Cocktail & Other Recipes By Spirit Tequila & Mezcal Cocktails

The Apple Fell Far from the Tree

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Liquor.com
Liquor.com

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Updated 05/13/21
purple-colored The Apple Fell Far from the Tree cocktail in a rocks glass, garnished with three apple slices lying on top of the drink
Image:

Kettner Exchange

The Apple Fell Far from the Tree is a fresh and eye-catching cocktail from Steven Tuttle, the bar manager at San Diego’s Kettner Exchange. It features blanco tequila, pineapple rum, pimento dram, Fuji apple syrup and lime juice. Also, it’s purple.

The color comes from butterfly pea flowers, a unique, violet-hued ingredient that turns liquids blue. More magic occurs when the flowers meet with an acidic ingredient, changing the liquid to purple or bright pink when high pH is present like in citrus or tonic. In this case, the butterfly pea flowers are infused directly into the tequila, changing it blue. Once the spirit is mixed with the remaining ingredients, including fresh lime juice, the cocktail reaches its final visual destination.

Despite its bright springtime color, the cocktail hints at autumn. The allspice present in the pimento dram merges with the Fuji apple syrup, giving fall flavors to this tasty drink, all without losing the vibrancy and vegetal earthy notes of the blanco tequila.

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 ounces butterfly-pea-flower-infused blanco tequila*

  • 1/2 ounce Plantation Stiggins’ Fancy Pineapple rum

  • 1/4 ounce Hamilton pimento dram

  • 3/4 ounce Fuji apple syrup**

  • 3/4 ounce lime juice, freshly squeezed

  • Garnish: 3 apple slices

Steps

  1. Add the infused blanco tequila, pineapple rum, pimento dram, apple syrup and lime juice to a shaker with ice and shake until well-chilled.

  2. Strain into a rocks glass over fresh ice.

  3. Garnish with the apple slices.

*Butterfly-pea-flower-infused blanco tequila: Steep 1/2 cup dried butterfly pea flowers in a 750 mL bottle of tequila for 20 minutes. Strain out the flowers, then use a funnel to put the tequila back into its original bottle.

**Fuji apple syrup: Peel 12 Fuji apples with a citrus peeler, then slice the fruit using 4 cuts to save the apple cores. In a saucepan, add peels and cores to 6 cups of sugar and 9 cups water. Bring to a boil and let simmer for 35 minutes. Strain out peels and cores, store in a sealed container, and keep refrigerated for up to 1 week.