orchard

2 oz Laird's Bonded Apple Brandy
3/4 oz Lemon Juice
1/2 oz Bourbon Barrel-Aged Maple Syrup (Grand Maple Farms)
1/4 oz St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram (Hamilton's)
(1/8 oz Demerara Syrup added to the recipe for balance and body)

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail coupe.One of the drinks I had marked in The Bartender's Manifesto by Toby Maloney with Emma Janzen was the Orchard created by Kyle Davidson at Chicago's Violet Hour in 2008. As a Sidecar riff, it seemed similar to many of the autumnal cocktails that I have been churning out for folks lately at Drink such as my Two Roads Diverged. The Bourbon barrel-aged maple was one that we procured earlier this year; despite maple feeling like a fall and winter flavor, it is actually harvested and processed as the trees begin to wake up in the spring. Here, the Orchard wafted to the nose with an apple, lemon, and allspice bouquet. Next, a lemon-driven sip boiled down to an apple, maple, and allspice swallow.