Jack Rose

If Applejack isn’t readily available for you, you can try subbing it for Calvados. However, if you choose to do so, keep in mind that Calvados often has pears as well as apples when it is made. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it will just lead to a different drink than one using Applejack. If there is another type of Apple brandy available to you, then that would also work as a substitution.

This cocktail is made with either lemon or lime. Both yield different results – the lime is sharper and will feel more tart than lemon does. Hugo Enslinn, in his 1917 book Recipe’s for Mixed Drinks, uses ½ lemon juice and ½ lime juice in his recipe for an Applejack Sour.

This cocktail is from the early 1900s, and as it is common with recipes that go back over a hundred years, the history behind them is debated.

One story says that it was invented by Frank J. May from New Jersey. A 1905 newspaper attributes him with the creation of the drink and notes that his nickname is Jack Rose (Although it’s not specified which came first; did he already have the nickname Jack Rose, or was he nicknamed Jack Rose after the popularity of the drink?).

It is very possible that this cocktail is simply called Jack Rose because of the use of applejack and a reference to the color of the drink. 

One story says that the drink is named after ‘Baldy’ Jack Rose, a mobster whose favorite drink involved applejack, lemon juice and grenadine. He was involved in the shooting of Herman ‘Beansy’ Rosenthal in 1912, who owned illegal gambling establishments and later confessed to the police.

Interestingly, a brand of small cigars sold around the same time called Jack Rose (which may or may not be related to the drink’s name), started being called “squealers” following the Rosenthal case (he squealed to the police).

According to a 1913’s newspaper in Arizona, the shooting actually negatively impacted the sales of this cocktail.

Applejack, made in the US, gets its name from the technique in which it was produced: Jacking. This involves freezing the fermented cider during the winter and then removing the ice (effectively separating the water from the alcohol). This process is no longer used nowadays as it produces methanol, which can lead to blindness.