Apple Martini
Muddle; Shake ∙ 4 min ∙ 8.1% ABV ∙
The Apple Martini is a vodka sour built with muddled fresh green apple, lemon juice, and rosemary, shaken and served up in a martini glass. Crisp green apple leads, sharp lemon keeps it from turning candy-sweet, and a faint rosemary note lingers under a clean, tart finish.
Ingredients
1
Servings
Garnish
Instructions for 1 serving
- Pre-chill a glass
- In the base of the shaker, muddle: Green apple 80 g and Rosemary fresh 5 g
- Add the remaining ingredients: Vodka 50 mlLemon juice 30 mlSugar syrup 20 mlAloe juice 20 ml
- Shake with ice
- Fine strain into the chilled glass
- Garnish with an apple wedge
Tips
- Muddle the green apple and rosemary firmly for about 15 seconds first to release oils and juice before adding the liquids, or the drink tastes flat.
- Shake all ingredients hard with plenty of ice for a full 15 seconds to fully emulsify the apple pulp and aloe juice, then double-strain into the chilled martini glass to remove fibrous bits.
- Cut the apple wedge garnish just before serving and notch it onto the rim so the cut flesh doesn't brown before the drink reaches the guest.
- Chill the martini glass in the freezer for at least 10 minutes beforehand since this shaken drink has no ice to keep it cold in the glass.
History
The Apple Martini, also called the Appletini, is generally traced to Lola's, a martini bar in West Hollywood, California, where bartender Adam Karsten combined Ketel One vodka with DeKuyper Sour Apple Pucker schnapps after the bar's owner wanted a way to use up stock of both bottles. Sources differ on the exact year, with Wikipedia dating the creation to 1996 and several other accounts placing it in the summer of 1997, often tied to a Fourth of July gathering. The drink was originally called the Adam's Apple Martini after its creator before the shortened name took hold and spread. Some writers trace the concept further back to a 1972 Smirnoff magazine advertisement for a simpler drink called the Adam's Apple, made with just vodka and apple juice, though this earlier drink was not a martini-style cocktail. Lola's version, garnished with a lemon-soaked apple slice, became one of the bar's signatures and is widely credited with helping spark a broader trend of flavored vodka martinis in the following years.
