applejack

50 Shots of America–Oregon

Sips
The Oregon Trail

The Oregon Trail

For the longest time I thought Oregon was more inland… somewhere more in the Idaho area, for some reason. I just couldn’t imagine it on the coast. At least I didn’t think it was an island, right?

What I *was* fairly sure of was that lots of people traveled to Oregon in the wagoneering days of the mid-1800s (back when you could die from a broken arm–way to scare kids, folks!). This knowledge came from the old computer game The Oregon Trail where you had to safely get your family from point A to point B in 200 or so days with very little money (even by the standards of the time) and a whole passel of children who liked to wander off as well as being accident-prone.

I got a refresher on this game when I found it on my cell phone. It’s been updated somewhat–more activities requiring coordination rather than just guess-work problem solving skills, but it’s still the same game I remember playing during “College for Kids” (gifted program in elementary school: one day a week we’d go to a college campus and get to take special, fun classes, like programming the triangular “turtle” of an Apple IIc to make pretty pictures on the screen).

But I digress.

Despite my earlier misconceptions, Oregon is actually on the West Coast of the US and became our 33rd state on February 14, 1859. Man, can you imagine the other states’ reactions?

“You gave Oregon statehood for Valentine’s Day, what did you get me? A lousy tax break? Harumph!”

But I digress. Again.

Let’s just get to the drink, shall we?

The Oregon Trail

1/2 oz Hazelnut Liqueur
1/2 oz Apple Brandy
1 oz Cola

Combine alcohols over ice and shake briskly. Pour in the cola and swirl to chill before straining the finished drink into a chilled cocktail glass.

Turns out, in addition to having lots of breweries and wineries and growing tons of hops, potatoes, apples and pears, Oregon is big in the hazelnut world–90+% of the countries hazelnuts right in the Pacific NW! Go Oregon! So, of course, I’m thinking ‘hello, Frangelico,’ and Applejack hasn’t been used in a while. The soda ensures that tasty caramel color, which I would imagine was what that trail looked like much of the time (though probably not as tasty as this drink!). Your first sip might remind you a bit of a rich root beer float, with just a kick from the apple brandy.

~~~oOo~~~

Did you know that today, October 1, is  National Sake Day?

I’ve got some pear sake on the bar and decided to give it a go in the Oregon Trail, in place of the Applejack. It’s not bad! Compared the the original, it’s a bit smoother (according to my helper-taster, Todd) with an almost unctuous mouth-feel. There’s the little tang of sake at the end, making it a somewhat complex taste but definitely satisfying.

If you’re feeling a little cross-cultural, why not give it a try and tell me what you think?

50 Shots of America–Delaware

Sips

Welcome to the 2010 series theme for Sips & Shots: 50 Shots of America! Each week I’ll look at a different state, dig up some (hopefully) interesting facts about it that then leads me to concoct a little libation in it’s honor (for these recipes I’ll be sticking to 2oz or less, so a double shot)! These are not intended to be official by any means, just a fun exercise in cocktail creation. (And, hey, if by the end of this year I can actually identify each state on the map–Bonus!*) Rather than do another alphabetical listing, this time I’m using the date of statehood as my guide so first up is…

Delaware, the first state to ratify the constitution on December 7, 1787, is a fairly tiny state (second only to Rhode Island in area) originally colonized by the Dutch. Apparently the log cabin is of Finnish ingenuity and the Finns brought over the plans with them in the mid-17th century. There’s a preserved log cabin of this sort at the Museum of Agriculture in the state capital, Dover. (Thanks to 50states.com for that bit of intel.) Even though I always will associate Georgia as the peach state, the peach blossom is the state flower of Delaware so it shares that nickname with it’s Southern buddy.

Despite wanting terribly to work the ‘no sales tax’ angle into this week’s cocktail, I decided to go with the log cabin and peaches instead. There’s already a Log Cabin cocktail in the world (actually, 3 different recipes presented themselves during a search) so, using that (those) as the base, I now present to you:

the Delaware Log Cabin

1 oz Peach nectar
1/2 oz Applejack
1/2 oz Whiskey
splash Maple Syrup

Combine all ingredients in a small cocktail shaker over ice and shake like a wave crashing on the Rehoboth Beach dunes. Strain into a double shot or cordial glass.

The whiskey seems very pioneer, log cabin-ish to me and using a corn-based whiskey makes sense as one of Delaware’s main crops is corn (it’s even on the state seal). There’s an Apple Scrapple Festival every year in Bridgeville, hence the use of Applejack and maple syrup seemed like a fitting sweetener instead of the usual sugar syrup, which helps to blunt the whiskey’s edge and let the light peach taste come through.

*The only class I ever failed in High School was Geography and it’s been said more than once that I lack any sort of natural sense of direction. Maybe I just didn’t have the proper incentive, then 😉