The brisk bite of autumn air always adds some pep to my step on my morning runs, but it also puts me in the mood for apples, which are just beginning to tumble off their branches. As we sink into fall, freshly-picked Golden Delicious, Granny Smith, Honeycrisp and more begin popping up everywhere, from farmers’ markets to bakeries to hot apple cider stands. In that vein, ’tis the season to remember one of the world’s most delightful and overlooked spirits, apple brandy, whose golden glow and heady apple perfume makes it the perfect sip on brisk autumn evenings.

Apple spirits are everywhere from New York state to California to the Carolinas; a welcome, trendy drink that becomes even more profound if you know a little bit about its crucial and complicated heritage on this continent. The bitter history that follows makes today’s rich apple spirits all the more sweet.

The Potentially Dangerous History of Apple Jacking

America’s original “favorite drink” was not bourbon or rye like you’d expect, but apple cider. The apple tree was key for settlers who tamed the rugged North American continent. As most people know, Johnny Appleseed was not out distributing seeds of Granny Smiths or Pink Ladies, but rather tart, indigestible apples. Although they don’t sound particularly appealing, these apples were grown to produce cider, a godsend that was safer to drink than water, and both cheap and easy to make . As delicious as they are, typical “eating” apples that we enjoy as snacks make bland cider. Bitter apples may be inedible, but via fermentation and distillation, effuse aromas and flavors vastly more complex and beguiling than anything you’ll ever get from a piece of raw fruit.Ěý

Apple cider is best turned to hard alcohol using a dedicated pot still. But these weren’t common in the early centuries of this country, hence the funny-sounding technique known as jacking. Alcohol freezes at a lower temperature than water, thus, in winter, when cider is allowed to freeze outdoors, chunks of ice can be periodically removed from the vat. This leaves behind a liquid of even more concentrated alcohol.

Alas, the process of apple jacking lacks precision. While the hard spirit in applejack contains methanol, a dangerous chemical (think blindness, kidney failure), is removed during the responsible, modern distillation of today, that wasn’t always the case with jacking. And at the end of the 19th century, the degradations on the health of American drinkers (and general drunkenness) made applejack the major target of the rising temperance movement, whose ascendance led not only to but also to the destruction of of apple orchards, effectively killing the apple spirits industry.

Cider apples never came back. In their place, farmers planted grain—cheaper, quicker to grow, and easier to distill—giving rise to our dominant domestic whiskey industry. The destruction of the American orchard had a cost beyond fruit. Lost too was the cornucopia of genetic material contained in apple trees that had adapted from their European roots to American soils and climates.

The Best Apple Brandy 

The original and, in my opinion, best apple brandy is called Calvados, which comes from Normandy in the northwest corner of France. Here, ancient apple (and pear) orchards thrive, and scores of different varieties are blended to create a complex, vivid spirit. Oak aging is key, as unaged apple spirits can be a bit harsh. Allowing a raw apple spirit to mature for years in a barrel, can make the difference between tart, unripe fruit and apple pie. Look for Calvados producers like Adrien Camus, Lemorton, and Roger Groult for examples of addictively good spirits. They still have a little bite, but also the warm, familiar, comforting flavor of baked apple. Longer-aged spirits are more expensive, but also more rich and complex.

Because of the loss of cider trees, a fair bit of American apple brandy comes from eating apples, which makes for a simpler, less exciting spirit. That said, America’s bourgeoning apple brandies are well worth trying. New Jersey’s , dating from 1698 and the oldest continuously run distillery in the country, is still the largest producer. Out west look for wonderful apple brandies from old-school distillers like Oregon’s Clear Creek and California’s St. George Spirits. But all over the country, newer craft distillers are also getting into the game. Black Dirt Distilling, Copper & Kinds, and Neversink from New York’s Hudson Valley make very flavorful stuff. Outfits like Saint Paul Farms from North Carolina are already producing good spirits, but also growing thousands of new, bitter apple trees whose fruit will be perfect for cider. Follow these spirits over the next few years—they will only get better and better.

