To toast the Apple I’m heading back home to highlight a surprising apple cocktail from Houston bartenders Brandon Choate and Alejandro Medina. They created it for the Anvil Bar and Refuge Spring 2021 menu. The drink will play with your expectations, starting with the moment you read the notes include on the menu which list “salted apple”. Ubiquitous on autumn drink menus, apple and particularly apple cider cocktails go hand in hand with the cool weather and crisp seasonal change in the air. Apples are not a summer fruit, which is what makes this drink so interesting and notable.

Brandon Choate explained the origins of the idea for this simply delicious drink. For the Garden Variety, “we wanted to make something that was light and refreshing with an ingredient that isn’t always associated with spring. You often see apples featured on cocktail menus in the fall with lots of warm baking or mulling spices and we wanted to turn that idea on its head.” To make the syrup, juice a fresh apple using a citrus press or electric juicer and add in equal volume to simple syrup. Flaky sea salt then makes the sweet syrup pop with flavor. I’m going to replicate this syrup again in the fall, using a burnt sugar caramel syrup as well. The drink is perfectly refreshing, surprisingly delightful, and certainly not your garden variety cocktail. Cheers!

Garden Variety by Brandon Choate and Alejandro Medina

1 ½ oz gin

½ oz blanc vermouth (e.g. La Madre White)

1 ¼ oz salted apple syrup

¾ oz lime

Shake ingredients together and strain into a glass full of crushed ice. Garnish with an apple fan.