Newark Cocktail

The Newark cocktail is a spirit-forward modern classic consisting of Laird’s Apple Brandy, sweet vermouth, Fernet-Branca, and maraschino liqueur.

Created by Jim Meehan and John Deragon in 2007 for the fall cocktail menu at the iconic New York City bar PDT, this is essentially a modified take on the Brooklyn cocktail, swapping out rye whiskey for overproof apple brandy, dry vermouth for sweet, and replacing Amer Picon — a bitter orange-based French aperitif — for the inkier and even more bitter Fernet-Branca.

Thought to have been created by a bartender looking to capitalize on the popularity of the Manhattan and the newly created Bronx cocktail, the Brooklyn dates to the early 1900s and is a part of the family of cocktails named for New York City boroughs. 

The pre-Prohibition classic fell out of favor for decades but found a rebirth in the craft cocktail revival of the early 2000s. Many attributed its relative obscurity to a key ingredient in the drink: the difficult-to-find Amer Picon aperitif. Once the Brooklyn found its footing in the cocktail resurgence and became a bartender favorite, riffs of all kinds began to surface, each with Brooklyn neighborhood names such as the Greenpoint, Red Hook, Bay Ridge and Bushwick.  

“By the time John and I came up with this Brooklyn variation, there were so many cocktails named after neighborhoods in Brooklyn, we claimed Newark, New Jersey,” says Meehan in The PDT Cocktail Book published in 2011.

The name is fitting, given that the base spirit is made up of New Jersey’s own Laird’s Apple Brandy, affectionately referred to as "Jersey Lightening." The apple distillate is made in the oldest licensed distillery in the U.S.

What makes the Newark Cocktail work

“The Newark is a great template to transform into your hometown’s namesake cocktail,” says Meehan in The PDT Cocktail Book.

There’s a reason why the Brooklyn became one of the most popularly riffed-on cocktails of the mid-2000s: It has the approachable, plug-and-play features of the Manhattan but with even more complexity. There are additional ingredients, a big boozy flavor profile, and bitter components that, at the time, were trending amongst cocktail enthusiasts. When stirred, spirit-forward cocktails were really taking center stage in the throes of the craft cocktail resurgence, this cocktail was the dream template for bartenders looking to put their mark on the modern cocktail scene. 

This cocktail calls for a bottled-in-bond apple brandy which is bottled at 100 proof and packs a wallop. A rich and warm, botanical forward sweet vermouth is necessary to stand up to this brandy. 

Fernet-Branca, the deep dark amaro liqueur, is slightly medicinal, highly herbaceous, and aggressively bitter. A quarter ounce is just enough to counterbalance the overproof apple distillate. Equal parts maraschino liqueur lends a sour cherry sweetness and a touch of nuttiness to round out the more intensive flavors.