Drink Matron

Super Bowl Sunday

Drink Matron — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 20:38:08 +0000

Hey! It’s Super Bowl Sunday! What are you plans? What are you drinking? Where you going? Who you hoping to win?

Rose Bowl Celebrations

Drink Matron — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 23:54:37 +0000

How are you celebrating the Rose Bowl? Who are you rooting for – Wisconsin or Oregon?

Dashed dreams of applejack

Drink Matron — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 17:55:27 +0000

For a while now, we’ve been planning on scrapping the advice I give in my “Applejack: America’s forgotten liquor” article and seeing if we can freeze distillate our very own batch of tasty applejack. We talked on end about it last winter and did nothing, and now that we’ve got a batch of hard cider yeasting away in our dining room, the cold temps of winters past seem to have forgotten us, leaving no hope for any naughty illegal spirits brewing on the back deck.

There’s always next year, I suppose. Or maybe February…

Applejack – America’s Forgotten Liquor

Drink Matron — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 16:53:03 +0000

Until the recent surge in mixing classic cocktails, Applejack had become a forgotten gem of America’s drinking culture. Surprisingly, however, this liquor plays part in some of our most traditional drinks.

Finding new cocktails to try is something that has always intrigued me. Mixing standard liquors with odd washes like guava juice was a great way for me to find what I like and don’t like and has given me the ability to offer the best advice to those who are looking for a new taste.

But I’d never heard of applejack. At least, I’d never heard of the liquor called applejack. I had, of course, heard of the combination of apple schnapps and Jack Daniels that made my friends and me pucker our lips and shake out the dry whiskey taste. But the two are far from the same.

The first time I heard of applejack was when I received a comment from a reader who was offended that I would use apple schnapps in anything, and recommended that I try the old spirit by mixing up a classic Jack Rose. After that, I kept running into the booze in my readings and conversations. So I decided it was time to learn a little bit about this old colonial favorite.

Freeze Distillation

Applejack is traditionally made from concentrating hard cider by a method of freeze distillation. Freeze distillation is a process of concentrating the alcohol in a fermented beverage by freezing it, then removing the frozen material. Because water freezes before the alcohol, the more the beverage is frozen, the more water is removed, leaving a higher concentration of alcohol when the freezing process is complete.

The drink tastes strongly of apples (due to the cider), and because jacking is a term used for freeze distillation, the liquor was named applejack. Because of the possible dangers of freeze distillation, this process has become less popular and is illegal in many countries. You must have a license to use this process, so please do not try it at home.

The Origin of Applejack

It seems that applejack was discovered by accident. In the 17th century, northern American farmers would leave their hard cider outside during the winter months to keep it cold. Any liquid that froze was removed, leaving a more potent blend behind. Once this became apparent, people began collecting apples and creating their own.

Applejack Cocktail Recipes

Jack Rose

The original applejack cocktail.

1 1/2 oz Applejack,
1/2 oz Grenadine,
The Juice of 1/2 Lime

Fill a shaker over half full of ice and pour in the ingredients. Shake vigorously and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

Applecart

Don’t upset it.

1 1/2 oz Applejack
1 oz Triple Sec
1/2 oz Lemon juice

Combine ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake well and strain into chilled cocktail glass.

Widow’s Kiss

1 1/2 oz Applejack
1/2 oz Chartreuse Green
3/4 oz Benedictine Liqueur
2 Dashes of Bitters

Stir with small amount of ice and strain into a champagne glass. Garnish with a cherry.

Happy New Year!

Drink Matron — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 16:43:25 +0000

It’s New Year’s Eve and it’s time to CELEBRATE! Tonight we’ll be drinking a variety of beers at one of our favorite local joints, and ringing in the new year in style! What are you up to? How will you celebrate the coming of the infamous 2012?!
Tell us! Email newyears@drinkmatron.com, comment here, post on our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/drinkmatron or tweet us @drinkmatron. We look forward to seeing what you’re up to!
Remember that if you’re drinking tonight, be safe, know your limits and NEVER drink and drive!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Before we eat, we drink and eat…Bloodies!

Drink Matron — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 04:32:30 +0000

Yes, we do have pint glasses with our names on them, courtesy of my awesomely creative sister, Becky, and her wedding.

Good Morning and Happy Thanksgiving!

Drink Matron — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 17:15:46 +0000

Mimosas – start your turkey day out right.

What are YOU drinking this Thanksgiving?

