How Bout Them Salty Apples Recipe
Apple brandy stirred with sweet vermouth and Cynar, deepened by demerara syrup and a barspoon of allspice dram — autumn in a rocks glass.
- Category: Popular
- Glass: Old fashioned glass
- ABV: 24%
- Difficulty: Easy
Ingredients
- Calvados45 ml (1.5 oz)
- Sweet red vermouth15 ml (0.5 oz)
- Cynar (artichoke amaro)15 ml (0.5 oz)
- Demerara syrup1 tsp
- Allspice dram1 tsp
How to Make It
- Add all ingredients to a mixing glass with ice.
- Stir until well chilled.
- Strain into a rocks glass over a large ice cube.
- Garnish with a fan of thin apple slices.
Garnish
Apple fan
What it tastes like
It has a bitter backbone, the spirit is right out front and it is layered, giving you something different each sip.
The technique
Stirring. All-spirit drinks are stirred — shaking whips air into them and ruins both the clarity and the texture. Thirty to forty seconds in a mixing glass, the spoon tracing the wall. You are after the same ~20% dilution, just slower and under control.
Glass and ice
A heavy-bottomed, wide old fashioned glass. Wide enough for one large cube, which is the point: a big cube has less surface area, so the drink gets cold without getting watery.
Ingredient notes and substitutes
- Calvados
- Normandy's apple brandy. It is distilled from cider, not from juice, so it is dry and earthy rather than sweet — dry cider is not a substitute for it.
- Sweet red vermouth
- Once opened it lives IN THE FRIDGE and should be finished within a month; a bottle left at room temperature oxidises in a few weeks and sours the drink.
- Cynar (artichoke amaro)
- An amaro made from artichoke. It does not taste vegetal but earthy and caramelised; at 16.5% it is one of the lighter amari, which is why it turns up in long drinks.
- Demerara syrup
- A dark syrup made from demerara sugar. It carries a molasses note, which is why it stands in for simple syrup in whiskey and rum drinks; swapping the other way flattens them.
The Story
A contemporary autumn recipe built on the Manhattan-with-amaro template, with apple brandy in the whiskey's place.
Frequently asked questions
- How is a How Bout Them Salty Apples mixed?
- It is stirred and served in an old fashioned glass.
- How strong is a How Bout Them Salty Apples?
- Roughly 24% ABV as served — in fortified-wine territory — plan it as a single drink.
- Can a How Bout Them Salty Apples be made without alcohol?
- Simply leaving the spirit out does not work — the body and the bitterness go with it. The 86 alcohol-free recipes in the catalogue are built to hit that balance from the start.
- Is a How Bout Them Salty Apples hard to make?
- Easy. No bar kit required — a measure, ice and a jar will do.
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Alcoholic drink recipes are intended for those aged 18 and over. Please drink responsibly.