Friday, February 8, 2013

little rebel cocktail

1 jigger Applejack (1 1/2 oz Laird's Bonded)
1/2 jigger Scotch (3/4 oz Laphroaig 10 Year)
1/4 jigger Grenadine (1/2 oz)
Juice 1 Lime (1/2 oz)
1 Egg White

Shake with ice and strain into a glass.

Two Wednesdays ago, I was flipping through Hugo Ensslin's 1916 Recipes for Mixed Drinks and spotted the Little Rebel, an egg white applejack and Scotch Daisy. Besides the allure of apple and smokey whisky which worked so well in drinks like the Applewood and French Toast Flip, I recalled Camper English's article on grenadine that lists the Little Rebel and other drinks by Ensslin as part of the first major wave of grenadine-containing cocktails. While no back history on the cocktail name was provided, there was a movie called The Little Rebel in 1914. Moreover, although not a precise match, there was a 1911 Broadway melodrama called The Littlest Rebel which would have played near where Ensslin was tending bar nearby at the Wallick Hotel on 43rd and Broadway in Manhattan.
hugo ensslin little rebel
In the Little Rebel, apple and smoke greeted the nose. The egg white provided a mouthfeel to the sip along with a smoothness to both the malt and fruitiness of the lime, pomegranate, and apple. Next, the swallow began with the Scotch and finished with the apple brandy. Indeed, there were more apple notes on the nose but more Scotch on the palate.

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