union jack rose

1 oz Tanqueray Gin (Beefeater)
1 oz Laird's Bonded Apple Brandy
3/4 oz Lime Juice
3/4 oz Grenadine
14 drop Regan's Orange Bitters (2 dash Angostura Orange)
2 leaf Mint

Shake with ice, double strain into a coupe glass, and garnish with a fresh mint leaf.With my chocolate mint patch having surfaced (the regular mint lags behind by 2-3 weeks), I decided to make the Union Jack Rose that I had bookmarked in Cure: New Orleans Drinks and How to Mix'Em by Neal Bodenheimer and Emily Timberlake. The recipe was Kirk Estopinal's riff at Cure on the Jack Rose perhaps mashed up with a South Side given the gin and mint thrown in the mix. Once prepared, the Union Jack Rose donated a mint, apple, and berry bouquet to the nose. Next, lime and berry notes on the sip led into gin, apple, pomegranate, and mint flavors on the swallow. No great surprises here but the name is crafty given the British gin and the combination of gin, apple brandy, and grenadine is one that has worked well starting perhaps with the Pink Lady.