Dead or Alive: The Sour Apple Martini

On August 15, the DeKuyper(R) brand announced the bottling of its five millionth case of DeKuyper Pucker(R) Sour Apple, the neon green key ingredient in that “iconic” cocktail, the Appletini. Little did they know that to leading mixologists and cocktail aficionados , the Sour Apple Martini is officially dead.

The Sour Apple Martini was declared officially deceased on July 19th at the Tales of the Cocktail Festival in New Orleans, nearly a month prior to the DeKuyper(R) brand’s announcement. A traditional New Orleans style Jazz Funeral was held in the drink’s honor. Covering the event for the Tales of the Cocktail blog, Cocktailnerd Gabriel Szaszko writes:

There was brilliant and uplifting music played in a classic jazz funeral style and a well-attended processional of the casket with Robert Hess in the vanguard...After the processional attendees were invited to enjoy drinks and scantily clad ladies in Cafe Giovanni where a “Bartender’s Breakfast” was held. Unfortunately, the talented ladies likely couldn’t be seen due to the number of celebrants trying to get a real, true, non-floor polish-infused, drink from the veteran and highly regarded bartenders. There was also dancing in the street; it was very Martha and the Vandellas.

Complete coverage of the funeral event can be found here and here. DeKuper’s release can be read here.

Now, why don’t you hunker down with a bottle of applejack and celebrate the great Sour Apple Martini debate with a drink? The blended stuff you’re most likely to find on local shelves is delicious in the following drink. If you have friends or family in Jersey, ask them to help you procure a bottle of Laird’s Old Apple Brandy, which it bills as the “original historic Applejack”, or the older still 12 Year Old Rare Apple Brandy (which you can read up on here.) My mother is traveling in the region as we speak, and was perfectly happy to be my mule. As we all know, a family that drinks together stays together.

The Jack Rose

2 oz Laird’s Applejack
3/4 oz fresh grenadine
1/2 oz fresh-squeezed lemon juice

Shake with ice, strain into a cocktail glass, garnish with a lemon twist.

The Pink Lady Cocktail

by Pink Lady

Hopefully you all caught the debut of the LUPEC Boston column in this week's issue of The Weekly Dig. As promised, here's a little more info on our favorite recipe for the Pink Lady, and a few notes on why I thought it an appropriate choice as the very first cocktail for our very first Dig column.

At first glance The Pink Lady appears to bear all the trappings of a "girly" drink - a feminine name, an approachable frothiness, a pastel hue. But the Pink Lady is no drink for the faint of heart: its tart-dry flavor is a far cry from the cloyingly sweet "girly" cocktails we're wary of in this modern era of drinking. And its boozy gin & apple brandy base packs a whallop. As Eric Felten wrote in his Wall Street Journal column on the topic, "though a tasty drink worthy of inclusion in the cocktail canon, the Pink Lady has found its reputation dogged by association with a dubious aesthetic." It is a cocktail that is easily underestimated. After enjoying one or two of these, though, I'm sure you'll agree: ladylike as she is, the Pink Lady kicks ass and takes names. She's a LUPEC kind of gal. Our favorite recipe is below:

Pink Lady Cocktail

1-1/2 oz gin
1/2 oz applejack
1/2 oz fresh lemon juice
1/2 oz grenadine (preferably homemade)
1 egg white

Combine ingredients in a shaker and shake vigorously without ice.
Add ice; shake continue vigorous shaking.
Strain into your favorite vintage cocktail glass.

There are two classic cocktail lessons inherent in the making of a Pink Lady:

Lesson #1: Quality of ingredients: your drinks will only taste as good as the stuff you use to make them. Most of the cocktails the ladies of LUPEC Boston are intent on reviving were invented in the days before preservatives kept juices intact for weeks on end. When trying them out at home, you too should use the freshest ingredients you can find. For the Pink Lady you'll need fresh lemons and we highly recommend using homemade grenadine: the flavor is leaps and bounds beyond the stuff you can buy in a bottle, and it's really simple to make. Hanky Panky's recipe is below.

Grenadine

Combine equal parts pomegranate juice (Pom, par example) and sugar in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium high heat. Reduce the heat and simmer for 7 minutes. Remove from heat and add 1 tsp orange flower water for every 1/2 cup pomegranate juice used. Cool.

