By As America prepares to celebrate its 250th anniversary in 2026, there may be no better time to raise a glass to the bold, rowdy and determined patriots who helped launch a new nation.
One fitting choice is the “Stone Fence,” a colonial cocktail tied to Ethan Allen, Benedict Arnold and the Green Mountain Boys before one of the Revolution’s first great American victories, writes We Are The Mighty.
Alcohol was part of everyday life in early America. The Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock after running low on beer. The Marine Corps traces its founding to a Philadelphia tavern. And long before Prohibition discovered how stubborn Americans could be, the country had already developed a deep affection for strong drink, public houses and spirited company.
Few stories capture that world better than the capture of Fort Ticonderoga in May 1775.
After Ethan Allen and his Vermont fighters seized the British fort overlooking Lake Champlain, their first order of business was reportedly to raid the liquor stores and “drink the place dry.” It was a very American ending to a very American victory.
But the celebration may have begun even earlier.
The night before the attack, Allen and his Green Mountain Boys gathered at Remington’s Tavern in Castleton, Vermont, where they met with Continental Army officer Benedict Arnold. There, over drinks, the men finalized plans for a surprise raid on the British stronghold.
Their drink of choice was a regional favorite known as the “Stone Fence.” In colonial America, apples were often grown for hard cider, which was safer than much local water and common enough to serve almost as daily currency. To strengthen it, drinkers added rum, usually about two shots to every pint of cider.
The name told the rest of the story. After a few rounds, a man might feel as though he had rolled downhill and crashed into a stone wall.
Whatever courage the drink supplied, the plan worked beautifully.
In the pre-dawn hours, Allen and Arnold led 83 men across Lake Champlain and stormed Fort Ticonderoga. The British garrison was caught completely by surprise. The fort fell without a shot being fired.
It was a remarkable early victory for the Patriot cause. The capture denied the British control of a key waterway and, just as importantly, delivered badly needed artillery to the Americans.
Those cannons were later hauled overland to Boston in one of the great feats of the war. General George Washington and Henry Knox used them to force the British evacuation of the city after nearly a year of occupation. The guns from Ticonderoga helped keep the Revolution alive when the cause was still young, uncertain and badly outmatched.
Today, the “Stone Fence” offers a cheerful way to taste a little Revolutionary history.
The recipe is simple: combine hard apple cider with rum, using roughly two shots of rum for every pint of cider. Serve it chilled or at room temperature, preferably with a toast to Ethan Allen, the Green Mountain Boys and the brave Americans who dared to take on an empire.
As the United States turns 250, the drink is more than a cocktail. It is a reminder that the Revolution was fought by real men with courage, flaws, humor, grit and, on at least one famous night, a very full glass.
Raise one this year to the audacity that helped build America.
