Star Cocktail
Recipe:
- 60ml apple brandy
- 22.5ml sweet vermouth
- 1 bsp simple syrup or demerara syrup
- 2 dashes Angostura bitters
Stir everything on ice until sufficiently chilled, strain into a prechilled coupe or Nick & Nora glass, garnish with a lemon zest.
A really great and completely unjustly unknown vintage drink. Less a showcase for great apple brandy or calvados and rather for the vermouth, which finds a great partnership here. The first mention of the drink is almost as old as its relative, the Manhattan. The relative unfamiliarity is probably more due to the (at least in Europe) little-used base spirit, because otherwise it really hits a tasty compromise of easy drinking, yet slightly spicy and fruity.
In the nose fresh, zesty citrus notes, vinous hints, pickled cherries and fresh plums, nutty and behind that discreet baked apple. Taking a sip, you will immediately get the vermouth in front, red wine, then nice overripe apple, already mushy, freshly baked from the oven, sprinkled with cinnamon, hazelnuts, wormwood, sage and fennel, sour cherries are there and very fleshy raisins, still slightly acidic, hint of allspice and oaky tones. It lingers for a long time, even now writing this 20 minutes later, this note of apple and spiced red wine.
As I said rather a vermouth showcase and that even though I used the already full-bodied Laird's Straight Apple Brandy, I would advise against too delicate calvados, if you want to use one, choose one with power. I also used demerara syrup, in my opinion it makes more sense here, suited the apple & worked well.
Source: TuxedoNo2 , originally from "Modern American Drinks" (1895) by George Kappeler
