Half awake.
Fake Empire.
My favourite band – The National – release their new album Sleep Well Beast today and I thought I’d mark the occasion the only way I know how to: by creating a cocktail. I took my inspiration from the first verse of Fake Empire, opening track of their (superb) 2007 album Boxer.
Stay out super late tonight
picking apples, making pies.
Put a little something in our lemonade
and take it with us.
So I’m thinking apples, lemons, cinnamon and, of course, the national drink* of the USA, bourbon. Those are flavours that really love each other so our task is actually pretty easy. For bonus points let’s double down on the apples and use some apple brandy too. Now if you’re in the US that means applejack but if you’re in Europe calvados will be far more available. In either case use a decent aged variety. The apple juice should be the unfiltered cloudy type – known as apple cider in the US. We’ll need some sweetness to counter the lemon juice so let’s use a cinnamon syrup and kill two birds with one stone. Just in case it wasn’t clear, the cinnamon is there to represent the “pies”.
Fake Empire.
1.5oz / 45ml bourbon of choice.
1oz / 30ml apple brandy such as applejack or calvados.
1oz / 30ml fresh lemon juice.
1oz / 30ml cloudy apple juice.
0.75oz / 22.5ml cinnamon syrup.
Shake with ice and strain into a DOF glass containing a diamond slipper, erm, I mean a big block of clear ice.
Toast The National.
*See what I did there?
By Matt Wood 10th September 2017 - 6:09 am
Great song! Looks like a superb drink! I need to listen to that new album! Been loving
The National since I first heard this song!
By Andy 10th September 2017 - 11:29 am
Hi Matt. IMHO the new album is pretty good – but not as good as their last five. I’m quite pleased with the drink but I’ve not had much feedback on it yet. Give it a go and tell me what you think. I’m particularly keen to know if it works as well with applejack which I can’t get here (I used VSOP calvados).
By Tony 2nd September 2021 - 9:08 pm
Andy, it’s the second drink I’ve come across bearing the name of a National song. Sounds fantastic
By Andy 3rd September 2021 - 2:12 pm
Thanks Tony! No doubt you mean Death & Co’s Terrible Love which I’ve also written a little bit about (https://www.proofcocktails.nl/2017/11/17/terrible-love/)/
Of my own creations the Fake Empire is one of my very favourites that I keep coming back to – even four years later.
By Tony 3rd September 2021 - 2:25 pm
I do mean that one. It’s a really good drink. I went and got some calvados yesterday, in readiness for this one.
By Andy 3rd September 2021 - 3:08 pm
Excellent. Please let us all know what you think of it!
By Tonh 6th September 2021 - 8:47 pm
Really enjoyed the Fake Empire tonight Andy 👌
By Andy 6th September 2021 - 9:57 pm
Pleased to hear it Tony! Thanks for the feedback.