Episode 25 - An Apple a Day - Cocktails with Applejack and Calvados

They say that an apple a day keeps the doctor away.  The same should be said for TWO apple cocktails a day!  In this episode the Gentlemen of Elegant Leisure make and taste two classic cocktails featuring Applejack and Calvados and Dave spills a drink live on the air!

First up is a trip to France to sample Calvados.  It’s first known distillation dates back to 1553.  Apples are turned into cider and then the cider is distilled into an eau de vie.  This is then aged for two years in oak casks.  Then, and only then, can it be Calvados.  Sometimes they age it even longer to make it even smoother.  We thought we would try it out in it’s namesake cocktail, The Calvados Cocktail.  Dr. Cocktail, Ted Haigh, has a recipe for it in Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails.  Let’s give it a whirl.

The Calvados Cocktail

1 1/2 ounces Calvados
1 1/2 ounces orange juice
3/4 ounce Cointreau
3/4 ounce orange bitters

Shake in an iced cocktail shaker and strain into a cocktail glass.  garnish with an orange wheel.

Check out that crazy amount of orange bitters!  In fact, check out the crazy amount of orange everything!  For an apple brandy cocktail, there is a helluva lot of orange in this drink.  It works though.  Tastes like 1930 which was when this drink was first published in the Savoy Cocktail Book.  Get yourself a copy and make this drink!

Laird’s Applejack dates back to 1698!  Almost 100 years later, George Washington was given the recipe by the founder’s grandson.  This is an old, old beverage and one that everyone should be trying in a cocktail.  In fact, why don’t you try it right now in a Jack Rose Cocktail?  This is how we found it in Ted Haigh’s book Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails.

The Jack Rose Cocktail

1 1/2 ounces applejack
juice of 1/2 a lime (or lemon about 1 ounce)
2 or more dashes of real pomegranate grenadine

Shake in an iced cocktail shaker and strain into a cocktail glass.  Garnish with a lime (or lemon) wedge

Mmmmm, mmmmm!  Love that tangy lime playing with that zingy applejack.  And just when you think it’s too tart, the grenadine comes along and pulls it back from the brink.

What do you think of the two drinks?  Leave a comment below!