Forbidden Fruit

Difford’s Guide
Discerning Drinkers (55 ratings)

Photographed in an UB Koto Collins 35cl

Ingredients:
1 13 oz Calvados / apple brandy / straight applejack
13 oz Hayman's London Dry Gin
13 oz Orange Curaçao liqueur
13 oz Strucchi Rosso Vermouth
12 oz Lemon juice (freshly squeezed)
16 oz Monin Pure Cane Syrup (65.0°brix, equivalent to 2:1 rich syrup)
2 dash Angostura Aromatic Bitters
2 dash Peychaud's or other Creole-style bitters
1 12 oz Thomas Henry Ginger Beer
× 1 1 serving
Read about cocktail measures and measuring

How to make:

  1. Select and pre-chill a Collins glass.
  2. Prepare garnish of lemon slice wheel.
  3. SHAKE first 7 ingredients with ice.
  4. STRAIN into ice-filled glass whilst also pouring ginger beer.
  5. Garnish with lemon slice wheel.

Allergens:

Recipe contains the following allergens:

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol
Medium
Boozy
Strength 6/10
Sweet
Medium
Dry/sour
Sweet to sour 6/10

Review:

Given the name, don't expect a sweet 'fruity' cocktail, instead, this is dry, spicy and complex with zesty citrus over an appley spirituous base with enlivening ginger spice.

View readers' comments

History:

Adapted from a recipe created in 2012 by Aisha Sharpe in New York City. The original recipe was based on bonded applejack rather than calvados and was more or less:
- 45ml (1½oz) Bottled-in-bond applejack
- 30ml (1oz) Pimm's No. 1
- 15ml (½oz) Lemon juice
- 7.5ml (¼oz) Sugar syrup (1:1)
- 2 dashes Angostura Aromatic Bitters
- 2 dashes Peychaud's bitters
- 45ml (1½oz) Ginger beer

Nutrition:

One serving of Forbidden Fruit contains 212 calories

Alcohol content:

  • 1.4 standard drinks
  • 14.15% alc./vol. (14.15° proof)
  • 19.3 grams of pure alcohol

Difford’s Guide remains free-to-use thanks to the support of the brands in green above. Values stated for alcohol and calorie content, and number of drinks an ingredient makes should be considered approximate.

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Romina’s Avatar Romina
16th May at 19:53
I'm not sure about this drink... I was excited to try it since it has nine ingredients. It's definitely refreshing—you can taste the ginger (I used Fever-Tree Ginger Beer)—but the bitters are a bit overpowering. Maybe using just one dash of each instead of two would make it more enjoyable for me.
Donald S’ Avatar Donald S
11th May at 00:49
I found this very refreshing and a nice alternative to the standard gin style cocktail. I'm not a big Ginger Beer fan but found that it blended nicely with the Apple Brandy.
Avery Garnett’s Avatar Avery Garnett
18th October 2024 at 19:33
It's good but...it's just really not worth the faff. It doesn't gain anything tiki-like from using a shopping list of ingredients to backup the calvados.
John Hinojos’ Avatar John Hinojos
2nd September 2022 at 00:07
Used Laird's 86 Applejack since it was a bit higher in proof. Very refreshing. Having a warm afternoon and perfect to cool off the body. Would try again with the Bottled-in-Bond Applejack.
Andreas Håkansson’s Avatar Andreas Håkansson
23rd February 2022 at 06:47
An interesting “concoction” that reminds me of a punch or tiki-style drink. The calvados or applejack clearly comes through and makes it a bit unique. Not so sure about the gin though. I’ll try without next time. A 3,5 star drink for me…