Neon green, ice cold and tart as a Granny Smith, the Appletini is pure late-1990s glamour in a cocktail glass. Made with fresh lemon and a decent vodka, it is crisper and less sugary than its reputation suggests.
1½ oz
vodkae.g. Absolut · Smirnoff · Grey Goose · Ketel One · Belvedere
1 oz
sour apple liqueur green sour apple schnappse.g. DeKuyper · Pucker · Berentzen · Bols
½ oz
lemon juice
¼ oz
simple syrup optional, to taste (optional)
Garnish: Green apple slice · Ice: Served up, no ice
Appletini (Apple Martini)
Crisp, tart green apple with a clean vodka backbone and a sweet-sour finish. Light-bodied, fresh and moderately strong.
The Appletini is one of the flavoured "martinis" that swept through bars in the 1990s, when almost any vodka drink served in a V-shaped glass was given a "-tini" name. The most common account credits Lola's, a restaurant in West Hollywood, with popularising the drink in the mid-1990s, though several bars have been named over the years.
It owes its bright colour and sweet-tart flavour to green sour apple schnapps, which was widely available at the time. The drink became a pop culture symbol of the era and later fell out of favour with craft bartenders. Many now make it with fresh lemon and less liqueur, or with a real apple brandy, for a more balanced result.
No. Like many 1990s "-tinis", it only shares the glass with the gin and vermouth Martini.
The usual story credits Lola's in West Hollywood in the mid-1990s, though other bars claim it too.
Fresh apple juice with a little syrup or a dry apple liqueur, though the colour will be paler.
The perfect sound
Bright, green and a little cheeky.
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