Apple Cider Margarita Recipe
For someone who loves cocktails as much as I do, and also spent years working in the restaurant/bar/nightlife industry, I can attest to the fact that “batch” or pitchers of cocktails are one of the most difficult things to make. I honestly almost never order them out at restaurants for that reason- they’re basically always gross and taste like sour mix or bad fruit juice. And, I understand why, it's difficult enough to get perfect measurements on a regular cocktail, much more a couple gallon cocktail!
Because of this, I’ve done a lot of trial and error to find a few easy and delicious batch cocktails that I are my “go-to's” for parties.
My winter cocktail was a HIT at our Christmas party last week- I mean we went through almost 4 gallons of it, and two bottles of tequila between 8 of us... and that wasn’t the only thing being poured!
So before I get to the recipe, I do have a few loose “rules” about batch cocktails. By rules, I mean, this is what has worked well for me, so feel free to take it or leave it.
The first thing is that I generally tread carefully with “polarizing” spirits. Now the most polarizing for me would be things like mezcal, scotch, and Campari. Mind you, I am. HUGE fan of all of these, but I also know that a lot of people are a little less keen on the strong taste of these guys.
Beyond that, I also tend to be a little wary of vodka and whiskey. This might sound a bit strange, but I find that a lot of people draw hard lines on both of these spirits. Again, I love both but this is just what I’ve seen. That pretty much leaves us with tequila and rum, which I find both fall in the "friendly" spirits group. You could also throw wine in here because you really can’t go wrong with a yummy batch of sangria. In addition to this (clearly) very well-researched scientific data (ha), someone also told me years ago that rum and tequila don't count as "light" or "dark" liquors because they can be light or dark, so you can go either way if you start with one at the beginning of the night- great for those of us who are indecisive and scared of sticking to light or dark all night. I have no idea if this is valid, but I've taken it as fact and use it to make many of my drinking decisions.
Anyway, let's get to this recipe.
Ingredients:
4-6 Lemons
4-8 TBSP Maple Syrup
Ground Cinnamon
1 750 ML Bottle of Tequila
1/2 Gallon of Apple Cider
Cranberries & Apples for Garnish
(For 1 cocktail, use 1/2 lemon, 1 TBSP Maple Syrup, Ground Cinnamon, 1 part tequila, and 2 parts apple cider)
Directions:
Pour full bottle of tequila & apple cider into pitcher. (Side note- as long as it's good apple cider, it can honestly be served like this and it's almost as delicious, but the rest of the ingredients add some flavor and make it pretty phenomenal.
Add the juice of 2 lemons, 4 TBSP of maple syrup, and cinnamon then stir together. From there, add a half lemon at a time and/or 1 TBSP of maple syrup at a time until it tastes good to you. Add everything slowly because it is hard to balance out a cocktail once it is too sour or too sweet.
Serve with cranberries and apple slices as a garnish
And voila! It's super easy! Don't overthink this cocktail too much or overmeasure- go with what tastes good and you'll be perfect. Let me know if you try this or if you have another favorite go-to cocktail.
Cheers,
JBB
