Classic cocktail · Guided recipe

Jack Rose

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Apple brandy, lemon and grenadine — an American classic the color of a rose. Fruity, tart and criminally underrated.

Preparation~2 minEasyStrengthStrongabout 26% ABVMethodShaken7 guided stepsIngredients3Coupe or martini glass

Sour

In the glassApple brandy · Fresh lemon juice · Grenadine

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Make it with guidanceOne clear action at a time, with timers built in.

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What goes in

Ingredients

An empty clear coupe glass with a shallow rounded bowl and slender stem. — Serving glassCoupe glass

Set up before you pour

Use a coupe glass.

The stem keeps your hand away from a cold drink, while the rounded bowl makes an up serve easy to sip.

Standard size: 200 ml6¾ oz
Ice & serve: Chill it first; serve without ice.
If you don’t own one: Use a small martini glass or stemmed dessert glass.

Tools to set out

cocktail shaker
strainer (or a small sieve)
jigger or measuring spoon

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Scale to your coupe or martini glassWe’ll remember this glass size.

Apple brandy60 ml
Fresh lemon juice22 ml
Grenadine15 ml

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From bottle to glass

Method

01
Measure into the shaker
Pour 60 ml apple brandy into your shaker
- Apple brandy
02
Measure into the shaker
Add 22 ml fresh lemon juice
- Fresh lemon juice
03
Measure into the shaker
Add 15 ml grenadine
- Grenadine
04
Ice the shaker
Fill the shaker with ice
Why it mattersFill it right up — more ice chills faster with less watering down.
05
Seal and shake
Seal and shake hard
Why it mattersCold hands mean it’s working. Shake until the tin frosts over.
06
Strain cleanly
Strain into a chilled glass — no ice
Why it mattersPour through the strainer so the spent shaker ice stays behind.
07
Finish the drink
Finish it — add an edible flower pick

Know your drink

About the Jack Rose

A Sidecar, amber brandy rocks drink and bright brandy highball in a hotel bar.

Applejack worth buying

Look for bottled-in-bond on the label. It guarantees one distilling season, one distillery, four years minimum and 50% ABV, and in apple brandy it also usually means the bottle holds actual apple distillate rather than a little of it blended into neutral spirit. The blended versions are legal, cheap, and make a thin, faintly sweet drink.

The recipe turns up in American newspapers around the turn of the twentieth century, and several people have been named as its inventor over the years. None of the claims hold up well enough to repeat. What's clear is that it was popular before Prohibition and mostly forgotten afterward, which is roughly the biography of American apple brandy itself.

Common questions

Jack Rose FAQ

Applejack or Calvados?

Both work and they taste noticeably different. American bonded applejack at 50% ABV is drier and hotter, which stands up to the grenadine. Calvados is softer and more perfumed, closer to baked apple, and you may want to pull the grenadine back to 10 ml.

Why does mine taste like cough syrup?

Almost always the grenadine. Most supermarket bottles are corn syrup, red dye and a whisper of pomegranate. Real grenadine is pomegranate juice reduced with sugar and a little orange flower water, and it brings tartness along with the color instead of sweetness alone.

Some recipes call for lime. Which is right?

Older printed versions go both ways and lime is defensible. Lemon lets the apple come through clearly; lime is sharper and pushes the drink toward a Daiquiri shape. If you go with lime, drop to 20 ml, because it hits harder than lemon at the same volume.

How do I get the color right?

The color is entirely the grenadine's job, so a pale drink means weak syrup rather than a short measure. Adding more to fix the look only makes it too sweet. Use a proper pomegranate grenadine and 15 ml will do it.

What ingredients are in a Jack Rose?

A classic Jack Rose calls for 60 ml (2 oz) Apple brandy, 22 ml (0.75 oz) Fresh lemon juice, 15 ml (0.5 oz) Grenadine. That single-serve spec scales cleanly — the recipe above converts it to oz and multiplies it for 2–4 drinks.

How strong is a Jack Rose?

A standard Jack Rose is roughly 26% ABV once mixed (before ice melt softens it further). That makes it spirit-forward — closer to a Martini than to a beer, so sip it slowly.

Is a Jack Rose shaken or stirred?

A Jack Rose is shaken — the rule of thumb is to shake anything with citrus juice. About 13 seconds with plenty of ice chills and dilutes it correctly.

Sharpen the technique