Apple Martini (simple)

Difford’s Guide
Discerning Drinkers (43 ratings)

Photographed in an Urban Bar Verdot Martini 21cl

Ingredients:
2 oz Ketel One Vodka
1 oz Hayman's London Dry Gin
1 12 oz Apple juice/apple cider (cloudy & unsweetened)
16 oz Monin Pure Cane Syrup (65.0°brix, equivalent to 2:1 rich syrup)
× 1 1 serving
Read about cocktail measures and measuring

How to make:

  1. Select and pre-chill a Martini glass.
  2. Prepare garnish of Luxardo Maraschino Cherry.
  3. SHAKE all ingredients with ice.
  4. FINE STRAIN into chilled glass.
  5. Garnish with maraschino cherry dropped into cocktail.

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol
Medium
Boozy
Strength 6/10
Sweet
Medium
Dry/sour
Sweet to sour 5/10

Review:

This is subtitled "simple" for good reason but, if freshly pressed juice is used, it's as good if not better than other Apple 'Martini' recipes.

View readers' comments

Variant:

Appletini (Sour Apple Martini) - vodka, sour apple liqueur, sugar syrup, lime cordial, lime juice and lemon juice.
Split Apple Martini - calvados, vodka, apple juice and bianco americano.
Calvados Appletini - calvados, apple juice, lemon juice and sugar syrup.
Big Apple Sour Martini - vodka, calvados, apple juice, lemon juice and sugar syrup.
Big Apple Martini - gin, vodka, bianco vermouth, calvados, sour apple liqueur, and apple juice.
Apple Martini (with apple schnapps) - vodka, gin, apple schnapps and apple juice.
Toffee Apple Martini - calvados, vodka, gin, sour apple liqueur, caramel toffee liqueur and apple juice.

History:

Recipe by yours truly in 2004.

Our Martini cocktail page details its evolution and other common variants.

Nutrition:

One serving of Apple Martini (simple) contains 234 calories

Alcohol content:

  • 1.9 standard drinks
  • 19.1% alc./vol. (19.1° proof)
  • 26.7 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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Catherine Wright’s Avatar Catherine Wright
9th May at 17:55
Kept it simple with more gin, fresh green apple juice, 2 teaspoons of Giffards green apple syrup. Was happily drunk by all and definitely going to be a summer martini/spritz!
Massimo Cremieux’s Avatar Massimo Cremieux
11th October 2022 at 18:59
I tried this with edelflower syrup instead sugar syrup. Good !
David Hoyle’s Avatar David Hoyle
29th March 2022 at 16:06
I was expecting a 'showcase' for recently acquired Eager Apple Juice, but the vodka burns through the fresh bucolic fruitiness like a branding iron, making an intriguing collision of flavours and effects. I will try this cocktail again, perhaps increasing the apple juice a tad to compare the outcome. An appealing 'northern' drink with the Dutch vodka and cool climate apple components.
Areum Jeon’s Avatar Areum Jeon
28th December 2020 at 20:25
It was pretty nice with freshly hand-pressed apple juice. That cherry garnish instead of a classic apple slice looks beautiful too!
G. M. Genovese’s Avatar G. M. Genovese
14th September 2020 at 00:20
By the end, I found this relatively moreish. Likely going to return to this and experiment.
G. M. Genovese’s Avatar G. M. Genovese
14th September 2020 at 00:18
Found this to be a good drink, especially after adding 1/8-1/4 oz lemon juice to give it some pop. I'm using a hazy, 100% apple, organic juice, but I'm wondering if a particular variety of apple would best compliment the sugar syrup and drink as a whole. Do you have a particular article or source examining apple juice as an ingredient in cocktails? Admittedly, I haven't used apple juice until recently when attempting Bradsell's 'Treacle'.
Simon Difford’s Avatar Simon Difford
14th September 2020 at 07:15
I've been using Eager apple juice for years and to be honest I've not tried using other juices. However, the flavour when eating apples from one variety to the next varies so much that I'm sure the choice of juice would impact cocktails. Dick specified cheap clear apple juice for his Treacle cocktail.