To wind down after a long day of Easter festivities, I wanted to relax with a cocktail. I thought about what to make as I watched Fraulein Maria calm the nerves of the von Trapp children by singing about her favorite things…Raindrops on rose and whiskers on kittens. Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens…
Now, my favorite things aren’t quite the same as what Julie Andrews sings about (although I do think silver white winters that melt into spring are beautiful), but she’s got a point: When the dog bites, when the bee stings, when I’m feeling sad, I simply remember my favorite things and then I don’t feel so bad.
I actually had a pretty great day with my family, so I didn’t need to remember my favorite things to make me feel better. Instead, I was looking for the perfect ending to a really nice day. So, in that spirit, I mixed up one of my favorite cocktails…the Jack Rose. I never get tired of this wonderful drink. And I have found that it’s quite a popular crowd pleaser.
The Jack Rose is a classic cocktail that contains applejack, grenadine, and lemon or lime juice. While there a few colorful stories about how this drink came to be and how it got its name, what’s probably closest to the truth is that the name comes from the spirit—applejack—and the rose color from the grenadine. I am not the only one who loves and appreciates the Jack Rose. In Ernest Hemingway’s 1926, The Sun Also Rises, the narrator, Jack Barnes, drinks a Jack Rose in a Paris hotel bar. David Embury cites it as one of the six basic cocktails in The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks (1948). Even Rachel Maddow loves this cocktail.
Jack Rose
1 ½ oz applejack
½ oz homemade grenadine
½ oz lemon or lime juice
a couple dashes of Peychaud’s bitters (Optional—not in the original recipe, but a couple of my favorite bars include it.)
The homemade grenadine is a necessity for this drink, and for any cocktail that calls for it, for that matter. The stuff you may remember from Shirley Temples is, in my opinion, unacceptable—if that makes me a cocktail snob, hey, so be it. Making grenadine is SO easy. Combine equal parts sugar and pure pomegranate juice (grenadine comes from the French word grenade which means pomegranate) in a jar with a tight cap and shake. No need to heat—just shake and let the sugar and pomegranate juice do their thing and transform into a beautifully sweet-tart grenadine.
So, whether its door bells and sleigh bells and schnitzel with noodles or a Jack Rose, remember it’s always a good time to enjoy your favorite things. Cheers!
7 comments
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April 9, 2010 at 12:06 am
laura
love the jack rose. Jackson cannon has a good video for homemade grenadine. He does heat his up, but it is super easy.
http://plus1tv.com/food/barcraft-in-the-kitchen/
April 9, 2010 at 3:38 am
Jenn
Laura, Thanks for this video link. Love ES!
To heat or not to heat? That is the question. My Drink bartender-friends promote cold methods. I think they are geniuses and just shaking in a jar is so much easier, so I go that route. But you’re right, the heated methods aren’t much more complicated.
Cheers!
April 12, 2010 at 11:20 am
latinaHotGirl
Good post!
April 14, 2010 at 4:58 pm
Dave in the basement
I have only made the heated version of grenadine, and boy does my stuff ever sink to the bottom of the glass. It is like tossing a red marble in there! Does your cold process grenadine perform similarly?
I haven’t tried a Jack Rose yet, but that sounds like a good reason to rediscover my bottle of Applejack.
Dave
April 16, 2010 at 1:42 am
laura
oh man … Drink does a cold grenadine? they are geniuses. i have no idea what to think now.
great blog btw.
April 17, 2010 at 12:37 am
Jenn
Dave– I have never had that problem with my grenadine. Are you shaking your drinks vigorously??? Can’t really think why that would be happening …hmmm….
April 22, 2010 at 1:59 pm
Dave in the basement
Hi Jenn! Oh yeah, the grenadine mixes just fine when I shake drinks, it only acts as an anchor when I add it as an “effect” to the drink. Hopefully there aren’t many drinks that call for a grenadine float. LOL 🙂
Dave