Another Cocktail Blog, Another Brooklyn Variation - The Constable Hook
Okay, here we go... First blog, first post... I'll try to write up an "About Me" post soon with a little more background on my motivations for this blog, but for now, here's the short-ish version, along with a drink recipe I recently created...
Nearly a year ago, at the age of 37, I discovered I like well-crafted cocktails. Having been served plenty of crappy mixed drinks over the years, I'd pretty much been a beer & wine guy... Then a bartender friend of mine made me a proper Manhattan. Holy crap, I like whiskey?! Who knew?
I was hooked. And curious; if I like whiskey, what else might I like? And what else can I make with these bottles of bourbon, vermouth and bitters I was just compelled to purchase? What should I buy next?... My answer came from a fantastic source. At an antique store, I happened across a copy of the Esquire Drink Book from the 1950s. It very quickly became my copy of the Esquire Drink Book from the 1950s. Flipping through this magical tome's recipes, I was immediately fascinated by the (alphabetically) first spirit I came across: Applejack... I like apples! And apparently, I like booze! I must try this stuff!... Suffice to say, it has become one of my favorites. But I also still dig the whiskey. My success with bourbon led to curiosity (and a subsequent love affair) with rye.
Which brings me back to the point of this post. The Red Hook is a delicious variation on the Brooklyn (itself a variation on the Manhattan)... But the other day, I noticed how full my Laird's bottle was compared to my nearly-empty Bulleit Rye bottle... I wonder...
The Constable Hook
2 oz. Applejack (Laird's Old Apple Brandy)
3/4 oz. Punt E Mes
1/2 oz. Maraschino Liqueur
Garnish with a Lemon Twist
Stir well with ice in a mixing glass and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Twist lemon peel over drink, rim glass with peel and drop in.
Applejack is a bit sweeter and less complex (even the aged stuff) than rye, so I upped the Punt E Mes a bit from the original Red Hook recipe to combat this. The name pays homage to applejack's New Jersey roots. Basically, I looked up Brooklyn on Google Maps and scanned across the bay for a suitable neighborhood name. Lo and behold, almost directly west of Red Hook, in Bayonne, NJ, is the Constable Hook neighborhood. Ah, sweet serendipity!
EDIT/UPDATE: Much like my Aperol post, I've recently discovered a similar recipe by hot-shot New York bartenders. Thanks to Imbibe Magazine, here's the Newark, by Jim Meehan & John Deragon of PDT. I'll be trying it as soon as I pick up a bottle of Fernet Branca.