Cocktails with Apple cider (unsweetened)
Apple cider (unsweetened) is cloudy, unfiltered apple juice with no added sugar. Americans call it cider, but it is not fermented and has no alcohol.
How it's used
Use it to lengthen a drink and add fresh apple. It suits autumn sours, martini-style drinks and punches, and pairs with apple brandy, whiskey, rum, gin, cinnamon and ginger.
Substitutes for Apple cider (unsweetened)
Cloudy apple juice
If it is not from concentrate and has no added sugar, it is the same thing.
Clear apple juice
Works, but it is thinner and less tart.
Hard cider
Fermented apple juice with alcohol, usually sparkling and much drier. Do not use it instead: it adds alcohol and fizz.
Description
In the United States, apple cider means freshly pressed apple juice that has not been filtered clear, so it stays cloudy and tastes fuller and more tart than clear juice. It is not fermented: the alcoholic drink the rest of the world calls cider is "hard cider" in America. In cocktails it lengthens a drink and adds fresh apple, acidity and body. Choose one with no added sugar: the syrup in the recipe is measured with that in mind.
