Most of us cocktail enthusiasts have a bottle of Laird's Applejack sitting around, but there are very few cocktails that use it that are actually worth making over and over. My summer issue of Imbibe Magazine had one that I will keep going back to. It's called the Newark cocktail, and it is a version of the Brooklyn cocktail. To see how the Newark comes out of the Brooklyn, let's go to the original Brooklyn.
The Progenitor Cocktail: The Brooklyn Recipe
To make a Brooklyn cocktail, combine with ice
- 1 1/2 oz rye
- 1 oz dry vermouth
- 1/2 oz maraschino liqueur
- 1/2 oz Amer Picon (or Ramazzotti)
Strain into a chilled glass. It's almost like a Manhattan with more cherry to it. It's a decent cocktail, but not something I will keep going back to. The dry vermouth and the bitter sweet stuff just don't work that well for me. Check out Oh Gosh!'s site for their description of it.
The New Newark Cocktail Recipe
The Newark cocktail is a very different beast, in my opinion. To make one, use some of the same ingredients. Combine in a glass with ice:
- 2 oz Laird's Apple Brandy (I used Applejack)
- 1 oz sweet vermouth (I use Dolin)
- 1/4 oz maraschino
- 1/4 oz Fernet-Branca
and strain into a chilled coupe.
This recipe has huge tastes of apple that work with a sweetness from the vermouth and maraschino. And then the Fernet hits, and everything changes. It makes it change from a simple apple recipe to something more like a peppermint patty. That's the closest thing I get to. If you don't believe me, check out how the Cocktail Quest describes it or how Chuck Taggert describes it. They talk about the apple that keeps drawing them back, but it's the mintiness that makes me want to keep drinking.
By the way, the drink was created by the guys at PDT in New York, but I got it from Imbibe Magazine. Trust these guys: this drink is worth having a bottle of Applejack around. Heck, you have it there anyway; now it's time to do something with it.
