Apple Cider Cocktails

Do we detect a crispness in the air? Then it must be time for apple cider cocktails! 

Whether you are planning a trip to an orchard or looking for a fun and festive way to use hard cider from your local bottle shop, we’ve got a cider cocktail recipe for you! The best part? These cider cocktail recipes are oh-so-easy to execute and are sure to perfectly compliment any fall festivity that you might host or attend.

Move over, pumpkin spice, apple cider cocktails are the real flavor of fall…and we stand by that statement.

How Do You Like Them (Cider) Apples?

We’re going to talk about a few varieties of cider, Tippler Nation! First up, we’ve got fresh pressed apple cider. You can find this at the Farmer’s Market or in the refrigerated section of the grocery store. It is often spiced with cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg and served warm– a perfect autumnal non alcoholic delight! Also in the NA section, we’ve got sparkling apple cider–one sip and you are magically transported back to the kid’s table at Thanksgiving. Both are delicious in their own right and are a bushel of fun to mix cider cocktails with!

Then we have our favorite: hard cider. Hard cider is a fermented, alcoholic beverage made from the juice of apples. It dates back to the Romans in 55 BC. The beverage became a popular alternative in 13th century Europe because it was safer to drink than water and touted for its health benefits to aid digestion and prevent gout, bladder infections, fevers, and basically any ailment you can imagine. Cider was brought over to the colonies by the Europeans; apples were easier to grow than grains in New England and once again: water wasn’t safe to drink.

Did you know that the first distilling license in the newly created United States of America went to a family in New Jersey famous for distilling apples? In fact, the Laird family continues to make applejack to this very day!  According to Michael Pollan in The Botany of Desire, “Up until Prohibition, an apple grown in America was far less likely to be eaten than to wind up in a barrel of cider.”

Turns out we really liked them apples.

Spiced Cider Cocktails

Spiced apple cider adds a lovely warmth to cocktails, and we aren’t just talking temperature. Apple cider in cocktails is juicy, rich, and comforting.

By far the easiest fall cider cocktail out there is a mug of steaming hot spiced apple cider with a dram of rum or whiskey and a jauntily perched cinnamon stick–a simplified version of the traditional English Wassail. Similarly, we love adding an ounce of apple cider to Mules and Dark and Stormy cocktails. 

Want to try your hand at a more complex apple cider cocktail? We love a little fall margarita variation:

1 oz spiced cider

1/2 oz lemon juice

1/4 oz Elderflower Liqueur

1/2 oz honey syrup

2 oz Reposado Tequila

Shake and serve on the rocks in a cinnamon sugar rimmed glass. Who says margaritas are only for warm, tropical occasions?!

Hard Cider Cocktails

Hard cider cocktails aren’t some new invention; folks have been crafting cocktails with cider for as long as they’ve been fermenting it!

One of the oldest cider cocktails on record is the Stone Fence, a historic cocktail enjoyed by Ethan Allen and his Greenmountain Boys the night before Fort Ticonderoga. Over the years, this cider cocktail has been made with everything from rum to whiskey, even cognac, but we like it using Mad River’s Maple Cask Rum!

When using hard cider in cocktails, reach for a dry or brut cider, or perhaps even a Spanish sidre. Cider plays well with spices (kind of a no brainer!) so amaro and rye are natural winners. Keep it on the lower abv side by using cider and sparkling water in an amaro spritz! Go for the ultimate autumnal hihgball and add a dash of Allspice Dram and a splash of bourbon to dry cider over ice. Swap cider for champagne in a French 75 for a festive fall delight, or try using half hard cider, half ginger beer in Mules and Bucks.

As our founder Suzanne points out, “Cider  has a lot of similarities to wine (acidity, astringency, natural sweetness) but tends to have almost half the alcohol content! Many are effervescent. Which makes them crisp and refreshing” and perfect for use in fall cocktails! 

We have quite a few of our own cider cocktails here at The Crafty Cask! Try Suzanne’s Ski Bunny for a crisp nod to the Alpine slopes or get crafty with Jena’s cider vermouth and Gibson Gal.

Sparkling Cider Cocktails

We happen to believe that non alcoholic sparkling apple cider should leave the kid’s table and find its way on up to the bar. Sparkling apple cider adds fabulous fizz and a great apple-laced sweetness to both cocktails and zero-proof libations: you can spike it with just about any spirit your heart desires, drink it on its own, or swap it in for soda in NA beverages.

Add a splash of pomegranate or unsweetened cranberry juice for an easy cider n/a cocktail. Try adding it to a pitcher of fresh squeezed lemonade sweetened with maple syrup for a harvest time crowd pleaser everyone can enjoy. We like to keep one pitcher on the table and one on the bar, adults can spike their apple maple lemonade with brandy, vodka, rum, whiskey, or reposado tequila!

Use sparkling apple cider to cut the proof of your hard cider cocktails, should you so desire: half sparking and half hard cider in each serving. Swapping it in for soda in a Collins is a great way to turn a classic seasonal! In lieu of the usual lemon/orange/cherry garnish, top your sparkling apple cider Collins with an apple fan and a brandied cherry. We also like to use sparkling apple cider in punch recipes that call for ginger ale!

After all of this apple cider cocktail inspiration, we are ready to leap right on into festive fall events! From apple picking to pumpkin carving, harvest themed dinners to holidays, cozying up by the fire and everything in between–these cider cocktails tick all of the (apple) boxes!

Thirsty for more hard cider or cocktail fun? Book a virtual tasting or event with us and have all the yummy craft ciders and cocktail ingredients shipped right to your door.

Now can we get an apple for the teacher? In cider form…of course!