Cocktails with Apple cider (unsweetened)
Apple cider is an alcoholic beverage made from the fermented juice of apples, in its unsweetened form fermented close to dry.
ABVAbout 5%Within a class range that spans roughly 1.2–12% across English and continental styles.
Taste profile
Fermented-apple aroma dominates, carried over a largely dry body with medium acidity and only faint sweetness.
How it's used
Reached for when a drink needs a low-alcohol, apple-forward liquid to lengthen or form part of the base, built and topped rather than shaken. In dry form it contributes little sweetness; because much commercially sold cider is back-sweetened, a purchased bottle may carry noticeable sugar that shifts the balance of a mixed drink.
Substitutes for Apple cider (unsweetened)
Another fermented, apple-forward, low-alcohol liquid; a drier apple base can stand in for a sweeter one, and a somewhat different strength can be corrected by dilution or by adjusting its proportion in the glass. A plain apple flavouring or a high-strength apple spirit will not preserve the fermented-apple identity that a base or lengthening role depends on.
Often confused with
Apple cider (US/Canada, non-alcoholic)
This class is fermented and alcoholic; in the US and Canada 'apple cider' means an unfiltered, unsweetened, non-alcoholic apple beverage — essentially cloudy apple juice — while the fermented drink is called 'hard cider' there.
