Recipe
Harvard Cooler
Print or online media may reprint this excerpt with the following attribution: “Excerpted from Good Spirits, by A.J. Rathbun, © 2007, and used by permission of The Harvard Common Press.”
Harvard Cooler
There are, or have been, numerous and various drinks falling under the moniker of “cooler,” with connecting features being a “school’s out” nature, club soda, ice, and a tall glass (though the wars raged between those pledging a cooler in a highball glass and those pledging it in a Collins glass have been harrowing). A lemon twist, lemon juice, and some form of sweetener may also make the grade. My thought with a cooler is to aim high and head straight for the Ivy League.
Ice cubes
1 1/2 ounces applejack
1/2 ounce Simple Syrup (see below)
1/2 ounce freshly squeezed lemon juice
Chilled club soda
Lemon twist
1. Fill a cocktail shaker halfway full with ice cubes. Add the applejack, simple syrup, and lemon juice. Shake well.
2. Fill a highball glass three-quarters full with ice cubes. Strain the shaken mix into the glass.
3. Add club soda to the glass, to the level where the tassel would hang if the drink were going through graduation. Garnish with the lemon twist (allow classmates to squeeze the twist over the drink if they’d like). Serve with a long straw or stirring stick and suggest they give it a whirl.
Simple Syrup
Makes 4 1/2 cups (36 ounces)
2 1/2 cups water
3 cups sugar
1. Add the sugar and water to a medium-size saucepan. Stirring occasionally, bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat. Lower the heat a bit, keeping the mixture at a low boil for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
2. Turn off the heat, and let the syrup cool completely in the pan. Store in a clean airtight container in the refrigerator.
