It is said that Ethan Allen and his gang of Green Mountain Boys first concocted the Stone Fence, a hard cider–and-rum libation, the night before they joined forces with Benedict Arnold and his men to seize Fort Ticonderoga from the British in 1775, writes Houston-based craft-cocktail expert Alba Huerta in her new guide, Julep. What’s always caught my attention about this anecdote is that the name Stone Fence—a drink a bunch of rowdy colonials used for liquid courage—reminds me of something else entirely. When I first began bartending back in 2000, one of the more popular drinks was a Stone Sour, made from a base (whiskey, vodka, amaretto, or whatever the guest chose), powdered sweet-and-sour mix, and orange juice from a bottle. At the first bar I worked, I must have served hundreds of Amaretto Stone Sours every weekend. So here’s the Stone Fence Sour, offering hints of both the Stone Sour and the Stone Fence: dry apple notes, a whiskey backbone, and a balanced sweet-and-sour element. It’s strong enough to give you courage no matter what you’re planning for tomorrow.
