It was the early summer of 2000, and in New York City, one of the major liquor distributors realized their massive overstock of DeKuyper Sour Apple Pucker, the sour apple schnapps. They successfully unloaded their slow moving merchandise to local bars, which then wondered what to do with the stuff.

Some unrecorded professional mixologist combined the liquor with vodka to cut the strong sweet and sour flavor. And the drink that we have come to know as the Sour Apple Martini was born. This is the formula that I mix for my housemate who prefers sweet and sour drinks. This light green drink tastes like the Jolly Ranchers we used to illicitly suck on during gradeschool.

  • 2 oz vodka
  • 1 oz DeKuyper Sour Apple Pucker
  • 1 oz apple juice
  • dash of lime juice (squeeze one or two wedges)
Pour ingredients over crushed ice and shake.
Strain into a cocktail glass.
Garnish with a fan of three thin slivers of green apple or float a paper-thin slice of apple on top, like the label of a Beatles record.

Some bartenders, likely those not serviced by that distributor who dumped all the DeKuyper Pucker on the market, attempted to build a drink around an infusion of apple slices in vodka and sour mix. This leads to a drink that does not resonate with our nostalgia for the candy of our youth, aside from being quite a bit of extra work; needless to say, it did not catch on. And it did nothing to stabilize a drink recipe that was variously referred to as "Granny Smith Martini", "Big Apple", "Polish Apple", "Green Apple Martini", "Pucker Martini", and other even less memorable names.

In October, the sour apple martini was the subject of an article in the Dining In / Dining Out section of the New York Times. By November, the "apple martini" was reported in the Willamette Week as a "hot new drink". It seems that we are now stuck with this sweet and sour effrontery to the name "martini", just as we are stuck with the chocolate martini. Someday, people just might stop naming drinks after the glass used to serve them.

You're looking kind of green, perhaps you'd like a different drink instead?

Irridescent, Green, and fun. As the previous writer mentioned, these taste and smell like Sour Apple Jolly Ranchers. I've seen a lot of variations on how to make this drink, but the basic premise is to combine two parts vodka (Absolut works well) with one part Sour Apple Schnapps in a cocktail shaker, and serve in a martini glass. This will get you the most basic form of the drink. I've also found that adding a splash of lemon juice to the mix really adds a lot. Finally, you may want to garnish the glass with a slice of green apple, or drop in a mereschino cherry.

While the apple martini does not pack quite the wallop of, say, a Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster, when properly mixed its still 60+ proof.

Oh, and chicks dig them.

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