Are you a Discerning Drinker?
Join thousands of like-minded professionals and cocktail enthusiasts, receive our weekly newsletters and see pages produced by our community for fellow Discerning Drinkers.
Angel Face
Rich apricot and apple with a backbone of botanical gin. Balanced rather than dry or sweet. This cocktail looks better when stirred, but Harry Craddock's
Apple Cart
A splash of apple liqueur helps balance this otherwise overly sour calvados-based Sidecar.
Bentley
Dry, spiced wine impregnated with apple - pretty damn good.
Calvados Cocktail
Apple is somewhat dominated by orange but a pleasing dry, zesty, fruity combo nonetheless.
Cider Apple Cooler
Not so far away from the taste of strong dry cider.
Diki-Diki
Fruity yet tart. Apple brandy and grapefruit with the distinctive twang of Swedish Punch.
Empire Cocktail
Apricot fortified by gin and apple brandy. Craddock's 1930 recipe calls for this cocktail to be shaken rather than stirred, indeed it's a cocktail that
Jack-in-the-Box
Smooth 'n' easy pineapple laced with apple brandy. If you like this, then you may also like French Martinis
Jack Maples
Maple syrup smooths apple brandy, even as it enhances its character.
Manicure
Due to the use of Calvados and honeyed Scotch herbal liqueur, for a brief moment of madness, this riff on a Rusty Nail was going to be called 'French Nail
Oceans 21
Apple, cranberry and orange harmoniously presented.
Princess Mary's Pride
Apple brandy to the fore, followed by aromatised wine.
Princess Pride
Vic's improved version of the Princess Mary's Pride cocktail.
Saison Highball
Brewed and distilled apple combine in this long dry (depending on your cider), very lightly carbonated highball.
Star
Apple notes from calvados combine harmoniously with vinous vermouth with creole-style bitters, this Sweet Manhattan-like cocktail's anchoring ingredient.
Widow's Kiss
Herbal with hints of apple, mint and eucalyptus. This classic is also often made with green Chartreuse, but we prefer, as per classic recipes, with half
Woxum
The flavour of Chartreuse shines through in this slightly sweet, spirituous cocktail. Historically served straight-up but we prefer on-the-rocks in an
Apple Blossom Cocktail
Concentrated lightly herbal apple with subtle zesty citrus. Quick to make and stupidly simple yet delicious.
Calvados & Tonic
Crisp dry apple with delicate quinine tonic bitterness.
Harvest Cocktail
Boozy with notes of spiced apple brandy. A great after-dinner sipper.
Orchard Keeper
Apple brandy delicately sweetened and flavoured with honey and aromatised by vermouth.
Pomme et Sureau
Light, long and refreshing apple and elderflower.
Salvamento
Bittersweet and complex with apple brandy, zesty citrus and faint rose.
A. J.
Amazingly simple and beautifully balanced.
Twelve Miles Out Cocktail
Stir or shake (as originally stipulated in The Savoy Cocktail Book) this cocktail is still boozy. However, it's also wonderfully aromatic with all three
Mulled Apple Black
Fruity rich and warming with apple (calvados) and blackberry.
Roulette
Balanced apple and spice.
Bolero
Bone dry and spirit-forward. Be sure to stir well, as dilution is key, hence my addition of a splash of chilled water.
Apple Sunrise
A pleasing blend of fruits with the apple punch of Calvados.
Corpse Reviver No.1 (Savoy recipe)
Dry and potent. A 'pick-me-up' hangover cure - or possibly put-you-right-back-down-again!
Barton Special Cocktail
Dry and hardcore - gin, apple brandy and Scotch, tamed only by a little dilution and being chilled.
Yale Fence
The combination of apple brandy, gin and vermouth produce a delicious spirit-forward cocktail with unexpected delicious creamy vanilla notes.