So, as the weather turns colder and we all become more contemplative, warm yourself up with a little apple brandy and take in not only the beautiful present autumn moment but also the apple’s deep .

How to Drink Apple Brandy

For good quality, I recommend aged Calvados. I love to drink it neat in a little spirits tasting glass, tumbler, or snifter. If it’s over proof or simply tastes too strong, it’s perfectly acceptable to add a splash of water to tame the alcohol.Ěý

Calvados is also great in cocktails or even just mixed with a little soda water or tonic. For a simple, yet delicious fall Calvados cocktail, I might recommend an apple blossom. This version I adapted from the recipe on Difford’s Guide, which is adapted from the version in Trader Vic’s Bartender’s Guide, 1972 edition.Ěý

Apple Blossom Cocktail

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• 2 oz Calvados or Apple Brandy
• 1.5 oz Red Vermouth (I prefer Dolin) 
• 2 dashes orange bitters 
• 1 dash of saline solution or a tiny pinch of salt 

Directions

1. Stir all the ingredients together in a pitcher filled with ice and strain into a chilled cocktails glass.Ěý

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Bone broth may recall images of Gwyneth Paltrow, Instagram ads, and boring soup, but if you disregard the fad diets and social media antics, it can be a nutritious ingredient in summertime cocktails.Ěý

But First, a Bit About Bone Broth

Though trendy to the point of it being humorous, bone broth has many known benefits. It’s plentiful in minerals such as calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, and potassium. But most of bone broth’s claim to fame can be attributed to its collagen content.

Celebrity nutrition expert and New York Times bestselling author, says that collagen protein, commonly found in cuts of meat formerly part of connective tissue, is made up of essential amino acids.

“Specifically, glutamine and glycine,” Petrucci says. “Both have been linked to gut health. Glutamine, especially, can help repair the gut lining and improve digestion.”

When collagen is cooked, as in bone broth, it turns into gelatin, which is also extremely beneficial for gut health. But the tricky bit with bone broth is that many store-bought brands are packed with fillers and excess sodium. Petrucci recommends making your own.

“When making your bone broth, you want to use the healthiest ingredients possible. Look for the highest quality bones you can afford,” she says. “You can use the bones from just about any quality meat you like but try to be picky to ensure the most significant benefits—select bones with a lot of cartilage. Great choices include: beef, bison, chicken, duck, goose, lamb, pork, turkey, and venison.”

The best portions, she says, are the beef knuckles, joints, feet, and marrows. Chicken feet are also a great source of not only gelatin, but hyaluronic acid, which is excellent for keeping joints healthy.

But how much bone broth do you need to drink to reap its benefits? Petrucci recommends two cups daily. An easy way to incorporate it? Cocktails!

Yes, Cocktails!

I was admittedly hesitant when I first read about incorporating bone broth into a summer cocktail, but hear this: it works. If you like a savory, spicy, bloody mary, you might enjoy this cucumber melon cooler. It’s surprisingly refreshing with hydrating cucumber and sweetened with crisp honeydew melon (make sure to use ripe fruit!). The thicker texture startled me initially, but after a few sips I tried to see it as a frozen drink rather than a typical mixed drink.. The hint of PatrĂłn and jalapeño added extra bite, and while I barely tasted the bone broth, I was happy knowing I was getting a boost of protein and collagen.Ěý

Cucumber Melon Cooler

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No matter how dry you like your martini, the original definition of the word cocktail—still considered canon by purists—calls for sugar.Ěý

A piece by Mallory Arnold called “A Sticky Day in the Life of a Vermont Sugar Maker” reminded me that, now that it’s sugar-shack season, one of my favorite uses for maple syrup is not on pancakes, but in drinks.Ěý

Centuries ago, a little sugar was necessary to offset the harshness that would have characterized most spirits, which didn’t have the benefit of modern distillation and aging to round out their flavors and textures. We Americans may have a sugar problem—our foods and bodies are drowning in it— but it wasn’t until the 18thth century that sweetness was anything but the greatest luxury. Maple syrup has never been easy to make, but almost certainly would have been used in cocktails throughout the northeast until cane sugar became affordable and accessible toward the middle of that century.Ěý

