a liqueur — a whiskey-flavored one. The original recipe was created by Martin Wilkes Heron in New Orleans. Heron was a barkeep looking for a solution to make unrefined whiskey more palatable. He came up with a recipe that added fruits and spices to the harsh liquor, and his customers loved it. With their thirst as his inspiration, he began marketing his recipe, which he later renamed Southern Comfort.

I guess that's somewhat of an answer. But it doesn't end there. The article Surprise! Southern Comfort Has No Whiskey. But Soon It Will by Robert Simonson of the New York Times dated May 8, 2017 shed more light on the subject:

Kevin Richards, the new senior marketing director for Southern Comfort, admitted as much, saying that when Sazerac bought it, the brand was “in danger of losing a lot of relevance in the mind of consumers.”

Sazerac hopes to reverse that. A new-and-improved Southern Comfort will hit the shelves in July, with a redesigned label and bottle. Flavored versions like Lime Comfort and Caramel Comfort will be phased out.

Simonson also adds:

But, most important, Southern Comfort will get back the one ingredient that many people have long assumed it contained: whiskey.

Once upon a time, Southern Comfort did include whiskey, though the complete formula has always been kept a secret. It was created by Martin W. Heron, purportedly while working at a New Orleans saloon. Over the years, it made hay out of slogans like “None Genuine but Mine” and “the Grand Old Drink of the South.” In 1939, in conjunction with the release of the film “Gone With the Wind,” the company promoted the Scarlett O’Hara cocktail, made of the liqueur, cranberry juice and lime juice.

But by the time Brown-Forman bought the brand in 1979, the kick inside the bottle was provided not by whiskey, but by grain neutral spirit — basically a generic alcohol free of character, not unlike vodka.

Well alrighty then. I believe the bottle that was on the back bar was the newer version but I can't be 100% sure. Either way, while I didn't see the bartender make the drink, I would make the assumption that the Soco Lime I ordered was made with a 2-1 ratio of Southern Comfort to Roses Lime. Why not fresh lime juice?

 

I'm not sure I've ever seen a Soco Lime made with fresh lime. I know I was taught to use Roses Lime. But maybe I'll make one with Fresh Lime for a later post. Ok then. How was it.

To be honest, I can't say I've ever tasted a Soco Lime before. Not to say that I haven't had one before. I've always just shot it instead of sipped it. Hey, I started going to bar in the early 1990s. Don't judge me, Soco Lime was one of the shots dujour for the time.

I have to admit, it was rather tasty. The Southern Comfort and the Rose's Lime works very well together. Not too sweet and not too tart. Though to be honest, I wouldn't want to have more than one or two. After that, the sweetness might be a bit too much on the palate.  As usual, here are my thought at the point of having the drink courtesy of my YouTube channel:

For a change of pace, I'd recommend a Soco Lime on the rocks. Go for it!!!

Since the article by Simonson mentions that the flavored Southern Comfort versions would be eliminated, here is an oldie but goodie post from 2012 by yours truly entitled: Southern Comfort Bold Black Cherry Give it a read.

Until Then Happy Drinking,
SiscoVanilla

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What is Hennessy Paradis

Hello gals and guys. I know its been a while since I've posted anything. I've been busy adjusting to a new position at work so I've been laying off the booze (aside from the occasional tipple) to keep my mind clear. But a few weeks back, I went out to brunch with Momma-San and a few friends to the Pine Bar+Grill loctaed at 1634 Eastchester Rd, Bronx, NY 10461 (718) 319-0900. As I was persuing the cocktail menu, I came across a listing that caught my attention. Here is what I saw.

Looking through the "After Dinner" section of the cocktail menu, I saw that an 1.5oz serving of Hennessy Paradis cost a cool $230 dollars. Now you might say "Hey wait, the Remy Martin Louis XIII for the same size costs $40 dollars more." That is true, but I'm familiar with the Louis XIII. I can't say I've ever remembered hearing about the Hennessy Paradis. So with that in mind, here is what I found out about said Hennessy Paradis.

Going to the source, the Hennessy website describes the Paradis as so:

Paradis is named after the special section in the Hennessy aging cellars where the finest, rarest, and oldest eaux-de-vie are carefully guarded. Created in 1979, the blend was conceived to be superlative yet subtle, making some of Hennessy’s most precious spirits widely available for the first time.

Possessed of rich successive aromas that only a great Cognac can obtain, Paradis reveals its delicate and velvety character, hinting at the silky texture that will follow. Its subtle texture allows it to gracefully blossom with a deep and fragrant persistence.

A further description comes from the Dan Murphy's online liquor store website's listing for the Hennessy Paradis:

Perfectly harmonious in the mouth, Hennessy Paradis Extra reveals itself to be smooth, full-bodied and long-lasting on the palate. A blend of over 100 'eaux-de-vie' and aged alongside other great 'eaux-de-vie's of its generation. Paradis is the realisation of a dream by its creator, Maurice Fillioux, using spirit blended by his grandfather. The tradition continues today to select spirits that will taste every bit as powerful and elegant in 4 generations time.

The cognac comes in a 750ml bottle and retails in the $800 dollar range. That has to be some really good cognac. That is way too rich for my blood. It was even rich for me when I was bartending, let alone now. But hey, if you have that kind of cash to spend on a cognac, rock on.

Anyone want to share their experiences with the Hennessy Paradis?

Until Then Happy Drinking,
SiscoVanilla
#SiscoVanilla
#SiscoVanillaAtTheMovies
#SiscoVanillaAtTheBookstore