Keeping with our apple theme this month, here’s one of the simplest recipes that incorporates apples into a cocktail: a Calvados Old Fashioned. It’s a tart, fun play on the classic that’s perfect for fall. – Andrew

Illustration by Shauna Lynn for Oh So Beautiful Paper

Apple-Cinnamon Calvados Old Fashioned

2 oz Calvados
1 tsp Cinnamon Bark Syrup
2 dashes Angostura Bitters

To make the cinnamon bark syrup: combine a cup of raw sugar, a cup of water, and three cinnamon sticks (pulverized into little bits) in a sauce pan and simmer over low heat, stirring frequently, until the sugar is melted. Remove the pan from the heat and cover, letting the syrup sit to infuse for another 20-30 minutes. Then strain out the cinnamon bits and bottle the syrup.

Combine the Calvados, syrup, and bitters with ice in a mixing glass and stir well. Strain into a lowball glass filled with fresh ice – the bigger the ice the better. Garnish with a piece of lemon peel, thinly peeled to avoid the bitter white pith, by twisting it over the drink and then dropping it into the glass. Enjoy!

Calvados is an aged apple brandy made in the Normandy region of France. It’s a rustic spirit, with a long tradition of being distilled and aged by the farmers growing the apples. So it’s a bit on the wild side, with some rough edges and a wonderfully tart, puckery apple center.

Using Calvados in an Old Fashioned mellows out those rougher edges, using the warm spice of the cinnamon syrup and Angostura bitters to turn the drink into a smooth cocktail perfect for fall. There’s nothing quite like checking out the changing leaves while sipping this warm, tart, wonderful cocktail.

(Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram, where we’ve been posting our experiments before they make their way onto this column!)

Glassware by Liquorary

Photo Credits: Nole Garey for Oh So Beautiful Paper