Name: Escalator
Total time: 3 min
Cuisine: Cocktail
Ingredients: 20 ml Pear liqueur; 15 ml Poire William; 15 ml Bison grass vodka; 40 ml Apple juice

Escalator
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Glass:

Photographed in an Urban Bar Plain Retro Coupette 15cl

Ingredients:
²⁄₃ fl oz	Giffard Poire William liqueur
¹⁄₂ fl oz	Poire William eau-de-vie
¹⁄₂ fl oz	Bison grass vodka
1 ¹⁄₃ fl oz	Apple juice/apple cider (cloudy & unsweetened) chilled

Read about cocktail measures and measuring

Prepare:

Select and pre-chill a COUPE GLASS.
Prepare garnish of pear wedge.

How to make:

SHAKE all ingredients with ice.
FINE STRAIN into chilled glass.

Garnish:

Garnish with pear wedge on rim.

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol

Medium

Boozy

Sweet

Medium

Dry/sour

More cocktails with similar strength and taste profile

Review:

Orchard fruitiness with light grassiness. Easy sipping and relatively low in alcohol strength.

View readers' comments

History:

Adapted from a recipe created in 2002 by Kevin Connelly in England and called an escalator because the 'apples and pears', rhyming slang for 'stairs', are shaken. Originally based on Vilmos Körte Pálinka (Hungarian pear schnapps), in April 2026, Kevin said that due to difficulty sourcing Pálinka, he'd amended his recipe to 30ml Giffard Poire William liqueur, 15ml Zubrowka and 60ml apple juice.

Until April 2026, the recipe above called for 30ml (1oz) Poire William eau-de-vie, 15ml (½oz) bison grass vodka, 60ml (2oz) apple juice and 5ml (barspoon) sugar syrup. As recommended by Kevin, I dropped the sugar syrup and instead introduced sweet Poire William liqueur bolstered by the strength from retaining a slug of Poire William eau-de-vie.

Nutrition:

One serving of Escalator contains 145 calories

Alcohol content:

1 standard drinks
14.26% alc./vol. (28.52° proof)
13.8 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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12th May at 01:05

Humans and chicken stands very well in two legs. But in the case of cocktails I always need the third leg. So I did it. It was too much serious to be so fruity. And I didn't resist and went for lemon, and I think it was equilibrated. But I came from a country were we put lime in everything. Nevertheless I always wanted a recipe to do something with my Poire William bottles.

Kevin Connelly

11th April at 18:18

As the creator of the Escalator, can I just say I named it just 'Escalator'; it was Simon who added 'Martini' and then some time later, decided it wasn't a martini. 🙂

Simon Difford

11th April at 19:16

There was a time when every cocktail was a “Martini”. I’ve changed the name from “Escalator Cocktail” to just “Escalator” and will reshoot to replace the 20+ year old photo. Also, an opportunity to update/correct the recipe. Please can you share your spec?

1 reply

John Hinojos

19th May 2023 at 00:40

We omitted the sugar syrup as our apple juice, while being unsweetened, is organic and a bit on the sweet side being made from one type of apple. Very nice before dinner. Refreshing and the apple pulls out the pear flavour from the eau0-de-vie.

Raphael Golaz

13th January 2023 at 22:25

is that one considered as a Martini family cocktail? just to classify it for my bibliotaste

Simon Difford

14th January 2023 at 17:39

It's not a proper Martini - too much fruit juice and no vermouth. Please see our “When’s a Martini not a Martini” page in our Martini area (search for ‘Martini’ to find the area).

Annabelle Egginton

28th December 2022 at 19:00

Perfectly balanced fruit sweetness and dryness of the vodka. The pear flavor comes through more than the apple, although the acidity of the apple juices balances the pear which could be too sweet thus making it a good pre-dinner cocktail.

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