Bachelor's Jam Jack Rose Cocktail

A few years ago, I stumbled upon a recipe in Pam Corbin’s The River Cottage Preserves Handbook for fruit preserved in alcohol, and it was so simple and brilliant that I’ve since adopted it into my yearly routine.

Historically, the process for this old-school preserve known as bachelor’s (or officer’s) jam was started in the warm summer months and wasn’t drunk by bachelors until the holidays, presumably to offer a bit of liquid courage to talk to eligible bachelorettes. I, too, like to serve it at Christmastime and will continue to serve it into the cold, dark days of January, when a taste of summer can really lend a nice pick-me-up.

I start my bachelor’s jam in June when the strawberries are abundant. The process is essentially foolproof—scoop a layer of fruit into a jar or earthenware crock and cover it with alcohol. It’s that simple. Corbin also recommends adding 1 cup of sugar per pound of fruit, but since I’m using the alcohol in a cocktail afterward, I prefer to sweeten at that stage. The jam continues to evolve through blueberry season in July, peach season in August, figs, pawpaws and grapes in September, apples in October and, finally, cranberries in November, with alcohol added every step of the way. I prefer to use fruit that is a little mushy and just past its prime, as I find that these are often the most sweet and flavorful.

As for spirit choice, there is no real “right” combination of alcohol and fruit. It just depends on what’s seasonally available and where you live. Bachelor’s jam is an English creation that is usually made with gin or brandy. Germans use a variety of fruits to make rumtopf (rum pot). They do the same in France with cognac and call it confiture de vieux garçon (old boy’s jam). Ukrainians make wishniak with vodka and cherries, and in Mexico, they make tequila por mi amante (tequila for my lover) with strawberries.

To follow in the tradition of using a locally produced spirit to preserve the fruit, I use Laird’s Applejack from Scobeyville. The Laird family owns the oldest licensed distillery in the United States and have been making Applejack here in Jersey since the 1700s. Come December, I strain out the fruit, sweeten it and bake it into a boozy fruit cake or use it as an ice cream topping. With the fruit-infused Laird’s, I’ll make a riff on a Jack Rose cocktail, which is perhaps the most well-known Applejack cocktail of all time. The original Jack Rose calls for grenadine, but I prefer to substitute a local wildflower honey.

After six months of making the bachelor’s jam for this drink, the first sip really makes you reflect about all that has gone into it. Bachelor’s Jam Jack Rose is a local adaptation of a tradition that has been popular in Europe for centuries, recreated here in New Jersey using America’s oldest spirit and locally grown fruit. The first sip is always ethereal, with all of the previous year’s flavors revealing themselves one by one. This is the beauty of drinking slow.