Lesson #2: Eggs in cocktails: We know, we know. The whole "egg thing" is a really weird concept for many classic cocktail novices, but I promise you, your trip down classic cocktail lane won't be nearly as fulfilling if you can't get over it. As you cozy up to the raw-egg-in-a-drink idea, ask yourself: when is the last time you ever heard of someone in America actually getting salmonella? And if I offered you a taste of delicious raw batter from the cookies I've just whipped up, would you decline? I thought not. If you're still having doubts, check out this recent article in the New York Times: see, eggs are HUGE in New York.

Once you're ready to take the egg plunge, get your biceps ready. For egg cocktails to reach the delicious, frothy state that is their hallmark, you've got to shake the bejesus out of them. First, however, the egg white must be emulsified, hence the instruction to combine all ingredients in your shaker and give 'em a good shake BEFORE adding ice. A very insightful post on the topic can be found on the Robert Huegel's Explore the Pour blog: the author advocates shaking ingredients ten times, then add just slightly more ice than the amount of standing liquid in your shaker.

After adding ice, shake...and shake...and shake...and shake your Pink Lady, remembering all the while that egg cocktails take time -- a LONG time -- but once they are perfect and complete in your cocktail glass, just seconds from slipping down your throat, they are oh so worth the labor and the wait.

Like anything worth doing, really.

Cin-cin!

Pink Lady photo borrowed from the Thinking of Drinking blog.

March is Women's History Month!

March is Women's History Month and the ladies of LUPEC Boston could not be more thrilled!

Thru March 31st we'll be offering you as many reasons to raise a glass to unsung women in history as this group of ambitious, classic cocktail-obsessed broads can cobble together...while maintaining our full-time jobs and going about the general day-to-day business of dismantling the patriarchy one drink at a time, that is. Get your cocktail shakers primed!

We'll also be celebrating with a "Ladies Night" Party at Toro on Sunday, March 30th! Stay tuned for more details...

Let's start the month off with a Liberty Cocktail, in honor of each and every one of the women we'll celebrate in the month to come...and ambitious women everywhere!

Liberty Cocktail

1 dash simple syrup
1/3 rum
2/3 Applejack

Stir with ice and strain. Serve in a cocktail glass.

Salut!

the Ladies of LUPEC on CHET CURTIS

Don't miss LUPEC Boston's own Lauren Clark on THE CHET CURTIS REPORT

Tomorrow night Lauren Clark,
LUPEC Boston member and founder of Drinkboston.com,
will appear on the 'CHET CURTIS REPORT' on NECN!

Lauren will chat with Chet about all things LUPEC, and
teach viewers how to make a classic cocktail that's bound to wow the entire family this Thanksgiving.

Tune in Friday, November 16th @ 8 p.m. ET on NECN!

The Speed Queen

On this day in 1953, Jacqueline Cochran became the first woman to break the sound barrier. Piloting a Canadair F-86 Sabre that she had borrowed from the Royal Canadian Air Force, Jacqueline took off from Rogers Dry Lake, California and flew at an average speed of 652.337 miles per hour.

Cochran's career in aviation began in the 1930's after a friend offered her a ride in an aircraft. While she ran a cosmetics business, Jacqueline began flying lessons at Roosevelt Airfield in Long Island and learned to fly in three weeks. A natural, she earned her commercial pilot's license in two years. Her husband, Floyd Bostwick Odium, was a savvy businessman and saw the commercial opportunities for her and her cosmetics company. Jacqueline named her company "Wings" and began flying around the country in her aircraft promoting her products.

Cochran flew in her first major race in 1934. From that point on she worked with Amelia Earhart in opening races and the field of aviation to women. In 1937 Cochran was the only woman to compete in the prestigious Bendix race. By 1938 she was the preeminent woman pilot in the United States having won the Bendix and set new altitude and transcontinental speed records.

After America entered WWII in 1942, Jacqueline became head of the women's flight training program for the States. As director of the Women's Airforce Service Pilots (WASP), Cochran trained over 1000 female pilots. For her efforts in WWII she received the Distinguished Service Medal and the Distinguished Flying Cross.

Jacqueline Cochran died in 1980 at her home in Indio, California. At the time of her death, Cochran held the most speed, distance and altitude records of any pilot, man or woman, in aviation history.

And now a toast to Jacqueline Cochran!

BLUE SKIES
1 oz Applejack
1 oz Gin
.5 oz Lemon Juice
.25 oz Simple Syrup
1 or dashes grenadine
Shake with cracked ice and strain into your favorite vintage cocktail glass!