May Drink of the Month: The Apple Cart

My methods for picking a drink of the month vary greatly. Sometimes I pick a drink based on a friend's recommendation. Sometimes I find something while I'm out at a bar and want to try to replicate it. Sometimes I find inspiration from blogs like Imbibe Unfiltered or the Cocktail Chronicles. I have a few bar books, and sometimes the process is a simple as opening to a random page in the book and pointing. However, one of the most frequent ways I decide on a new drink of the month is by buying a liquor on a whim and then trying to find a recipe that I like that uses that ingredient. That's how I stumbled across the Apple Cart, a great, refreshing summer drink that is perfect for an evening on the porch. While I was visiting a friend in Minneapolis in January, we stopped by the local liquor store to pick up ingredients for Almond Cigars, a drink I will be sure to write up very soon. As we checked out, I saw a bottle of apple brandy on sale and bought it for a lark. I'd never heard of a drink that needed apple brandy, but I was sure there had to be one out there somewhere.

That night, we searched the internet for possible options. I wasn't at home (read: with my bar), so our ingredients were fairly limited. We did have a bottle of triple sec, however, and I had bought lemons just in case we needed them. That made the apple cart the easy choice. The recipe is below:

Apple Cart

1 measure Calvados*

3/4 meausre Orange Liqueur**

1/2 measure lemon juice

Optional: Add 1-2 dashes of Orange Bitters for a more citrus-y flavor

Combine ingredients in rocks glass filled 3/4 full with ice. Stir for 20 seconds and serve.

A few notes on ingredients: 

*Calvados is French apple brandy, and is by far the best quality liquor to use for this drink. However, any other apple brandy will work. Applejack is a similar drink made in the US which also works well in this drink. I much prefer Calvados, as it 100% distilled apple cider, whereas Applejack is cut with neutral spirits (like vodka). For more on the distinction, check out the article HERE. It is a matter of taste which spirit you choose. The price difference is not too much, despite what the linked article says. Calvados can be had from my local liquor store for around $20, compared to a $16 price tag for Applejack.

**There are three basic types of orange liqueur. The most common (and thus the cheapest) is Triple Sec, which can be found for $6-10 in any liquor store. Triple Sec is a great mixer, providing a little bit of alcoholic punch and sweetness without too much more in the way of flavor. I like to think of it as boozier simple syrup, and can be used in this way without altering the flavor of your drink too much. On the higher end of the spectrum are Contreau and Grand Marnier. Both of these liqueurs retail between $35-42 a bottle, but are worth investing in some time, simply because of the number of cocktails that call for them. Grand Marnier has the stronger orange flavor, which makes it less suitable for some cocktails that have subtle flavors, as the spiced orange flavor can drown them out. For the Apple Cart, I recommend Contreau first and Triple Sec second. Another option that I've been using in the past few weeks is my homemade Orangecello, which also works quite well!

The Apple Cart will feature the apple flavor most strongly, but will also have notes of citrus from the orange liqueur and the lemon juice. You can adjust your drink ratios to taste - for those people who appreciate sour flavors, you can get away with one part of each ingredient. But be careful not to overdo the lemon juice. While lemon juice is great in almost any cocktail, it can easily take over any drink if your hand gets shaky while you pour.

Hope you enjoy your Apple Cart!