Welcome To Wonkette Happy Hour, With This Week's Cocktail, The Stone Fence!

The first American cocktail.

Greetings, Wonketteers! I’m Hooper, your bartender. One of the best things about living in Ohio is apple cider season. Fall’s falling with a thud out here in the Midwest, so let’s make a warm cider cocktail to stay toasty. Let’s make a Stone Fence. Here’s the recipe.

Stone Fence

4-5 oz. fresh apple cider

1 oz. Old Forester 100 Proof Bourbon

½ oz. raw ginger syrup

½ oz. lemon juice

1 dash Angostura bitters

Gently stir the bourbon, syrup, juice, and bitters in your drinking glass. Simmer the apple cider until it reaches the desired temperature. Add cider to the glass. Garnish with a cinnamon stick and apple slice.

Putting some liquor in your cider is an old idea. According to history, this drink quite literally kicked off the American Revolution . Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys knocked back a few of these at the local tavern before raiding Fort Ticonderoga in 1775. Historically, rum and cider were the go-to combination, but a solid bourbon adds woody, vanilla notes that embrace the cider. I also added a little ginger and lemon to the glass to deepen the flavor, but the cider absolutely deserves to be the center of attention here. It’s easy to storm a British fort after knocking back a few of these.

You can serve this either hot or cold. Warming up any cocktail takes some caution. Chilling a drink dulls some flavors and mitigates the “burn” of ethanol in a glass. Heating it does the opposite. A strong cocktail will be almost undrinkable when served warm. As a rule, most hot cocktails have no more than an ounce of liquor in them, and have a sweet base. Irish coffee and hot toddies are prime examples. Barrel-aged alcohol does well under heat. The oaky tannins become more pronounced and bring character to a drink. Nobody wants to drink hot vodka or gin. I try to add liquor and acids like lemon juice to a warm cocktail last. Heating lemon juice breaks it down, and you don’t want to cook off the alcohol from your booze.

Let’s talk ingredients:

Ingredient shot. The Stone Fence disappeared shortly after this photo was taken, along with several glasses of cider because I love the stuff. Matthew Hooper 

Fresh apple cider: If your “apple cider” is clear and isn’t made locally, just don’t bother. Good quality apple cider should be cloudy, local, and delicious. One of the few great things about living in Ohio is fresh cider season. In a pinch, hard cider might work for a chilled version of this cocktail. Mind the ABV of your cider, though. Some brands like Flannel Mouth can go as high as 6%.

Old Forester 100 Proof Bourbon: Old Forester is an excellent bourbon brand, and the 100 proof is only a dollar or two more than the 86 proof. Since we aren’t using a lot of bourbon in this glass, I want the flavor to be as intense as possible. If you don’t like bourbon, you have a lot of good alternatives. The original version of this cocktail used rum instead of bourbon. I would try a dark, caramelly rum like Hamilton 86 here. Pusser’s Rum would make you the closest version of the Green Mountain Boys’ cocktail you could get. Rye whiskey is also excellent here. Try Rittenhouse Rye to get something a little spicier and less sweet. I wouldn’t even say no to some Jack Daniels or Dewar’s Scotch in this glass – they’d be different, but still palatable. Don’t let your liquor cabinet limit you.

Raw Ginger Syrup: I’ve made a version of this before for other cocktails. My first efforts were extremely spicy, but I think I’ve nailed the recipe this time. Put 1 cup sugar in the raw, 1 cup boiling water, and 3-4 nickel sized pieces of ginger into a blender. Don’t bother peeling the ginger or mincing it. Run the blender for a minute. Strain the syrup through cheesecloth or a coffee filter into a bottle. You’ll strain out a lot of ginger chunks, but don’t worry. The syrup still has a fiery bite to it. Use sparingly in this cocktail. A little goes a long way.

Lemon juice: We need a little acid to cut the sweetness, and lime juice doesn’t cooperate with these flavors well. As with the syrup, use a light hand with this ingredient. You don’t want to overwhelm the cider.

Angostura bitters: I tried this cocktail without the bitters, and the difference is immediate. The dark, complex bitterness of Angostura grounds the cocktail and keeps it from being too sweet.

Garnishes: An apple slice and a cinnamon stick are obvious choices. A mint or rosemary sprig is also very good here, and I wouldn’t say no to a lemon twist. Toss your garnishes into the cup before drinking. The heat of the drink will make the aromatics bloom. Take a sip and fortify yourself. There’s a revolution to be had. Time for some liquid courage.

In summary and conclusion, drink well, drink often, and tip your bartender — donate to Wonkette at the link below! And if you'd like to buy some bar gear or books from Amazon, please click here! 

OPEN THREAD!