11/21/2023 0 Comments Applejack brandy virginiaGeorge Washington is recorded as having requested an applejack recipe from the Laird family in 1760, and during the Revolutionary War, troops under Washington’s command drank it while campaigning in New Jersey. “Jersey Lightning”-as it was also called-was immensely popular in the mid-Atlantic region. Small farm stillhouses soon sprang up, and by the 1830s nearly 400 distilleries were producing New Jersey’s homegrown spirit. In 1698, a Scottish distiller named William Laird settled in New Jersey and began to produce a more refined applejack, a pure apple brandy aged in oak, with the flavor of a rich, fruity whiskey. This rough liquor was also high in impurities-some referred to it as “essence of lockjaw”-and promised a skull-splitting headache for the foolhardy drinker. This residue was highly alcoholic, and about as nuanced in effect as a collision with a stone wall (perhaps not coincidentally, a popular drink was the Stone Fence, made of hard cider spiked with a harder spirit). Innovative drinkers learned that cider’s strength could be boosted by leaving it outside on a frosty night, then separating the remaining liquid from the ice the next morning. Most apples were used to make hard cider, but many drinkers wanted something with a little more oomph the result was a spirit called applejack. Slaking that thirst could be challenging: Early vineyards failed, as did the first plantings of hops and barley, and wines and brandies from Europe were prohibitively expensive for the average colonist.Īpple cultivation started in America as early as 1630, and a well-tended orchard was a necessity for a successful homestead. Colonial America was a very thirsty place.
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