Drink Matron — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 20:35:43 +0000

Well, it’s that time of year again. The trees are nearly bare, the snow is ready to (or already has) come down, and in one week we’ll be sitting around our tables eating lots of turkey and pumpkin pie.

But what do we drink on this day of thanks? I like to start my day with a bloody mary and go from there, but there’s got to be some excellent Thanksgiving themed cocktails, punches and beers that my readers look forward to.

So, you tell me – what are you planning on drinking this Thanksgiving? Comment here or send your recipes/pics to thanksgiving@drinkmatron.com. Together we’ll have a great boozey Thanksgiving!

Cheers,

Jess

Guest Post: Erik Nabler of Liquor Locusts reviews Hornsby’s “Crisp” Apple Cider

Drink Matron — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 16:50:19 +0000

In the Spring a young man’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love. As Tennyson, or somebody, so wisely said. However, in the fall, it turns to thoughts of drink. For, as the days get shorter, moods get darker, what is there to console us but the sweet kiss of C2H5OH. In other words, drink sustains us through the dark of winter.

And to hold on to what we can of the summer and the fall, what better to drink than Apple Cider. Not the zero proof alcohol of our youth (although I am reminded of the best apple cider ever during my childhood where it had, unbeknownst to Mom, fermented-dang I was a happy kid for a bit) but the hard cider of our bitter, older years.

So, when the Drink Matron kindly allowed me to put up a review of hard cider, I had to think hard about what to review. I thought at first of Blackthorn Dry, my favorite widely available cider. Then, as I was driving home, I realized that I did not have a bottle of it in the house, I did not want to stop at too many stores on the way home, so I am reviewing Hornsby’s Crisp Apple Cider. Sometimes you review what is there.

So, what we find with Hornsby’s first off, is that it is priced right. On sale, in California, you can often find it for $6.99 per sixer, sometimes less. Good price for cider. The cider itself is decent. It is sweet, with a pronounced apple flavor, and simple. There is no complexity here, nor is it dry, which I tend to like. It is good in hot weather, and decent in cold. It has just a bit of “snap” to it, which can justify the “crisp” title as opposed to the Hornsby Amber. This is a cider that would go very well with cheddar cheese, or could be superb with a Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich, if that is how you roll.

As my better half so rightly put it – This is a really good juice box with kick.

To summarize, this is very drinkable for the price. If you want a different experience, get the dry Blackthorn, but that is for another review, perhaps tomorrow.

Erik Nabler is a blogger who writes about booze at Liquorlocusts.com. As noted, he dispenses “Cynicism, bitterness, and drink. ” Self medication has become a way of life for him and his 52 cats. Please visit the site any time and make pity comments. Erik loves pith.

Drinkmatron Labs: Hard Cider

Adrian Hannah — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 21:21:07 +0000

When it comes to homebrewing, the absolute easiest thing you can make is hard cider. In this day and age where apple cider is readily available from apple orchards all over (or from a grocery store if you have to), you can get a batch fermenting in 5 minutes. A lot of apple orchards sell freshly pressed apple cider without any preservatives added and ideally this is the cider you want to use.

The preservatives added to juice is called potassium sorbate, and its only job in the world is to prevent yeast from reproducing. Just in case any wild yeast makes its way into your cider, it won’t ferment so quickly and the cider will “last” longer. It can’t stop the yeast from fermenting the sugars in the cider, it just stops them from being able to multiply.

So you want to avoid cider with preservatives. If you don’t live anywhere near an orchard that sells preservative-free cider, fear not, because you can still make it work. You just need more yeast. The orchard I went to only sold cider with preservatives so I had to go this route.

To make cider, you need:

* Cider
* Yeast (any brewing yeast, you can find it at your local home brew store or most Co-Ops)

Put the cider in some kind of container that you can ferment it in. The jug it came in will work fine as long as you can put together some sort of airlock system in it to prevent contaminants from getting in and the bottle from getting pressurized. Add the yeast to the cider. Wait for several months. If you want it carbonated, mix a little table sugar in with the cider and place in pressurized bottles (like old pop bottles).

If you’re like me and are using cider with potassium sorbate, you need more than just a packet of yeast. Since it won’t multiply, you need to start with all the yeast possible. I used three packets of champagne yeast. On top of that, I made a yeast starter using some briess dry malt extract and yeast nutrient to get the yeast amped up and ready to ferment my cider.

Now it’s just a waiting game for some tasty, tasty hard cider.

** Note: In Co-Op’s and grocery stores you will find a product called “Brewer’s Yeast.” This is not what you want to use, this is dead yeast that won’t activate or ferment.