Apple Martini Cocktail

An apple martini is usually made with vodka and a sour apple liqueur or apple schnapps, with fresh lemon juice added to balance the sweetness. This version also uses a little clear apple juice which gives the drink a more natural fruit flavour and keeps it from tasting like apple flavoured alcohol.

For the brightest green colour use a green sour apple liqueur such as Sourz Apple in the UK or DeKuyper Sour Apple Pucker in the US. The lemon juice is important because many sour apple liqueurs are quite sweet and the fresh acidity keeps the finished cocktail taste more refreshing.

Start by chilling your martini glass or coupe. Add 45 ml / 1½ oz vodka, 25 ml / ¾ oz plus 2 tsp sour apple liqueur, 20 ml / ⅔ oz clear apple juice and 10 ml / 2 tsp fresh lemon juice to a cocktail shaker.

Fill the shaker generously with ice and shake hard for about 12 to 15 seconds until the shaker feels very cold. Strain into the chilled glass and garnish with a thin slice of Granny Smith apple.

The important part is to taste before adding the optional simple syrup. If your particular apple liqueur is already quite sweet you might not need it at all. From experience we've found when we controlled the amount of apple liqueur and used fresh citrus it helped a lot to avoid avoid turning the appletini into an overly sweet drink.

We've found from our kitchen test's the easiest way is to add a little more fresh lemon juice rather than adding more apple liqueur. Start with another 5 ml / 1 tsp, shake again briefly and taste.

You can also leave out the simple syrup completely and use an unsweetened apple juice. If you make the cocktail regularly, measuring the sour apple liqueur rather than free pouring it makes a surprisingly big difference because it's usually the sweetest and most intensely flavoured ingredient in the drink.

For the classic bright green Apple Martini choose a sour apple liqueur or sour apple schnapps.

In the UK, Sourz Apple is an easy option. In the US, DeKuyper Sour Apple Pucker gives you the classic vivid green colour and sweet and sour green apple character. Bols Sour Apple is another option if you want a green apple flavour without relying quite so heavily on the traditional candy like profile.

There is quite a bit of variation between apple liqueurs. Some are designed to taste like sharp green fruity sweets while others have a more natural apple character.

For this particular recipe the important thing is not to keep adding liqueur in an attempt to make the drink greener. More liqueur also means more sweetness. If you want a particularly vivid green drink, a small amount of Midori can be used as a colour boost instead which is what we like to do when we make this for a Halloween party.

Yes but it changes the cocktail quite a bit. Apple juice gives you a softer and more natural fruit flavour while sour apple liqueur gives you the characteristic sharp green apple taste and vivid colour associated with a classic Appletini. Using both is a good balance because it gives you the best of both worlds for a more enjoyable flavour.

If you want to leave out the sour apple liqueur altogether, use more apple juice and fresh lemon juice, then add a little simple syrup only if the drink is too tart. Just expect the finished cocktail to be much paler and more like a fresh apple martini than the bright green drink shown in the photograph.

The easiest way is to use a bright green sour apple liqueur. That gives you the classic colour without needing food colouring.

For an even brighter green you can replace 5 ml / 1 tsp of the sour apple liqueur with 5 ml / 1 tsp Midori. This gives the cocktail an extra colour boost while avoiding the temptation to add a much larger amount of sweet apple liqueur.

Clear apple juice also helps keep the finished cocktail translucent and luminous. Cloudy or unfiltered apple juice can give you a fuller apple flavour, but it makes the drink paler and less crystal clear. To make it more like the photo I'd stick with clear fruit juice, bright green sour apple liqueur, plenty of ice and a very cold glass. That combo gives you the best chance of getting that striking luminous green appearance while still keeping the flavour balanced.