PrintTime for a Drink: Northern Spy
Let's get this weekend started right. Here's a cocktail recipe from Paul Clarke (The Cocktail Chronicles) to kick things off. Need more than one? That kinda week, eh? Here you go. Cheers!
You’ve invited the guests, selected the bird, and you’re about to raid the farmer’s markets and a battery of different stores in preparation for the big event. And what’s the first thing you're going to hand your guests when they arrive?
If your first thought is to go with what’s safe and familiar, and offer the same selection of drinks to your guests that you do every time you see them, you’re certainly not alone. At a time when the American palate is expanding and the Thanksgiving table is increasingly a mix of the traditional and the innovative, our approach to drinks is still fairly conservative. Sure, you may brighten things up by splashing cranberry or pomegranate juice into a glass of Champagne, but there’s an argument to be made for kicking off the festivities with a glass of something none of your guests have ever had before, a drink crafted especially with the flavors of the holiday in mind.
Consider the Northern Spy. Created by Josey Packard—a bartender at Alembic, one of the leading establishments in San Francisco’s creative bar scene—the Northern Spy is an exceptional cocktail that I hesitate to refer to as a Thanksgiving drink, if for no other reason than I think it’s a fine tipple for any time of the season. Constructed with the bright flavor of applejack (New Jersey’s native spirit) matched with fresh apple cider and the fruity sweetness of apricot brandy, the Northern Spy will get the holiday conversation rolling faster than any old reliable glass of scotch or chardonnay.
This is what Packard says she serves to her family on Thanksgiving, and this year, it’ll be what I serve to mine. If you decide to mix a round of Northern Spies for your gathering, be sure to let us know how it works out.
Northern Spy
Created by Josey Packard, bartender at Alembic in San Francisco.
Ingredients
2 ounces applejack
1 ounce fresh apple cider
1/2 ounce fresh lemon juice
1/4-1/2 ounce apricot brandy, to taste
Procedure
Rub a lemon wedge around the rim of a cocktail glass, then dip the rim in a saucer of cinnamon sugar; shake off excess and chill. Pour ingredients into a cocktail shaker, fill with ice and shake well for 10 seconds and strain into prepared glasses; garnish with a cranberry or a dried apricot, if you like.
Optional: To make the drink a little more plush, top each glass with an ounce of chilled brut champagne (you may wish to add a bit more apricot brandy to compensate for the Champagne’s acidity).
About the author: Paul Clarke blogs about cocktails at The Cocktail Chronicles and writes regularly on spirits and cocktails for Imbibe magazine. He lives in Seattle, where he works as a writer and magazine editor.
View other entries from Cocktail Concoctions.
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3 Comments:
Why does the picture show a bottle of apple brandy instead of applejack?
Brien at 7:57AM on 11/17/07
josey packard? are you kidding me?? did she burn down the saw mill or what?
goodbyeohio at 8:20AM on 11/17/07
Brien -- got me!
Actually, until somewhat recently "applejack" and "apple brandy" were the same thing; it wasn't until the 1970s that Laird's began mixing neutral spirits into their applejack, to create a lighter flavored product.
I recently picked up this bottle of Clear Creek Apple Brandy -- aged only two years, as compared to their 8-year-old Eau de Vie de Pomme -- and on the spur of the moment decided to give it a try in this drink. It works very well -- the apple brandy still has a little fire to it due to its youth, and has a brighter apple flavor than the applejack, which tastes more like a fruity whiskey.
For most applejack cocktails I've taken to using Laird's 100-proof Apple Brandy, since that's closest to the product that was available pre-1970s, when applejack played more prominence in the bar room. It's a little more mellow than the Clear Creek Apple Brandy, and makes a richer-flavored cocktail than the Laird's applejack. But this Clear Creek brandy should prove interesting, and it's absolutely delicious in the Northern Spy.
Paul Clarke at 7:45PM on 11/17/07