Season 26, Day 3 - "Cereal Quizzer"
It's "Apple" week, and today's quiz is inspired by applejack.
Applejack
There are few compounds that are more sinful than the applejack of New-Jersey. The name has a homely, innocent appearance, but in reality applejack is a particularly powerful and evil spirit.
(“A WICKED BEVERAGE,” 1884 New York Times editorial)
Applejack is a type of brandy made from apples. The name comes from its traditional method of distillation: freezing fermented cider and removing the ice (thereby increasing alcohol concentration), known as jacking. Originally called Jersey Lightning, applejack was first produced in colonial New Jersey in 1698 by William Laird. Laird & Company (founded by William’s great-grandson) is the oldest continuously operated distillery in the U.S., and dominates applejack production to this day. Applejack was once America’s favorite booze, but declined in popularity with the rise of rum and whiskey in the 19th century. George Washington is said to have written to the Laird family to request their applejack recipe. The apple trees planted by John Chapman (a.k.a. Johnny Appleseed) throughout the early 1800s mostly produced apples used to make cider and applejack; many of these trees were chopped down by FBI agents during the Prohibition era and never replanted. One of FDR’s favorite drinks was a Manhattan made with applejack. While applejack is typically made from apple varieties such as the Winesap, calvados (an apple brandy from the Normandy region of France) is made from cider apples, which are generally not fit for eating fresh. Applejack is also the name of a character in My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic (pictured above), and may or may not have inspired the name of a Kellogg’s brand of breakfast cereal.