APPLE HARVEST COCKTAILS

The orchards are overflowing, and these cool autumn days are the perfect time to offer your guests an apple based mixed drink.

Apple Basics
Grown in temperate zones throughout the world and cultivated for at least 3,000 years, apple varieties now number well into the thousands. Apples range in color from lemon yellow to bright yellow-green to crimson red. Their textures range from tender to crisp, their flavors from sweet to tart and from simple to complex.

They're available year-round but are at their best from September through November when newly harvested. Buy firm, well-colored apples with a fresh (never musty) fragrance. The skins should be smooth and free of bruises and gouges. Store apples in a cool, dark place. They do well placed in a plastic bag and stored in the refrigerator.

Liqueur/Schnapps

The popularity of the Apple Martini has increased the availability of Apple Liqueur/Schnapps. These often "sour" flavored liqueurs can also be drunk over ice or used as shooters. But its most popular use remains as a key ingredient in one of the most searched recipe at thatstheSPIRIT.com - the Apple Martini.

Apple Cider.
Apple cider was a highly popular early American beverage. Cider is made by pressing the juice from fruit (usually apples). It can be drunk straight or diluted with water. Before FERMENTATION, it's referred to as "sweet" cider. It becomes "hard" cider after fermentation, and can range widely in alcohol content. Apple cider is also used to make vinegar and brandy.

POPULAR Apple Cider recipes
Canadian Stone Fence
Mulled Cider
Harvest Punch
Jacks Apple
Happy Apple Cider

Apple Brandy:

There are two major types of Apple Brandy - Calvados and Applejack.

Calvados
A dry apple BRANDY made in Calvados, in the Normandy region of northern France. It's often used for cooking, particularly in chicken, pork and veal dishes. A potent BRANDY made from apple cider and ranging in strength from 80 to 100 PROOF.

Calvados Recipes:
Grand Apple
Liberty
Canadian Apple

Applejack
Made in New England this apple brandy is double distilled in pot stills, and is aged for a minimum of two years in wooden casks before being bottled.

Applejack recipes:
Apple Cart
Apple Swizzle
Applejack sour
Big Apple
Applejack Punch

HINT:These two types of apple Brandy are similar (in fact many would not notice a difference in the two) so feel free to use either type in any of the recipes.

Some recipes just call for Apple Brandy but either type can be used with these recipes.

Apple Fizz

Apple Knocker

Apple Daiquiri

Apple Sidecar

Apple liqueur is also found in a perfect Halloween sounding Cocktail - the Caramel Apple, or as an alternative to desert in the Apple Pie.

For more Halloween Cocktail ideas and a party guide click here.