Eve's Apple

The first cocktail I’ve made out of the Prohibition Centennial Edition is Eve’s Apple.

• 1.5 ounces Applejack
• 1.5 ounces Swedish Punsch
• 1.5 ounce fresh grapefruit juice

Combine equal parts of the ingredients in an iced cocktail shaker, strain, and serve in a cocktail glass.

In the new edition of the book there are a number of additional cocktail recipes, but many don’t have much back story, including this one. When I did a search on “Eve’s Apple Cocktail” I found a lot of references to a drink called the Eve’s Apple Daiquiri and even one from my friends over at Fair Game Beverage Co. but this one was from a 1929 book by Judge Jr.

Luckily Here’s How Again is available to browse online.

I was drawn to this recipe for several reasons, the main one being that I happen to have all the ingredients on hand and this was during a small ice storm.

Another reason was that I love recipes where the ingredients are all in equal proportions, like The Last Word and The Golden Dawn.

Finally, I think that grapefruit is underrated as a cocktail ingredient, overshadowed by lemon and lime. There are at least ten recipes in this collection that include grapefruit (including the La Floridita Daiquiri) and I tend to rate them highly.

However, due to the sheer simplicity of this recipe I wasn’t expecting to like it, but it’s lovely. It is a bit “booze forward” and my other tasters didn’t care for that, but I totally enjoyed this drink.

The good Doctor recommends Laird’s Applejack, and while I used the 80 proof there is a 100 proof version as well, which would make this cocktail even more booze forward. As he mentions in the book, the 80 proof makes the drink “less threatening” and I would have to agree.

Rating: 4/5