It was a bit of a journey getting to this cocktail. Having attempted two messier apple butter cocktails (read about them here and here), it was time to recreate the apple butter flavor with more traditional cocktail ingredients. I decided to start with a fairly standard Old Fashioned formula (2 oz bourbon, sugar cube muddled with splash of soda, 3 dashes aromatic bitters) and modify it into an Apple Pie Old Fashioned.

2 oz Winchester Rye
3/4 oz 1×1 brown sugar syrup
4-6 dashes apple bitters
1/4 oz lemon juice
2 oz Ginger Beer
garnish with apple slice

Let’s break down these ingredients:

– Winchester Rye- Regardless of your opinion on this South Carolina distillery’s controversial bourbon, their rye’s similarly sweet character makes it an interesting cocktail component, especially if you’re playing with spicy/savory ingredients (which we most certainly are this time around). Unfortunately, I didn’t have much of the Winchester Rye on hand (only about 1.6 oz in an airplane bottle), so I blended it with 1/2 oz of Old Overholt, which is my usual cocktail rye and a favorite of traditionalist bartenders in my area. The result was a slighter sweeter rye blend that still had that distinctive drier rye character I needed for the cocktail.

– Brown Sugar Syrup- I love substituting brown sugar syrup for simple syrup. In this case, I used a 1-to-1 sugar-to-water ratio in making the syrup, but I tried something a little different: using half light brown and half dark brown sugar. The resulting syrup still had the qualities I needed but in a more subtle profile. Here’s the full breakdown as a bonus recipe within this recipe:

1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1 cup water
Bring the water to a boil, and dump in your sugars, stirring for a minute and then reducing it to simmer. Let simmer for 10-15 minutes or just until everything has dissolved. Pour contents into a sterilized container. I prefer to store my syrups in mason jars.

The brown sugar syrup is a great way to ensure the sweetness of the cocktail while also introducing a smokier, richer flavor than a traditional simple syrup. It’s outstanding in an Old Fashioned too, but in this case, my goal was to emulate the brown sugar flavor of the apple butter.

– Apple Bitters- I feel conflicted about apple bitters. Unlike the more traditional aromatic or citrus bitters, apple bitters don’t play well with many other ingredients. Like Apple Jacks, they don’t really taste like apples; instead, these are the source of our cinnamon component in the fall seasonings profile. Apple bitters can be pretty overpowering, so in most drinks, they should be used sparingly. This drink is one of the only times where you can really go all out.

At this point, I stirred the ingredients in a rocks glass and gave them a preliminary taste. While the resulting cocktail had most of the fall seasoning profile covered, it didn’t have a lot of body to it. There was a certain brightness that I was going for—that of an apple—, and this drink just didn’t have it yet. It was time for some modifications.

– Lemon Juice- I didn’t want to go overkill with this component, so I kept it at 1/4 oz just to give the drink that extra lift that citrus juices can offer. I took inspiration from the Gold Rush (or “Cold Toddy”) in choosing lemon rather than lime. Plus, I’ve seen lemon juice paired with apple bitters in other cocktails, so I know that combination works— nothing wrong with staying on the safe side the first go-round. Introducing citrus usually means you need to break out your shaker, but I opted to stir this cocktail to leave some of that Old Fashioned smoothness intact.

– Ginger Beer- Recalling the previous apple butter cocktail attempt and again drawing inspiration from the Gold Rush, I decided to incorporate ginger for that missing brightness. The ginger variant of the Gold Rush calls for a honey ginger syrup, but this would push my cocktail’s sweetness beyond acceptable levels. Ginger beer would solve my ginger conundrum while also giving the cocktail a much needed effervescence. I had Barritt’s on hand, so into the glass it went! My rocks glass was already pretty full at this point, so I opted to use only 2 oz rather than move the drink to a new glass.

– Apple Slice Garnish- Okay, I kind of went off the rails here, and this would be difficult to replicate in a traditional bar setting. I had a crockpot full of apple butter going already when I was putting this cocktail together, so when it came time for garnish, I grabbed a slice of apple from out of the crockpot. It already had a light sugar coating, which meant that dunking the slice into the cocktail could sweeten it if desired. This sweetened apple slice is neat, but it’s not necessarily practical. A regular old apple slice should be more than adequate for this cocktail in the future, and I recommend skewing to the crisp and tart to balance the spice of the drink. Honeycrisp or Granny Smith should do the job.

As I sampled the cocktail, enjoying the fullness of it and pleased that the more traditional bar components had effectively recreated the apple butter flavor, a slew of ideas came to me:

– What about using a chai-infused bourbon?
– What if I muddled brown sugar and ginger beer instead of using a syrup?
– What would happen if I went with lime instead of lemon?
– What about mixing lemon ginger bitters with apple bitters?
– Could I maybe use this recipe in conjunction with an apple cider or a punch?
– How might different glassware enhance the drink?

The great news about the cocktail craft is that constant experimentation like this will only lead to better drinks. Just like with a real apple pie recipe, infinite variations are not only possible; they’re encouraged. So I’m not necessarily calling the Apple Pie Old Fashioned recipe finished; I’m opening it up for every reader of this blog to put their own personal touch on it.