The Stone Fence (Cocktail)
We’ve got to have proper lubrication going into Thanksgiving…amiright? Thus, our November cocktail of the month: The Stone Fence.
This cocktail is sure to take you through the remainder of fall in apple-maple loving coziness. The best part? This drink can be served over ice or warmed. Just heat your apple cider and maple syrup, forgo the ice cubes then add the rest of the ingredients.
You’re going to need the following:
Brown liquor of choice (I prefer rye, but bourbon will work well here too)
apple cider
pure maple syrup
Angostura bitters
a lime wedge
Typically, I lean toward gin or vodka, but I think fall screams for a brown liquor. I once participated in a rye bottling day at Catoctin Creek Distillery in Purcellville, VA. Do visit if you’ve ever got a chance! It’s a very cool place and their rye is incredible! It was fun to lend a hand to really nice folks as they were building their small business and to learn about rye and how it’s made. The head distiller is a woman and one of the owners. I love that!
Think like a chef when you’re mixing drinks, and picture how the flavors interact. On my version of a Stone Fence, we could easily go too sweet with the cider and maple syrup. But balance is important, so I added a dash of bitters (bitter) and squeeze of lime (acid). The result? Fall in a glass.
Let me know if you’ve got a chance to whip together one of these babies and what you think by commenting below.
As always, stay well and cheers!
Christine
The Stone Fence Cocktail
Ingredients
- 1 ounces rye or other brown liquor
- 2 ounces apple cider not juice!
- 1/2 ounce pure maple syrup
- 1 dash bitters
- 1 lime wedge
Instructions
- Add the rye, apple cider, maple syrup, and dash of bitters to a rocks glass. Fill with ice and stir. Squeeze lime wedge over the drink, give another quick stir, then drop lime into the cocktail. Serve!
Notes
A couple of notes:
- I keep the rye light in this, but you could use two ounces if you’re thinking, “OMG! Rye! Yum!”
- You can go up to 4 ounces of apple cider (half a cup) if you want a more pronounced apple flavor, and less alcohol.
- Be sure to use pure maple syrup. The fake stuff won’t cut it here and you’d be better without, though a brown sugar simple syrup could be nice as well.
- Don’t skip the bitters or the lime. They balance a drink that could go too sweet otherwise.
Want to warm things up? Warm your cider and maple syrup together, place in a mag, then pour in the rye, bitters, and squeeze of lime. You can even batch this!