Unlike flavor-neutral simple syrup, maple syrup’s contribution to cocktails isn’t just sweetness, but also buttery, nutty, and vanilla flavors. Its flavor prevents maple syrup from being the Swiss Army knife of sweeteners that simple syrup is, restricting its use to certain spirits. But that list is longer than you’d think. Maple blends well with pretty much all brown spirits—rum, brandy, whiskey—as the wood components in both cask and maple tree have an undeniable affinity. But maple can also work well with the potent flavors of gin and even mezcal. And while I wouldn’t call maple syrup healthy in and of itself, it has a lower glycemic index than sugar, not to mention a host of minerals, vitamins, and antioxidants.Ěý

Surprisingly, there’s not a lot in cocktail historiography about maple syrup, probably because by the time the first major cocktail book came out in 1862—The Bar-Tender’s Guide—white sugar was commonplace. But there are a couple of classic cocktails with maple syrup and a couple of obvious places where it fills in for ordinary sugar syrup beautifully.Ěý

One note on using maple syrup: It used to come in grades—Grade A, B, etc.—but that system has now changed. Most of what you find in stores today will be what used to be Grade A, light amber in color and more delicate in flavor, as to not to overwhelm with maple flavor. What used to be Grade B is syrup from later in the season, and it’s darker, thicker, denser with minerals and possesses a more intense maple flavor. Today, this is known as something along the lines of “Grade A Very Dark (strong taste)” and is what I prefer in cocktails.Ěý

We have three maple cocktail ideas to help you remember that, whether it’s tapping season or not, that sticky bottle of maple syrup can have a life far beyond the breakfast table.Ěý

Click for the recipes:

The Applejack Rabbit

Japanese Maple

Maple Old Fashioned

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I discovered this cocktail in the voluminous online recipe database of the Difford’s Guide, which attributes the Japanese Maple cocktail  to a 2009 recipe from bartender Damian Windsor, then at Los Angeles’ The Roger Room. It’s sort of a riff on the Maple Leaf, which is just a bourbon sour with maple syrup. But here the dryness of a Japanese blended whiskey (think Toki) is embraced by the warmth of the maple syrup, while lemon juice adds perkiness and the egg white brings a creamy suaveness.

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This is an obvious one, but worth mentioning.Ěý The Maple Old Fashioned perfectly embodies the original definition of a  cocktail by incorporating a  spirit, sugar, bitters, and water. This recipe calls for rye, but feel free to substitute bourbon on an aged rum.

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I first encountered the Applejack Rabbit at , when famous bartender and drinks writer Jim Meehan was the bar consultant. It makes terrific use of a classic American spirit, Applejack—aka apple brandy—which pairs perfectly with another signature vestige of New England, maple syrup. Though the drink first appeared in print in 1927 in the now rare book Here’s How by Judge Jr., Meehan re-proportioned it a bit to give it a modern day zing, while keeping up its original flavors.

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After a long arduous day on the slopes, the pisco sour—a frothy, limey (or sometimes lemony) cocktail vaguely akin to a smooth, potent margarita— is perfect for post-skiing relaxation.Ěý

The pisco sour came to be at Morris’ Bar in Lima, Peru, in the early 1900s. That’s where an American bartender named swapped pisco, a South American brandy distilled from fermented grape juice, for whiskey when making a whiskey sour.Ěý

The riff was an instant hit. “[It] was amazing and the people didn’t want to drink [sours] with whiskey anymore,” says , a Peruvian pisco expert and mixologist. From there, the cocktail spread from bar to bar, getting adapted into dozens of varieties and recipes.Ěý

Case in point: Carpio, who is based in Ica, Peru, shakes his pisco sours with simple syrup, fresh-squeezed Peruvian limes, pisco, and egg white. At the Hotel Portillo in Portillo, Chile, longtime bartender Jaime Cantillano skips the egg white and makes his with powdered sugar, pisco, and fresh lemon juice. Both concoctions are shaken with ice and strained into a cocktail glass. (Of note, Carpio says that using Peruvian limes is critical, but as the fruit isn’t easily obtained in other parts of the world, Key limes are a close approximation.)

