A Jack Rose is a
cocktail containing
applejack,
grenadine
Grenadine is a commonly used nonalcoholic bar syrup characterized by its deep red color. It is a popular cocktail ingredient renowned for its flavor as well as its ability to give a reddish or pink tint to mixed drinks. Grenadine is traditiona ...
, and lemon or lime juice. It was popular in the 1920s and 1930s, notably appearing in
Ernest Hemingway's 1926 classic, ''
The Sun Also Rises
''The Sun Also Rises'' is a 1926 novel by American writer Ernest Hemingway, his first, that portrays American and British expatriates who travel from Paris to the Festival of San Fermín in Pamplona to watch the running of the bulls and the b ...
'', in which
Jake Barnes, the narrator, drinks a Jack Rose in the
Crillon Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
hotel bar while awaiting the arrival of
Lady Brett Ashley. It was also a favorite drink of author
John Steinbeck.
The Jack Rose is one of six basic drinks listed in
David A. Embury's ''
The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks
''The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks'' is a book about cocktails by David A. Embury, first published in 1948. The book is noteworthy for its witty, highly opinionated and conversational tone, as well as its categorization of cocktails into two main ty ...
''.
History
References to the Jack Rose date back to the early 20th century. A 1905 article in the
National Police Gazette
The ''National Police Gazette'', commonly referred to as simply the ''Police Gazette'', is an American magazine founded in 1845. Under publisher Richard K. Fox, it became the forerunner of the men's lifestyle magazine, the illustrated sports w ...
mentions the drink and credits a New Jersey bartender named Frank J. May as its creator. A 1913 news article mentions that sales of the drink had suffered due to the involvement of
Bald Jack Rose in the
Rosenthal murder case.
There are various theories as to the origin of the drink's name. One has the drink being named after (or even invented by) the infamous gambler Bald Jack Rose.
However, this is disproven by the fact that the drink predates Bald Jack Rose's career. Albert Stevens Crockett states that it is named after the pink "Jacquemot" (also known as Jacqueminot or Jacque)
rose
A rose is either a woody perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred species and tens of thousands of cultivars. They form a group of plants that can be ...
. It has been suggested that the Jack Rose was invented by Joseph P. Rose, a Newark, New Jersey restaurateur who once held the title of "World's Champion Mixologist." Harvey's Famous Restaurant in Washington, D.C. also claimed to be the originator of the cocktail.
The most likely explanation of the name is that it is a simple
portmanteau
A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of words[Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large na ...](_blank)
'' published an article that chronicled two writers' quest to find a Jack Rose in a
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
bar. After visiting numerous bars, they were unsuccessful in finding one where the bartender knew the drink and the bar stocked applejack. Ultimately they bought a bottle of applejack for one of the few bartenders they encountered who knew how to make one.
With the
craft cocktail movement
The craft cocktail movement is a social movement spurred by the cocktail renaissance, a period of time in the 21st century characterized by a revival and re-prioritization of traditional recipes and methods in the bar industry.
History
The cockt ...
on the rise, the Jack Rose has regained some popularity.
Laird & Company, producers of the most widely available brands of applejack in the United States, said in 2015 that sales were up in part due to renewed interest in the cocktail.
See also
*
List of cocktails
References
{{Cocktails
Cocktails