The Appletini

Sometimes you just want a drink that tastes of GREEN, and the cheesy club classic Appletini certainly fits that mould!

Unlike a lot of the cocktails I’ve researched, all of the main players in this story are still around. The year is 1997, the place is LA, and the bar is Lola’s. There is a bottle of De Kuyper Apple Sour Pucker gathering dust on the shelf, and so the owner asks the bartender to do something with it…vodka is not yet a dirty word, so he combines the schnapps with some Ketel One, floats a lemon soaked apple slice on top and the Appletini is born! Except his name was Adam, so he actually named it the Adam’s Apple… it didn’t stick. 

The large portion sizes at Lola’s (and probably the fact that it tastes more like a sweetie than an alcoholic beverage) led to an element of notoriety- they even took them off the menu for a while because of the number of people overindulging. But it had taken hold and spread like wildfire.  It even became JD’s drink of choice in the TV show Scrubs, although that was probably more of a dig at his immaturity than anything…

Ingredients

  • 45ml (1 1/2oz) De Kuyper Sour Pucker Apple Schnapps

  • 45ml (1 1/2oz) Ketel One vodka

  • Slice of Granny Smith apple (garnish- rub with lemon or dip in lemon juice to stop it going brown)

  • Good ice

Equipment

  • A jigger

  • Shaker tins

  • A Hawthorn strainer

  •  A fine strainer

  •  An oversized martini glass

Method

One of the factors in the popularity of this drink (besides the greenness and sweetness!) seems to have been the size- a lot of the recipes I found actually gave the measurements in cups! Well, quarter cups but still… so I have kept it suitably large here, but bear that in mind when choosing your glassware. 

Add your ingredients to the mixing glass and shake hard. I know I always tell you that if the drinks is all booze it should be stirred, but this Appletini doesn’t play by the rules! Strain in to your ostentatiously large martini glass, float your apple slice on top, serve, and party like its 1997!


Appletini with ingredients 1-1.jpg

Suggested ingredients

De Kuyper and Ketel One are the original ingredients for the Appletini, but if this doesn't look or taste quite like your late '90s night clubbing days, you might just have to remember what your go-to venues were stocking back then!

Extended Viewing

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The Apple Martini

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The Artichoke Hold