Appletini History and Recipes
Travel Distilled looks at the history of the Appletini vodka cocktail and provides a couple of recipes to try.
The Appletini is a simple cocktail, but an interesting one. The name is obviously borrowed from the Martini, though that’s the only thing they’ve got in common apart from using the same glass. You can use gin instead of vodka in an Appletini, making it one step closer to a Martini, though the original recipe calls for vodka.
Appletini History
In the July 1972 edition of Playboy, Smirnoff placed a prominent ad on the inside front cover for a drink they called Adam’s Apple. The recipe was pretty basic – add a slug of Smirnoff to a glass of apple juice. This was sophisticated stuff back then! Smirnoff was probably hoping it would catch on in the way the equally simple Moscow Mule (vodka and ginger beer) had done in the 1940s, but also hopefully establishing that the recipe called for Smirnoff in particular.
The drink received a boost when it was re-invented over the July 4th weekend, 1997, by a bartender in Lola’s, a Los Angeles restaurant on Fairfax Avenue in West Hollywood. The bartender’s name was Adam Karsten so he created what he called the Adam’s Apple Martini, which later became the generic Appletini. His recipe called for Ketel One Vodka and added some sourness to the cocktail (see below).
Appletini and Moscow Mule
Funnily enough, the Appletini’s history mirrors that of the Moscow Mule, which was said to have been invented when a bar wanted to clear some dead stock of vodka and ginger beer that just wasn’t moving.
In the case of the Appletini, Lola’s owner Loren Dunsworth wanted a way of getting rid of some Ketel One vodka and apple schnapps, neither of which were selling well till Adam Karsten combined them. They were soon ordering in extra supplies of both the vodka and the schnapps. It was Dunsworth’s idea to garnish it with a slice of Granny Smith’s apple that had been soaked in lemon juice. Lola’s had only opened in 1996 but within a year was a hot spot, surviving until 2013.
Appletini Variations
The original Smirnoff drink that was a precursor of the Appletini called just for vodka and apple juice, which would have been sweet. By substituting a sour apple schnapps, the drink now had both sweet and sour elements.
If you use gin instead of vodka, you get yet another appletini variation. If you use gin and add some vermouth, you really are getting close to an apple riff on the classic Martini. And if you use rum instead of vodka, you’ve made a Rumpletini. Some people like to add a cherry as garnish instead of the apple slice. Note the lack of ice in these recipes.
Appletini Recipes
Lola’s Adam’s Apple Martini Recipe
Ingredients
2 oz DeKuyper’s Sour Apple Pucker Schnapps
2 oz Ketel One vodka
Method
Shake and strain into chilled Martini glass. Garnish with apple slice.
Typical Appletini Recipe
Ingredients
4.5 cl (3 parts) Vodka
1.5 cl (1 part) Apple schnapps / Calvados
1.5 cl (1 part) Cointreau
Method
Mix in a shaker, then pour into a chilled glass. Garnish and serve.
Sour Apple Schnapps
If you want to try Lola’s original Appletine recipe then you can buy sour apple schnapps at Drizly. They also stock Ketel One Vodka.
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