If you were in a cocktail bar in the late 1990s, you 100% drank a neon green Appletini at some point. Trust me, I was there. The power of that drink was massive and worldwide. Then whiskey started making a slow comeback in the early 2000s with the old-fashioned and the appletini largely disappeared, left to the dustbin of history as an overly sweet neon relic of “what we’re we thinking” cocktail culture.
Well, like so much 1990s nostalgia, the Appletini is back. And, dare I say, it’s better than ever.
This drink goes back to the early 1990s when Loren “Lola” Dunsworth invented the drink at her eponymous bar and restaurant Lola’s in West Hollywood. Long story short, Ketel One Vodka — a tiny brand at the time — asked Dunsworth to come up with a new cocktail utilizing their vodka. Dunworth gave the job to Lola’s head bartender Adam Karston with the edict of using apple brandy and vodka to make a new drink. So Karston mixed some Ketel with DeKuyper Pucker Sour Apple schnapps and a splash of sour mix (those were dark days, folks).
Boom! The Appletini was born and — seemingly overnight — took over cocktail culture from Hollywood to Helsinki.
By the mid-2000s, the drink pretty much disappeared off bar menus and was relegated to a joke cocktail. Sour mix and Pucker are not high-quality ingredients. Moreover, they’re sugar bombs, which made for a sickly sweet “apple” flavored drink. And some nasty hangovers. The mocking the cocktail got was well deserved.
Fast forward almost 20 years and you’re starting to hear rumblings of not only the Appletini making a comeback but of it being better than ever. That’s what we’re going to focus on with this recipe — a real Appletini made with real ingredients instead of shortcuts. And, my lord, does that suddenly make this drink delicious!
Today, we’re going to make a real-deal Appletini and it’s going to slap. Let’s get shaking!
- The Revolver Is The Perfect Midwinter Cocktail — Here’s Our Recipe
- Is Tom Hanks’ Champagne ‘Cocktail’ Any Good? We Found Out
- The Bee’s Knees Is Our ‘Welcome To Spring’ Cocktail — Here’s The Recipe
- How To Make A Batched Old Fashioned Just In Time For Super Bowl Sunday
- The Old Pal Is The Only Whiskey Cocktail You Need Right Now
Appletini
Ingredients:
- 1 oz. apple vodka
- 1 oz. apple brandy
- 1 oz. apple juice
- 0.25 oz. simple syrup
- 0.25 oz. fresh lemon juice
- Granny Smith apple
- Cocktail cherry
- Ice
So you really want to get real apple flavor into this drink. Start by using apple vodka. I grabbed Smirnoff Green Apple. It has a nice balance and isn’t overly sweet.
Generally, I’d use Calvados (a Norman apple brandy) for this. Since I’m out, I used an American apple brandy. It’s perfectly fine as a filler. I would stay away from apple-flavored whiskeys though as they’re usually made with a sugary apple liqueur mixed with whiskey. Apple brandy, on the other hand, is brandy made with apples.
Next, I’m using lighter apple juice. This cocktail needs to be effervescent and you need a light apple juice for that.
Lastly, instead of sour mix, I’m using fresh lemon juice and simple syrup. It’s the same thing but you can control the quality and sugariness.
What You’ll Need:
- Coupe of cocktail glass (prechilled)
- Cocktail shaker
- Cocktail strainer
- Fine mesh strainer
- Pairing knife
- Hand juicer
- Garnish pick
- Jigger
Method:
- Prechill the glass in the freezer.
- Add the apple vodka, apple brandy, apple juice, fresh lemon juice, and simple syrup to a cocktail shaker. Add a large handful of ice. Affix the lid and shake vigorously for about 15 seconds until the shaker is ice-cold to touch.
- Double-strain the cocktail into the prechilled glass. Garnish with an apple slice and cherry and then serve.
Bottom Line:
This is a crazy delicious drink. It’s so light and fresh while delivering a serious apple vibe. The best part is that it’s apple-forward and only a touch sweet. It’s almost woody and has a hint of spice from the brandy. It’s actually complex while being amazingly easy to sip — all while delivering the purest essence of tart yet sweet apple.
Overall, this is a great summer refresher. It goes down so easily that you’ll be shaking another before you know it. And perhaps more importantly, this looks like a real drink and isn’t glowing an unholy neon green.
Before I go, you can make a fall/winter version of this by replacing the light apple juice with freshly pressed/unfiltered apple cider. Then replace the simple syrup with cinnamon syrup. You’ll have a velvety and spicy apple cider version that’s thick and juicy for fall and winter sipping.
