I don’t need much of an excuse to enjoy Apple Jack. It’s an apple-based brandy that’s available in most liquor stores. If you don’t have a bottle, you should. Many of the old-school cocktails call for it, and besides the Jack Rose cocktail, the recipe for which you can find on this site, the Jack-In-The-Box is a fantastic, old flavored drink.

Here we go –

• 1.5 oz of Apple Jack
• ¾ oz Pineapple Juice
• 2 tablespoons Lemon Juice
• 2 Dashes Bitters

Shake with ice ‘til freezing in a shaker. Strain into a cocktail glass.

Time to crack out that Rye. This one tastes as old school as the butter mints on your grand pappy’s dresser. The Ward Eight is just a fantastic whiskey drink that begs to be sipped while watching the news, winding your pocket watch or adjusting your reading glasses. This one screams “Dad”. It’s like a stronger version of the Whiskey Sour for grown-ups.

Here we go –

• 1 ½ oz Rye or Bourbon (go with the Rye)
• 3 dashes Grenadine

Serve over ice in an old-fashioned glass, garnish with a slice of orange and one of lemon, add a cherry if its x-mas.

I’ve actually seen this in a much older bar bible, calling for gin. Go for it if you’re feeling a little daring. Let Mr. Booze know how it works for ya.

Women l-o-v-e this one.   A great drink to pour when you have a couple hens cackling ‘round your bar. With the Applejack as the base, a drinker with a mustache can even partake (sorry Aunt Gladys, didn’t mean to single you out)

Here we go –

• 1 ½ oz Applejack
• 1 oz Cointreau
• ½ oz limejuice
• Small splash of cranberry juice

Shake with tons of ice in a shaker, strain into cocktail glass. Garnish with a lime wedge.

You all know that on this site, Mr. Booze leans heavily towards seasonal drinks and drinking.   There’s a time and place for many cocktails, and this one’s absolutely a cool- weather drink. I flipped upon it in a 1912 recipe book, and she drinks wonderfully. It calls for a flannel shirt and the promise of a steaming bowl of chili after.

Here we go –

• 3 oz Applejack
• 3-4 dashes Angostura bitters
• Apple Cider

Fill tall glass or mug with ice, add Applejack and bitters and stir, then fill glass with Apple Cider.

This is a great cocktail to make when you want to do a little something special behind the bar but not kill yourself with ingredients. The smoky flavor of the bourbon and the lesser tang of the orange triple sec both mesh within the froth of a whipped egg white to create quite an eye opener. Drink these ‘til you’re a millionaire yourself, then pay someone to mix one for you.

Here we go –

• ¾ oz lemon juice
• 1 egg white
• ¼ oz Triple Sec
• Couple dashes grenadine
• 1 ½ oz Bourbon

Shake hard with ice in a shaker, strain into a cocktail glass.

I’m always looking’ for a hot weather, rum cocktail that I can make in a hurry, doesn’t require a lot of syrups, fruit, or the layering of boozes, that’ll hit the spot while I’m swatting mosquitoes. Here’s just the one. It’s a quick cooler that’s perfect for when your guests are gathered ‘round the patio bar. Just offer them Ordinary Seaman from an ordinary home bartender.

Here we go –

• ¾ oz lemon juice
• ¾ oz Rose’s lime juice
• 1 tsp powdered sugar
• 1 oz dark Rum
• ¾ oz white Rum
• Lime wedge

Shake all ingredients in a shaker with plenty of crushed ice. Pour everything into a small highball glass, squeeze a lime wedge over the drink then plop in into the glass.

I know there are Scotch drinkers out there. I know you guys, creepin’ round fireplaces, wearing your cable knit sweaters, reading your … books. I get it. I’m on to you. I see you in your banks and offices, playing your golf. Well, have I got a cocktail for you. Stay with me, it’s a scotch liqueur nestled inside of … scotch. Stand up and be counted, there are a million of you out there. Have a scotch cocktail and try something besides all that scotch. Just kidding. You’ll love this classic.

Here we go –

• 1 ½ oz Scotch
• ¾ oz Drambuie

Pour over rocks in an old-fashioned glass.

I’m always looking for a new (old) Rye drink. Found this one recently in an old House & Garden’s Drink Guide and immediately dropped what I was doing and mixed a couple up. Re-shingling the roof could just wait a few more minutes. Wow ….the peppery taste of the rye mixing with the sweet of the grenadine worked gangbusters. If you have a bottle of rye in your bar, try this one.

Here we go –

• 2 oz Rye
• 1 oz Sweet Vermouth
• 1 oz Grenadine

Shake with ice ‘til freezing and strain into a cocktail glass, or … shake with ice and pour everything into a rocks glass. I actually prefer this one on the rocks.