Apple Cider Adds The Perfect Touch To Fall Cocktails

Nothing says fall like apple cider — so why aren't we adding it to more cocktails for an autumnal upgrade? There are a couple of well-known classic recipes, like a hot toddy upgrade using cider instead of water, or a boozy cider tipple incorporating hard cider. The truth is that there are limitless cocktails you can make cozier with cider, you just have to know what to mix it with. Camille Wilson, author of "Free Spirit Cocktails: 40 Nonalcoholic Drink Recipes" and content creator of The Cocktail Snob, offers us some suggestions.

"Bourbon is definitely my go-to when making an apple cider cocktail," Wilson says. "But reposado tequila and cognac work well too. I also really enjoy apple cider mimosas so I like to use sparkling wine in that case." Bourbon's most common tasting notes include vanilla, nuts, tea-like botanicals, stone fruits, apples, honey, molasses, and baking spices, notes that both match and harmoniously contrast cider to create an apple-pie effect. Aged in oak barrels, reposado tequila boasts smoke, pepper, vanilla, and citrus, spicing apple cider up and bringing out its warmer notes. A distilled wine, cognac is rich with dried fruit, oak, nuts, toffee, baking spices, vanilla, and tobacco, a complex profile that mingles perfectly with apple cider's balance of sweet and tart. Each of these spirits will bring out fresh, baked-dessert qualities. And sparkling wine always provides an irresistible pop of effervescence.

One of the easiest places to start is by adding some of these compatible spirits to a mulled cider recipe. Those apple cider mimosas Camille Wilson recommends are also quite simple. A classic mimosa recipe calls for 2 cups of orange juice for a bottle of sparkling wine; just swap that juice out for cider. You can add more flavor with ½ of an ounce a flavored simple syrup per serving; we suggest a botanical-infused syrup or even a syrup made with a splash of tequila. 

For bourbon cocktails, try utilizing sweet apple cider in place of sweet vermouth in the iconic boulevardier, or even splitting the ounce called for between the two. The cider works not only with the bourbon, but with the bitter Campari for balance and the orange peel for brightness. You can also upgrade the gold rush cocktail – its bourbon, honey syrup, and lemon are perfect for apple cider. For tequila, a hot honey apricot margarita is an exciting beverage — add 1 ounce of cider to highlight the apricot's similar sweetness and tartness. Or, substitute tequila for mezcal in the grave digger Halloween cocktail, already utilizing apple cider. For cognac, make an autumnal sidecar tipple with cognac, triple sec, and, instead of 1 ounce of lemon juice, ½ an ounce, plus ½ an ounce of cider; or, the jack-o-lantern cocktail — enjoy orange-meets-apple sweetness with the orange liqueur and apple cider instead of OJ.