The cherry is a fruit well-associated with the nation’s first president, even if the cherry tree story, in which a young George Washington chopped down a cherry tree then couldn’t lie about it to his father, is fictitious.
Turns out there are at least some fact-based tales about Washington and the cherry, most involving Washington’s favorite cherry-based beverage: cherry bounce.
Washington is known to have taken the brandy-based cherry drink plus Madeira and port with him in September 1784 on an expedition across the Allegheny Mountains. The drink was a favorite of the Washingtons, and an original recipe for it that was written in unidentified handwriting was later found in a pocket-sized memo book that had belonged to Martha Washington.
In celebration of Mount Vernon’s upcoming exhibit Hoecakes & Hospitality: Cooking With Martha Washington, Mount Vernon made a test batch of the brandy-based drink. The exhibit, which opens February 18, will feature this plus many other Washington culinary favorites.
Instead of using Martha’s recipe, we made the beverage using an adaptation that will appear in the upcoming book Dining With the Washingtons, which will be released around November 1. This coffee table cookbook about the food served at the General’s table includes rich photography, essays and modern-day recipes for favorite Washington dishes. Get a sneak preview with the below recipe for cherry bounce.
In an epic sequel to last fall’s peach brandy, Mount Vernon distillers are wrapping up production of apple brandy at the estate’s on-site whiskey distillery.
A president, general and avid farmer, Washington added distiller to his list of vocations in 1797, when his farm manager James Anderson convinced him to build a whiskey distillery adjacent to his grist mill. By 1799 the distillery, which was the largest in America, was producing 11,000 gallons of whiskey per year, making it one of the most successful economic enterprises at Mount Vernon.
Other spirits, such as brandy, were made to a lesser extent. Washington’s distillery ledger includes an entry in October 1799 showing that 67 gallons of apple brandy were transferred from the distillery for use at the “Mount Vernon House.”
“Brandy was a favorite libation of George and Martha Washington’s, and they commonly offered it for the enjoyment of their many guests at Mount Vernon,” says Dennis Pogue, Mount Vernon’s vice president for preservation and Washington whiskey expert. “As apples were grown at the plantation in ample amounts, converting some of their juice into brandy at Washington’s distillery therefore served his personal use as well as furthered his commercial interests.”
In keeping with tradition, Mount Vernon also produces batches of Washington’s original-recipe rye whiskey. The Estate will be selling 300 bottles of aged rye whiskey that was distilled and barreled on-site two years ago for $185 a pop beginning Oct. 22. Mount Vernon’s batch of apple brandy will be aged and sold at a later, but still undetermined date.
Washington’s reproduction grist mill and distillery are located approximately three miles from the Mount Vernon estate and are open daily to visitors through October 31.
Mount Vernon has officially launched its brand-new website. Find all the same great information you’ve always searched for at mountvernon.org, but in a flashy new format.
Plus, check out our plan-your-day feature, which allows visitors to tailor their experience at the estate based on their areas of interest and time limitations. Our George Washington timeline allows web surfers to peruse Washington’s life, and our online museum allows them to peruse his belongings. There’s even an interactive map.
Keep abreast of upcoming events just as before but using our sleek new interface, and then find us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, or watch us on YouTube using the panel to the right. Visitors can now buy tickets to the estate online in addition to retail items, and even our search-engine optimization is much-improved, so by all means, seek out that tidbit of Washington trivia you’ve been dying to know. Happy surfing, from Mount Vernon.
Mount Vernon’s only summer piglet, Juliette, has flown the coop, or more accurately, left the pigpen. She’ll be headed to St Simon’s Island, Ga., next week and has been taken away from her mother, Genesis, for weening in the meantime.
Despite much squealing, Genesis seemed to forget that she had been separated from her offspring within minutes of Juliette’s departure, when she shoved her snout in her food bowl and began methodically snacking, demonstrating what appeared to be either a total lack of swine emotion or an advanced equine coping mechanism.
Juliette, who is almost two months old, has been purchased as part of a breeding pair along with an older boar from the estate. Her departure means that Mount Vernon is pigletless until next spring, when we expect our next litters to be born.
Trees fell and lights flickered at the estate this weekend, but Mount Vernon weathered with ease what turned out to be a lighter storm than expected.
Curators and grounds crews spent much of Friday and Saturday preparing for Hurricane Irene by packing away valuables in the Mansion, shuttering and boarding up windows, and sandbagging doors.
But between when the estate closed slightly early Saturday and opened to a late start on Sunday at 11 a.m. little had befallen the estate besides a healthy dose of rain and knocked-down trees. Three oaks, one ash, one walnut and two locusts blew to the ground, but many trees were damaged and at least one will have to be removed.
For footage of Mount Vernon taken during the storm, see our director of horticulture, Dean Norton’s, video below:
Photo credit: Most of the above photos were taken by director of horticulture Dean Norton.
Mount Vernon recently invited K-12 schools nationwide to request framed portraits of George Washington to display in a respectful, prominent place.
The response was overwhelming: thousands of schools submitted letters! Along with the portrait, schools received curriculum materials to help explore our first president’s contributions.
