The Jersey Cocktail?

Yes, the Jersey Cocktail is a thing. Between the football playoffs, TV awards show and just being locked in the house due to the weather, this is a great time to experiment with cocktails. David Rudd, Floor Manager at Woodbridge and resident Mixologist, gives us a few ideas.

The Jersey Cocktail

William T. Boothby’s 1891 book, Cocktail Boothby’s American Bar-Tender, suggests this cocktail as a bitters, sugar and cider drink that is flavored with Applejack™ – the apple brand-based spirit that was hugely popular in the mid-Atlantic during the Colonial period.  In 1780 Laird & Co. started distilling this signature spirit in Scobeyville, NJ, where they still produce today.  Build this in a double old fashioned glass filled with cracked ice: 1 oz Applejack™, ¼ oz simple syrup, 2 dashes Fee Brothers Whiskey Barrel-Aged Bitters and Doc’s Hard Cider™ and garnish with a lemon twist.

The Seelbach Cocktail

I stayed at the Seelbach when I went to Louisville this past September, and I remember loving this cocktail. I had to look up the exact recipe, but this is a classic worth committing to memory.  I make it at home whenever I want to feel extra fancy.  In a mixing glass with ice, combine 1 oz of pre-prohibition bourbon (like Old Forrester™), ½ oz Cointreau™, 7 dashes Angostura™ bitters, 7 dashes Peychaud’s™ bitters and stir until well chilled. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass and top with chilled sparkling wine. Garnish with an orange twist.

The Pegu Club Cocktail

This popular cocktail has traveled the world and, according to Harry Craddock in The Savoy Cocktail Book (1930), it is one of the favorites of the infamous late Pegu Club in Burma.  The beauty here is in its simplicity.  Combine in an iced cocktail shaker 2oz. London Dry Gin (I like Bombay Sapphire™), ¾ oz orange curaçao, ½ oz fresh lime juice, 1 dash Angostura™ bitters, and 1 dash orange bitters and shake until well chilled.  Strain into a chilled cocktail glass and garnish with a lime twist.

                        Japanese Cocktail

This cocktail is included in the seminal manual by Jerry Thomas, How to Mix Drinks, and is likely the only of the thirteen cocktails written there that is truly a Jerry Thomas original. While there is nothing specifically Japanese about the ingredients, it was created to commemorate a visiting group of Japanese delegates in 1860. From all accounts, everyone enjoyed it. Combine 2 oz of Cognac (I like Remy Martin 1738™), ½ oz of orgeat and 3 dashes of Angostura bitters™ in a mixing glass with ice and stir. Stir until well chilled and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a lemon twist.

The Snowball

Adult snowcone, anyone? Get out your blender or food processor and grind up a bunch of ice. You want it to turn into snow. Use an ice cream scoop and form the pulverized ice into a ball shape and place it into a martini glass or cocktail glass. Meanwhile, in an iced cocktail shaker, combine 1 oz. RumpleMinze™, 1 oz Boulaine white crème de cocoa, and 2 ½ oz half and half and shake until well chilled. Strain the contents over your snowball. For a finishing touch, use a hammer to smash a candy cane inside a plastic sandwich bag to garnish over the top.