A Day of Rosiness - Alpenglow

Brett did not turn up, so about a quarter to six I went down to the bar and had a Jack Rose with George the bar-man. Brett had not been in the bar either, and so I looked for her upstairs on my way out, and took a taxi to the Café Select. Crossing the Seine I saw a string of barges being towed empty down the current, riding high, the bargemen at the sweeps as they came toward the bridge. The river looked nice. It was always pleasant crossing bridges in Paris.

-Ernest Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises (1926)

 

 I saw this quote in Dale Degroff's Essential Cocktail, and it seemed to add the perfect connection to this cocktail. I always love retracing a literary giant's steps, and if I can somehow manage to do that while mixing a kick-ass cocktail, it's a good day. On to the Day of Rosiness...

You've made it this far. Don't stop now - finish that afternoon beer and move on towards the twilight of your day of drinking. Before it's time to get into some serious drinking later in the night.


Jack Rose
1.5 oz Applejack
.75 oz Lemon Juice
.75 oz Simple Syrup
.5 oz Grenadine Syrup

The Jack Rose is so surprisingly good it deserves its place among the cocktail greats, even though it is relatively unknown. I can't verify this, but according to Wikipedia several Washington Post writers got sloppy drunk attempting to order Jack Roses at 60 or so bars in DC. If I were those writers, I'd attempt to get an assignment researching as many cocktails as possible that way.

 I have always been a little puzzled that Applejack faded from its colonial glory. As you can see, our first president is "rumored" to have approved heartily of Laird's Apple Jack. When the alternative was Frontier Whiskey, you can imagine that he must have loved the slightly sweeter Apple-based liquor.
I have always carried a bottle of Applejack with any bar I set up, I think of its flavor addition as a welcome surprise in many cocktails. The apple finish it adds can smooth out a drink that would otherwise be too sour or have to much alcohol burn.

Other Apple Jack or Jack Rose resources:
Blog Post on Sloshed
Imbibe Article on Applejack

A Day of Rosiness - Midday Tincture

That's right, it's time for the second installment of rosy drinks to get you through the day. Hopefully your Morning Effusion has put you in a perfect place to appreciate your very own Midday Tincture:

This drink started its life as a Rosy Deacon, but quickly morphed into something different. At first taste, the Rosy Deacon is a little jarring to me. The gin and grapefruit juice certainly pair nicely, but the sloe gin is too sweet and thick in your mouth and throat. Instead of leaving you hungry for more, it almost makes you want to - gasp - clear your mouth with some water.

Rosy Deacon
3/4 oz Gin
3/4 oz Sloe Gin
1 oz Grapefruit Juice
Sugar to Taste

Rosy Deacon (Try 2)
1 oz gin
1/2 oz Sloe Gin
1 oz Grapefruit Juice
Sugar

For the second try, I went with frosting the glass with sugar rather than actually mixing any into the drink, as the original was more than a little too sweet. This one was better, but still not a cocktail I'd recommend. I liked the dryness of the grapefruit juice, but since I know I won't usually have grapefruit juice on hand, I tried out a new recipe that substitutes vermouth for the fruit juice. The result is a cocktail I could happily drink to keep me Rosy.

Rosy Layman
1 oz Gin
1/2 oz Dry Vermouth
1/2 oz Sloe Gin
1/4 oz Grenadine Syrup
Sugar

Once again, I frosted the glass with sugar, which was very successful. The Rosy Layman has a sour taste, but the sugar from the rim sweetens it up just a little bit. The combination of dry vermouth and gin are crisp enough that they cut through both the sloe and the grenadine. I was a little afraid that this would be little more than a gin martini, as the scent when I make it is very similar. That ended up being a totally unnecessary worry, and the Layman is its own beast.

Until Alpenglow, stay rosy.

A Day of Rosiness - Morning Effusion

In several parts, I would like to present to you a day's worth of cocktails that will keep you rosy. To start things off, we have the Morning Effusion, a Rosy Navel:

Morning Effusion:

Rosy Navel
4 oz Rosé Wine
1 oz Curacao
2 oz Orange Juice
Lemon-Lime Soda

Add the wine, curacao, and orange juice to a shaker half full with ice and stir languidly. Do not shake, as this will really mess up the taste from the rosé (unless you're throwing a party with this stuff and you've gone for box o' wine in which case who the hell cares if you shake it?) Pour into collins glass with some ice, then top with the soda. Garnish if you wish with a lemon wedge.

This cocktail is obviously light on liquor, which makes it perfect for an early start to the drinking day. A few glasses of this will add the requisite glow to the morning and get you ready for our Midday Tincture.