Applejack Rabbit
Shake ∙ 3 min ∙ 18.2% ABV ∙
The Applejack Rabbit is a shaken sour of Calvados, fresh orange and lemon juice, and maple syrup, served up in a coupe. Baked apple and toasted maple lead, citrus keeps it from turning sweet, and the finish dries out with a faint orchard tang.
Ingredients
1
Servings
Garnish
Instructions for 1 serving
- Pre-chill a glass
- Shake all ingredients with ice: Calvados 60 mlOrange juice 20 mlLemon juice 15 mlMaple syrup 15 ml
- Fine strain into the chilled glass
- Express a lemon twist over the cocktail and use as garnish
Tips
- Let cold maple syrup come up to room temperature before measuring — straight from the fridge it clings to the jigger and under-sweetens the shake.
- Shake hard with plenty of ice for a full 12-15 seconds; maple syrup is thicker than sugar syrup and needs the agitation to integrate.
- Double-strain into the chilled coupe to catch any ice shards or syrup residue, leaving a silky, clear finish.
- Express the lemon twist's oils over the surface before dropping it in, reinforcing the citrus notes against the calvados and maple base.
History
The Applejack Rabbit is a Prohibition-era American cocktail first published in 1927 in Here's How, a cocktail guide written under the pen name Judge Jr. by Norman Hume Anthony, editor of Judge magazine. The recipe was picked up three years later by Harry Craddock, who included it as the Apple Jack Rabbit in his 1930 Savoy Cocktail Book. It appeared again in 1948 in David A. Embury's The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks, where Embury noted the drink was sometimes also called the Applejack Dynamite, without giving a reason for the alternate name. The cocktail's name points to American applejack brandy as its intended spirit, though many modern versions substitute French calvados.
