I originally created this recipe for the Fall 2017 menu at Sasha Petraske’s Middle Branch, which is where I worked at the time. We had a huge surplus of Laird’s Applejack and my boss Lucinda Sterling asked me to make a crushable, refreshing, yet seasonal cocktail with it. The name is an allusion to the Ohio River Valley, the primary region travelled by folk hero and applejack early-adopter, the one and only “Johnny Appleseed.” The recipe was later published in Saveur.

Ingredients

1 1⁄2 cups fresh lemon juice

1 1⁄2 cups pressed apple cider

1 1⁄2 cups Pedro Ximénez sherry, preferably Lustau

1 1⁄2 oz. maple syrup

3 cups Laird’s bonded applejack

Grated cinnamon and whole cinnamon stick, for garnish

Apple slices, for garnish

Directions

Combine applejack, cider, sherry, lemon juice, and maple syrup in a punch bowl or large serving jar.

Immediately before serving, add several generous scoops of ice, or one large ice cube frozen in a baking pan, and garnish with grated cinnamon, whole cinnamon sticks, and apple slices.

The cutest gifs by Matt Taylor-Gross!