Colorado Cider — An alpine herbal liqueur lengthened with fresh apple cider

Colorado Cider

An alpine herbal liqueur lengthened with fresh apple cider

Number of people

Ingredients

  • 1 ozThree Pins
    Twenty-two alpine botanicals in one ounce
    Substitute: Another alpine herbal liqueur
  • 4 ozApple Cider
    Fresh and unfiltered; not clear apple juice

Instructions

  1. Fill a rocks glass with ice
  2. Add 1 oz Three Pins
  3. Top with 4 oz fresh apple cider and stir once

    Cider, not clear juice; the tannin is doing the work

Technique Notes

Cider rather than juice, and unfiltered if you can get it. Cider carries tannin and a little acid that apple juice does not, and Three Pins is sweet enough that juice alone leaves the drink flat and one-note.

Why the Colorado Cider Works

Alpine botanicals and orchard fruit are a shorter distance apart than they sound: spruce tip and elderflower both sit in the same green-resinous register as apple skin. Cider brings the tannin that makes the connection audible, which is why the drink needs cider and not juice.