To sip a pisco sour is to enter into an international debate: Does Peru or Chile claim the rights to pisco? The official answer, according to a 2013 ruling by the European Commission, is that pisco originated in Peru. In reality, however, the debate still rages. Whenever Justin Walker Cochran, the former national ambassador for Kappa Pisco, a now defunct Chilean brand, weighs in, he relies on the following points: “There were no grapes in South America before the 16th century when Spanish conquistadors arrived. All of South America got grapes at the same time,” he explains. “Chile established their D.O. [Denominación de Origen] in 1931. It wasn’t until 1991 that Peru decided it needed a D.O. Wherever the line was drawn, I leave it to those historical facts.”

Depending on whether you’re drinking Peruvian or Chilean pisco, there are notable differences: Peruvian is always clear (it’s aged in stainless steel), distilled only once, and can be made from eight grape varietals. Chilean pisco can be aged in barrels and distilled multiple times, and it’s made from 14 different grapes. In either case, you’ll typically find three types: pisco puro (made with a single varietal and distilled when the wine is dry), pisco acholado (made from a blend of varietals or a blend of piscos), and mosto verde (made from a blend of varietals while the wine is still sweet). For all intents and purposes, most pisco sours are made with puro, though you will find some recipes calling for acholado.

But, after a day on the slopes, dear skier, all you really need to know is that pisco is delicious and strong enough to cure any aches and pains. And while there are a multitude of pisco sour recipes out there, Carpio, who teaches cocktail classes in Peru (and has several YouTube videos), stands by his recipe.

Bonus recipe: For his part, Cochran encourages pisco fans to try Pisco Punch. The cocktail not only predates the pisco sour and contains no egg white, but it was also created at the Bank Exchange in San Francisco when the port city was in its heyday in the 1880s.Ěý

Get the recipes: Après-Pico Sour and Pisco Punch

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The Aperol Spritz, the bubbly trifecta of bittersweet Aperol, Prosecco, and soda water, might have been conceived for warm summer days, but it sips just as nicely in the winter. In fact, says , toasting with the bright orange cocktail embodies the essence of après-ski. “The Aperol Spritz is an ideal après-ski beverage with its low ABV and celebratory nature. I can’t think of anything better after a day on the slopes.”

Conceived in the Veneto region of Italy in 1919, Aperol, which is an apéritif made of gentian, rhubarb, cinchona, and other secret ingredients, was intended to be a lighter liqueur with an ABV of 11 percent. Paired with cicchetti (small snacks), the Aperol Spritz itself was popularized in the 1920s in Italy. Nearly a century later, the bitter and bubbly tipple is the number one cocktail in Italy, and it has long since crossed oceans and achieved global prominence.

It’s not just the combo—three parts prosecco, two parts Aperol, one part soda water topped with an orange slice—that inspires such devotion, there’s also the feeling the spritz evokes. “Aperol is about the joy of life. It embodies the most embraceable human aspiration of living joyfully and enjoying with others what life has to offer,” Cerio says. And that, we have to say, is the very definition of not only skiing but also après-ski.Ěý

While there are tons of variations of the classic Aperol Spritz, this 3-2-1 recipe is simple and downright delicious. Get the recipe in the link below:

Get the Recipe: Aperol Spritz

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The Pisco sour’s froth is as white and fluffy as powder snow, making it the perfect post-ski cocktail. Limey, tangy and potent, this drink is easily whipped together with just a few ingredients and a simple recipe. Or, for a vegan-friendly Pisco option, try the Pisco punch.Ěý

Après-Pisco Sour and Pisco Punch

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There are a million riffs on the Aperol Spritz, including very tasty frozen versions and one at Hooch in Aspen that includes muddled strawberries, but the best is still the original. The 3-2-1 recipe is printed on the back of the bottle and it’s an easy one to remember.

Aperol Spritz

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