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Applejack fights back
Eat your heart out, Sour Appletini
By Pink Lady
del.ico.us
reddit!
On August 15th, the DeKuyper brand bottled its 5 millionth case of Pucker, a sour apple liqueur that tastes of Jolly Ranchers, looks like Ecto Cooler <1--break-->and is the key ingredient in the Sour Apple Martini. In honor of this momentous occasion, the LUPEC ladies introduce you to a different breed of apple spirit: Applejack.
Applejack, America's oldest distilled spirit, is an apple brandy that first became popular during colonial times. Laird & Company were the first commercial producers. William Laird was a Scotchmaker before crossing the pond in 1698 to settle in Monmouth County, N.J. Apples were abundantly available in the region, so he used them to keep making hooch. His descendants opened the nation's first distillery in 1780.
In the 1760s, Robert Laird served under General George Washington in the Revolutionary Army, which he kept supplied with the "cyder spirits." General Washington even borrowed the Laird's family recipe to try his own hand at distilling.
Aside from the "apple" part, Laird's Applejack has little in common with DeKuyper Pucker and drinks like whiskey with an apple-y finish. Modern Laird's Applejack is also considerably different from the colonial stuff, and blends real apple brandy with neutral grain spirit to smooth and reduce the alcohol content for our delicate modern palates.
Applejack is as American as apple pie and has been on the market 300 years longer than Pucker. We'll drink to that!
Cin-cin!
JERSEY LIGHTNING
0.75 ounce fresh lime juice
1.5 ounces Applejack
0.5 ounce sweet vermouth
Shake in iced cocktail shaker; strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
LITTLE DOES PUCKER KNOW THE SOUR APPLE MARTINI IS DEAD. TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE FUNERAL HELD IN ITS HONOR, VISIT LUPECBOSTON.BLOGSPOT.COM.
