Using apple brandy instead of Cognac breathes new life and an autumn edge into a classic cocktail. Save this Last Call recipe for cozy nights ’round the fireplace.
This article first appeared in Traverse Northern Michigan. Find this story and more when you explore our magazine library. Want Traverse delivered to your door or inbox monthly? View our print subscription and digital subscription options.
You can hear it in the trees. The leaves rustle differently when they are ready to fall, telling us that it’s time to reach for that corner of the closet where the flannel shirts have been waiting. Telling us that it’s time to once again pour apples into our glass. This year, I’ve been pouring an apple brandy Sidecar into mine. While the Sidecar cocktail was apparently introduced in Paris, inspired by a drink called the Brandy Crusta from New Orleans, it was a bartender in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District who first introduced me to the classic sour. Served with its characteristic sugared rim and made using just lemon juice, Cointreau and Cognac, this sexy little tipple is one cocktail that truly lets the brandy shine.
While a Sidecar’s traditional Cognac comes from grapes, plenty of bartenders have tinkered with using brandy made from other fruits, and I can think of no better location for such a riff than our notch of the fruit belt. For a taste of Northern Michigan, I use the apple brandy from Black Star Farms, which is crafted from Leelanau County–grown Jonagold, Winesap, Rhode Island Greening, Spy and more, before being barrel aged for some five years.
This October, roll up a (flannel) sleeve, coat a cocktail glass in sugar, listen to those autumn leaves and sip this forgotten classic.
Photo by Dave Weidner
Apple Brandy Sidecar
Serves 1
Ingredients
- 1 lemon, halved
- sugar
- 1 ½ ounces apple brandy, such as Black Star Farms Spirit of Apple
- ¾ ounce Cointreau
- a round from 1 tart Michigan apple, for garnish
Directions: A few hours before serving this cocktail, cut a slice as thick as the width of your thumb off one lemon half. Halve that slice to create a half-moon shape. Using the thickness of that half-moon as your guide, wet the outside only of the rim of a coupe glass. Place a few spoonfuls of sugar onto a small plate and set the coupe onto the plate upside down, to create the sugared rim. Carefully place the coupe glass in the freezer for a few hours, until the sugared rim dries out and becomes hard like rock candy and the glass is well chilled. When ready to serve, fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Juice the remaining lemon, producing ¾ ounce of juice. Add lemon juice, apple brandy and Cointreau to the shaker, and shake until cold. Remove the cold coupe from the freezer and pour the cocktail into the glass. Garnish with an apple round, and serve. –S.B.
Stacey Brugeman is a 20-year food and beverage journalist. Her work has appeared in Food & Wine, Saveur, Travel + Leisure, Eater and on Instagram @staceybrugeman.
Dave Weidner is an editorial photographer and videographer based in Northern Michigan. Follow him on Instagram and Facebook @dzwphoto.
Sarah Peschel, @22speschel, is a stylist and photographer with an appreciation for all things local agriculture, food and drink.