:: mixology monday announcement ::

MXMO XCII: Apples!

While discussing all of the way apple flavors pair well with different spirits and liqueurs such as mezcal and Yellow Chartreuse, I figured that apples would make a great Mixology Monday theme if I were to ever host it again. Due to a gap in the MxMo roster (hint: see how to host here), I am back here to run the show!

Apples have been an American booze staple with Johnny Appleseed as its symbolic hero. John Chapman became that legend by planting apple tree nurseries across the northern Appalachia and the Midwest. He did not choose grafting techniques to reproduce sweet edible ones, but bred them to make sour apples perfect for cider and applejack. Michael Pollan in The Botany of Desire proclaimed, "Really, what Johnny Appleseed was doing and the reason he was welcome in every cabin in Ohio and Indiana was he was bringing the gift of alcohol to the frontier. He was our American Dionysus." Apple products began to enter into the mixed drink literature in the 19th century with the Stone Fence appearing in Jerry Thomas' Bartender Guide and got quite refined by the end of the century such as the Widow's Kiss in George Kappeler's Modern American Drinks. Indeed, apples have found their way into modern cocktails via Calvados, applejack, sparkling and still cider, apple butter, and muddled apple.

Here's how to play:

• Find or concoct a recipe that features apple as one of the star ingredients whether it be fresh, cooked, fermented, or distilled. If not a recipe that already utilizes apple, perhaps substitute apple brandy for say Cognac or whiskey in a classic to make a novel variation.
• Make the drink and then post the recipe, a photo, and your thoughts about the libation on your blog, tumblr, or website or on the eGullet Spirits and Cocktails forum.
• Include in your post the MxMo logo (whether the classic or any of the three apple ones provided here) and a link back to both the Mixology Monday and Cocktail Virgin sites. And once the round-up is posted, a link to that summary post would be appreciated.
• Provide a link to your submission in the comment section here, tweet at @cocktailvirgin, or send an email to yarm-at-verizon.net with the word "MxMo" somewhere in the subject line.

The due date is Monday, December 15th which I will interpret as whatever gets posted before I get home after my day bar shift on the 16th (and yes, I will tack on late entries since it is part of the act of cat herding). Yes, we are doing this earlier in the month so that we can pack in all the MxMo excitement before the December holidays begin to take over.

Cheers,
Frederic