Maple Whiskey Cider

Who needs a cocktail?

I’m guessing the answer is: you do.  When we went apple picking a few weeks ago I picked up a few small bottles of fresh apple cider.  There is really nothing like a good quality apple cider, and the stuff I got this year was unbelievably good.  I have been trying to make a good maple/cider cocktail for a few years, and I feel like this year I finally nailed it.

One ingredient that really made this cocktail fantastic is a liqueur that some Canadian friends brought us earlier this year.  It is called Sortilege and is a blend of Canadian whiskey and maple syrup. And it is so good.  Now, I personally hate it when I find a cocktail recipe and it calls for an obscure liquor that I probably don’t have and am not going to buy.  So I did test an alternative recipe with more standard ingredients for those of you that can’t find the Sortilege or maybe don’t want to go out and buy it.  But I did prefer the version of the cocktail with the Sortilege, and found the flavor to be smoother and more mapley.

 

I like the little bit of lemon juice here because it balances the sweetness of the maple and makes the flavors pop.  I wanted just a hint of spices without going overboard, so I thought that the cinnamon stick adds that, plus cinnamon sticks excel at garnishing fall drinks.  The longer the cinnamon stick sits in the drink, the more flavor it infuses.

I’m not much of a whiskey drinker, but the flavor just pairs so nicely with apple cider.  If you really enjoy the taste of whiskey, you may even want to do half whiskey/half liqueur.  That will give a stronger whiskey taste but still retain some of the maple flavors.

I like using my oversized ice cubes in drinks like this because they melt slower so they don’t water down the drink as much.  Also they look pretty cool, right?  I use this ice cube tray (<affiliate link).

What kind of fun are you up to this weekend?

 

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