Jack Rose
Apple brandy, lemon and grenadine shaken and served up. A rosy pink American classic from the early 1900s.
- MethodShaken
- GlassCoupe
- IceNone (served up)
- Strengthabout 17.7% ABV
- BaseBrandy
- Tastefruity, sour
Recipe
| 60 ml 2 oz | Apple brandy (applejack or calvados) |
| 22.5 ml ¾ oz | Fresh lemon juice or Fresh lime juice |
| 15 ml ½ oz | Grenadine (pomegranate syrup) |
Garnish. A lemon twist, or a thin slice of apple floated on the surface.
Method
- Chill a coupe.
- Shake the apple brandy, lemon juice and grenadine hard with ice for 12 to 15 seconds.
- Double strain into the coupe.
- Garnish with a lemon twist.
About the Jack Rose
The Jack Rose is a sour made with apple brandy and sweetened with grenadine, which gives it a soft pink colour and a tart red-fruit note. The apple comes through clearly, dry and orchard-fresh. It depends on real pomegranate grenadine; a bright artificial syrup makes it taste of sweets.
History
Earliest record 1905: National Police Gazette (mention, crediting Frank J. May)
Documented
The drink was known in New York by the early 1900s. In 1905 the National Police Gazette named a Jersey City bartender, Frank J. May, whose nickname was Jack Rose, as its creator. An early recipe appears in Jack's Manual (1908) by Jacob Abraham Grohusko, and the drink appears in Hemingway's novel The Sun Also Rises (1926), ordered in a Paris bar. The "jack" in the name is usually taken to refer to applejack, the American apple brandy.
Legend and lore
A story that it was named after "Bald Jack" Rose, a gambler involved in a notorious 1912 New York murder case, cannot be right, because the drink was already well known years earlier. Another theory links the name to the Jacqueminot rose and its colour; that remains a guess.
Disputed or unclear: Mentions of the drink may go back to 1899; the 1905 Police Gazette item is the earliest firm reference used here.
Variations
- With lime. Some early recipes use lime, or a mix of lime and lemon; a little sharper.
- Daiquiri. The same simple sour structure, with rum, lime and sugar.
- Clover Club. Gin, lemon, raspberry and egg white: another pink pre-Prohibition sour.
Bartender's notes
- Bottled-in-bond applejack or a young calvados both work; the stronger the apple flavour, the better.
- Make grenadine by dissolving sugar in pomegranate juice 1:1; it keeps a couple of weeks in the fridge.
