|| Apple, Hazelnut, Bourbon | Sweet Fashioned ||
When I was at a party, someone had heard about my cocktail hobby and was curious if I could make something there. Always happy to oblige a challenge, I went to the kitchen and fridge to see if there was anything to work with. As expected, not much, but there was a polish hazelnut wodka and some apple juice. Well that’s a classic flavour combination if there ever was one. Add some bourbon (they had some Bulleit on hand, bless them) to bring it into cocktail territory and we’re done.
I had kind of forgotten about this one until recently, then decided to recreate it. I didn’t have the hazelnut vodka, so I used Frangelico. It’s a lovely liqueur and I’m charmed by the bottle, but it does make it slightly sweeter. Equal parts of Bourbon, Frangelico and apple juice, you want it cold, but not too much dilution, so I usually build it on a large ice cube. If you want to shake briefly or stir and strain that will work too, but maybe add a little extra bourbon.
If you do have the hazelnut wodka, keep it in the freezer and with apple juice from the fridge you don’t need any ice at all – just combine for a nice thick mouthfeel.
Now about the name – the arrow of time is a concept or metaphor in physics about whether or not time is the same going backwards or forwards. We used to think that all physical processes are time-invariant, basically saying that if you play something backwards, the physics are the same. However in a few quantum mechanical interactions this seems to be violated! The interaction is different in the opposite time direction – although this can only be measured indirectly of course, we have no knob to turn the Arrow of Time with.
As this apple-hazelnut cocktail gives me a warm cozy feeling and an old-timey grandparents vibe this seemed an appropriate and cool sounding name!
Quite coincidentally this recent SMBC comic had the same association!
There we have it, my first cocktail blog. I’m thinking this will be more or less the format going forward – how and why I came up with it, the actual cocktail, and then a little casual semi-educational meanderings about the name. Hope you enjoy it!