Le Jack Rose

Like many cocktails, the origin of the Jack Rose is quite murky.

It was a very popular cocktail in the 1920s and 1930s. It is mentioned in one of Ernest Hemingway's novels, The Sun Also Rises, in a scene where Jake Barnes, the narrator, drinks a Jack Rose at the bar of a Parisian hotel. The name may come from the hitman Jack Rose (to whom its paternity is sometimes attributed). It has also been suggested that the Jack Rose was invented by Joseph P. Rose, a restaurateur in Newark, and named by him, 'in honor' of a defense lawyer during a trial held at the courthouse in that city.

The first time I drank a Jack Rose was at the FCCC bar in Phnom Penh. I'm not sure the Calvados really came from Normandy but it was pleasant to drink in the cool of the night with the view of the Tonle Sap river. The original recipe is a short drink with only Calvados, lemon juice, and grenadine.

At the BrewPub, I lengthen it with apple juice, which works perfectly.

Recipe:

• 5cl of Calvados
• 2.5cl of lemon juice
• 2.5cl of grenadine
• 10cl of apple juice

Put in a shaker with ice. Shake. Serve in a cocktail glass.

I also offer a variation by replacing the grenadine with Monin's Spicy Flavors syrup: The Spice Jack Rose.

Enjoy!