Big Apple
Apple, mint and absinthe.
A bold after-dinner drink built on applejack, softened by white crème de menthe and perfumed with absinthe. It is the oldest recipe with clear proportions found under this name, but not the only one.
- After dinner
- Shaken
- Glass
- Cocktail glass
- Method
- Shaken
- Strength
- Very strong
- Time
- 3 min
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Ice
- No ice
Ingredients
Measures for 1 serving
-
Applejack
30 ml
-
White crème de menthe
15 ml
-
Absinthe
15 ml
Proportions
How to make
- Chill a cocktail glass.
- Fill a shaker with ice.
- Pour the applejack.
- Pour the white crème de menthe.
- Pour the absinthe.
- Shake well.
- Strain into the chilled glass.
The story
Origins
DocumentedOrigin attested by written sources of the time.
"Big Apple" is New York's nickname, and several apple-brandy drinks have carried the name without a canonical recipe. Historian Barry Popik documents two Big Apples in the magazine Catering Industry Employee in 1938: one is a daiquiri with applejack instead of rum, the other, by Harry H. Gregg of the New Dalt Hotel in San Francisco, combines applejack, lemon, curaçao and grenadine. In 1954 Johnny Brooks, in My 35 Years Behind Bars, printed the version given here, with applejack, white crème de menthe and absinthe. Other unrelated recipes followed, hot or Manhattan-style, up to the modern Big Apple Martini.
Sources (5)
- Barry Popik — Big Apple (drinks using applejack) (opens in a new tab) recipe and history
- Inshaker — Big Apple (opens in a new tab) recipe
- Tasting Table — Big Apple Cocktail, a Manhattan (opens in a new tab) recipe
- IBA — All cocktails (page 1) (opens in a new tab) recipe
- Difford's Guide — Big Apple Martini (opens in a new tab) history
Taste profile
- Strong
- 5 out of 5
- Herbal
- 4 out of 5
- Fresh
- 3 out of 5
- Fruity
- 2 out of 5