Honeymoon · The Hawthorne

By Eric Twardzik · 02/09/2018

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, but you can dive straight into a honeymoon with a bright, warming, equal-parts cocktail from The Hawthorne called … Honeymoon.

It’s a retooling of an identically named cocktail that appeared in Recipes for Mixed Drinks, a 1916 volume penned by Hugo Ensslin. That drink was a sour made with a whopping two ounces of 100-proof apple brandy, and a half-ounce each of lemon juice, Benedectine, and dry curaçao. For its Hawthorne revival, famed local bartender Jackson Cannon adapted it to the modern palate by mixing all its ingredients in equal parts.

The drink’s backbone continues to be Laird’s Straight Apple Brandy, a 100-proof product from Laird & Company, which has been distilling in New Jersey since 1780. Laird’s is also known for the more inexpensive and widely distributed Applejack, which is made with both apples and neutral grain spirits. Although his bar opts for the former, Hawthorne bar manager Jared Sadoian says Applejack will work for those unable to find Straight Apple Brandy or those just looking for a more budget-friendly ingredient.

“It’s a citrus-driven cocktail that’s built for the fall or winter,” says Sadoian, adding that the Benedictine adds quite a bit of character. “[Benedictine] and apple brandy play together so well—the same sort of baking spices you’d find in an apple pie.”

Honeymoon
¾ ounce Laird’s Straight Apple Brandy
¾ ounce fresh lemon juice
¾ ounce Senior & Co. Dry Curaçao
¾ ounce Benedictine

Combine ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake, then strain into a coupe glass.

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