Flannel Shirt

• 1.75 oz scotch whisky
• 1.5 oz fresh apple cider
• 1⁄2 oz Averna amaro
• 1⁄4 oz fresh lemon juice
• 1 tsp demerara syrup (2:1)
• 1⁄2 tsp allspice dram
• 2 dashes Angostura bitters
• Shake with ice, strain over pebble or crushed ice into double old-fashioned glass 
• Garnish with sliced apple fan

Happy Friday, friends, and happy Autumn.

Depending on where you live, you may be experiencing varying degrees of Autumn. Here in the Okanagan, mornings have become much crisper, with temperatures dropping overnight to the single-digits (Celsius, not Fahrenheit). The chill in the air, along with the changing leaves, got me thinking about a Portland favorite of mine: Jeffrey Morgenthaler’s Flannel Shirt. 

This is the first cocktail in the channel that includes a fruit juice additive–fresh apple cider–which pairs beautifully with the peat and floral notes of the scotch whiskey, as well as the baking spice hints of Averna amaro and allspice dram. 

And the Okanagan is a wonderful place to source that cider. Beyond the vineyards that the region is known for, the Okanagan also boasts a wealth of orchards, with over 6,300 acres of apple orchards alone. Those orchards produce roughly 35% of all apples grown in Canada. So where better to highlight a Fall apple cider-paired cocktail than right here in British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley.

The creator of this cocktail, Jeffrey Morgenthaler, is something of a Portland legend in the mixology world. His book, The Bar Book, is where I first discovered this recipe. He ran the bar programs at Clyde Common and the associated speakeasy, Pepe Le Moko, until the pandemic. Today he co-owns Pacific Standard. His take on the Amaretto Sour remains one of my favorite cocktails–one I’ll share here toward the end of the year. You absolutely can’t go wrong with a visit to Pacific Standard the next time you’re in Portland.

This Pacific Northwest-inspired take on a tiki-style cocktail starts with the sweetness of the apple cider, brightened by the tartness of lemon juice. That freshness is immediately enveloped by the peatiness of the scotch, evoking the scent of controlled autumn burns on farms and orchards throughout the region. The baking spice notes of the Averna and the hint of allspice dram complete the experience, recalling the spiced apple pies that grace Thanksgiving tables on both sides of the border. All these sensory notes come together as an ode to Autumn, and justify the name Flannel Shirt.

I love Autumn. The temperatures drop, the air turns dry, the leaves change. It’s the time of Major League Baseball’s drive to the postseason, and for me, memories of Water Polo season in high school and university. I have so many wonderful associations with this time of year.

Another, of course, is the namesake of this cocktail: the flannel shirt. 

The flannel shirt's history began in 17th-century Wales, where farmers and laborers wore the warm, durable woolen fabric for work. It spread across Europe, and arrived in North America with immigrants in the 19th century. The Industrial Revolution mechanized its production, making it a staple among pioneers and railroad workers. In the 1950s, flannel transitioned into formal wear with the rise of flannel suits. My own familiarity began when it became a symbol of the grunge music movement out of the Pacific Northwest in the 1990s. 

Whether your connection to flannel is musical, class-based, or familial, the fabric and its signature plaid patterns represent an estimated US$78B market in the U.S. today–growing at roughly 3% year over year. 

One standout player in that market is Dixxon Flannel, founded in 2013 in Huntington Beach, California–just a stone’s throw away from my hometown of Irvine. Despite being US-based, Dixxon quickly expanded into Canada, where I first discovered them in 2018 at a motorcycle gear shop in Kelowna. I distinctly remember pulling one off the rack: it had a high collar with collar-stay buttons, snaps instead of traditional buttons, a sunglasses slot on the chest pocket flap, and even a microfiber cloth sewn into the inside hem. I was immediately impressed by the engineering that went into this shirt.

From that moment, I was hooked. Dixxon are masters of scarcity marketing: their shirts are often available for a very short time. Depending on the design, colorway or collaboration, a new drop can sell out in standard sizes within 24 hours. This fear of missing out (FOMO) creates an urgency to buy before supplies vanish. I’ve been on both sides of that equation: missing out on a shirt I hesitated on, and jumping on another the moment the release email hit my inbox. Finding balance between the two has been a journey.

Besides having far too many Dixxons in my closet, I also love gifting them to friends and family during the holidays. They’ve all shared the compliments they receive whenever they wear them–whether that’s true or just polite flattery, I’ll take it. Either way, I’ll be sipping on this Flannel Shirt while wearing my favorite Dixxon this Autumn.

Cheers!