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Red Apple Cocktails for Autumn

Apples come in a wide variety of colors and flavors, from tart green to honey golden – but a perfectly crisp, sweet red apple is classic harbinger of autumn. We’ve hand-picked a few of our favorites from the orchard.

Apple liqueur (apfelkorn, schnapps, etc)

When the weather starts to change, we’re quick to pull out the bottle of apple liqueuer (apfelkorn is a favorite around here). One of the first drinks we’ll make with it is also the simplest: the classic Washington Apple, featuring bourbon and cranberry juice. The Royale is another three-ingredient recipe that’s just as easy to mix up, with Scotch and ginger ale.

Apple juice

Apples themselves, and their mild juice, can be difficult to incorporate in a cocktail without losing their flavor or watering down the drink. The Rusty Apple Toddy is a drink that pulls off this balancing act, using heated apple juice in place of hot water in a toddy, with Drambuie or another Scotch whisky liqueur as the base. We also love a good Treacle, where the apple juice is floated atop a dark rum cocktail. And if you can get unfiltered apple juice early enough in the season, a Summer’s End is the perfect way to send off the last lingering warm days of summer.

Cider (and hard cider)

Some of our favorite fall sippers call for cider, a non-alcoholic unfiltered apple juice that is often spiced with the same flavors you’d find in apple pie. The Stone Fence dates back to the American Revolution, but it’s just as delicious today as it ever was. The Hot Buttered Cider is a belly-warming potion perfect for cooling weather. Conversely, the herbs and spices in the fluffy Hayride will put a little pep in your step! Hard cider kicks things up a notch in the Apple Sauced, a highball that tastes just like its namesake.

Apple brandy

No apple-fan’s liquor cabinet would be complete without a bottle of apple brandy – ideally two, as one would want a French calvados, and an American applejack. Fall, to us, is a season for sipping spirit-forward cocktails from heavy rocks glasses, and the Black Apple Old Fashioned is a perfect candidate. The Fallback, with its flavors of roasted spiced apples, isn’t a bad choice either. The Harvest Sling takes things in a different direction, using honey and cherry flavors to intensify the brandy’s apple notes.

What’s Next After the Negroni? Alternatives to the Classic Bitter Cocktail

The venerated Negroni has introduced a whole new generation to the acrid beauty of Campari, and other bitter citrus apéritif like Gran Classico or Luxardo. That said, it’s not the end of the story – the Negroni is simply the first step on a journey of bitter delights. Read on for some of our favorite alternatives to your usual Negroni!

Purple Cocktails that Don’t Suck

We love a pretty purple cocktail – it looks like something magical, like a mana potion or the juice of some otherworldly fruit. But does it taste good? We’ve found twelve solid purple cocktails that were actually good enough to make it in the Cocktail Party app.

Get the app, make better drinks

The Cocktail Party app puts this drink – and hundreds more – in your pocket, and tells you what you can make from the ingredients you have at home. It’s the best $3.99 you’ll ever spend on a drink.