Drinks

Stone Fence Sour

An updated take on the drink that quenched colonial America

Photo: Julie Soefer


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 1775writes 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.


Ingredients

    • 1½ ounces 80-proof bourbon

    • 1½ ounces hard cider, preferably Foggy Ridge

    • ½ ounce orgeat

    • ½ ounce simple syrup

    • ½ ounce freshly squeezed lime juice

    • ½ ounce freshly squeezed orange juice

    • 3 apple slices, for garnish

    • Fresh nutmeg, for garnish


Preparation

  1. Pour the bourbon, hard cider, orgeat, syrup, lime juice, and orange juice into a glass. Stir with a barspoon to blend. Fill the glass halfway with crushed ice and stir a few times. Fill the glass entirely with crushed ice. Place the straw in the glass. To garnish, thread the apple slices on a cocktail pick and place on the rim of the glass. Add a few grates of nutmeg.

Recipe excerpted from Julep: Southern Cocktails Refashioned


tags: