Delicious Cocktail Concoctions for Dry Cider July

Summer is my favorite time of year for cocktails, from lazy beach days to backyard barbecues, or just relaxing under the warm sun, every activity is ripe with cocktail possibilities. It doesn’t hurt that we are surrounded by fresh juicy berries, crisp veggies, and citrus galore. I can think of no better way to enjoy the bounty of the season than to create dry cider cocktails for any palate.

Basic Rules for Cocktails

When it comes to creating your own cocktail recipes, there are a few basic rules that can really up your game.  

• The 3 Ingredient Formula: Classic cocktails tend to follow a similar and reproducible 3 “ingredient” formula. Base liquor, ingredients to add sweetness, acidity, or both, and then your extras.  The goal of the 3 ingredient formula is to create the perfect trifecta of balance and to be a building block for endless cocktail variations.
• Ice: Should your drink be shaken, stirred, or built? Should your drink be served up or on the rocks?  The accepted “rule” is to shake if there is citrus in the cocktail, and to stir if the cocktail is spirit heavy. Built cocktails, also known as mixed drinks tend to be one liquor and one mixer with no added acid or sweet ingredients.
• Ratios: As for ratios, I like to start by considering the “golden rule” or 2:1:1.  That is 2 parts spirit to 1 part sweet and 1 part sour. While I do use the word “rule”, I do say that with a grain of salt. These are more guidelines than hard and fast rules and are meant simply as a starting point for your cocktail constructions.

How Dry Cider Fits In

Now that we have our basic cocktail formula down, we can start to piece in cider to our formula. There are a few basic parameters to help in choosing just the right cider.

First, we can break any cider down into its base components: Sweetness/ Acidity/ Tannin

Because we are looking for cocktails using only dry cider, that leaves us with the following 4 categories.

• Dry high acid, high tannin
• Dry low acid, low tannin
• Dry low acid, high tannin
• Dry high acid, low tannin

Along with these categories, be sure to also consider fruitiness or perceived sweetness in the cider.

Next, we can break a cider down even further into basic mouthfeel and flavor categories. This would include whether it is still or sparkling, barrel aged or not.  We could even dive as deep as pinpointing its most expressive flavor elements, but to be honest, we don’t even need to go that far to make delicious cider cocktails.

Now we have our basic cocktail rules and we have our basic cider components we can start to construct some delicious cocktails. I started my list by venturing out to the local farmers market. I was struck by the number of delicious fruits, berries and cucumbers and even fresh eggs that caught my eye. This was the inspiration for these true summer cocktails.

White Linen a.k.a  Cucumber Gin Fizz

This cocktail is a refreshing crowd pleaser.  

Upstate New York Sour

Elegant and beautiful, this twist on a classic cocktail is sure to please. 

Summer Cider Sangria

Looking to make a large batch cocktail that you can adjust ingredients based on what you have on hand? This is the perfect cocktail for any summer plans. 

Not sure which cider to use, check out the American Cider Association’s Dry Cider Finder for a fantastic list of dry ciders throughout the US.