Lightly sweet with an enticing spiced apple flavor, this honey apple whiskey has notes of cinnamon, vanilla, ginger and cloves. It’s the perfect libation for sipping or slipping into your cocktails this winter, plus it makes a great gift for the adults on your list! Even if you’re not a whiskey drinker (and I’m not), you might just fall in love with THIS whiskey.
What do you make when life (or a friend … or your dad …) gives you apples? Some people might think apple pie or apple bread, apple fritters, apple chutney … my mind went to apple whiskey. Okay, really, whiskey wasn’t the FIRST thing that came to mind … first, I canned a bunch of my dad’s beautiful honeycrisps and THEN I made zucchini apple bread and THEN I was dying to try this idea of infusing whiskey with apples. Partly I just wanted to taste this experience, but then also I had a grand plan for holiday gifting this year.
I have marvelous plans for the whiskey-infused apples, too! I want to use them to make apple bread for gifting as well. Who wouldn’t want a loaf of drunken apple bread for Christmas in the middle of a global pandemic?
What kind of apples to use?
I used honeycrisp apples from my dad’s tree and they are SUPER sweet, so I didn’t need to add much honey to get the sweetness I wanted, but I think you could use just about any apple with a good flavor. Sour apples like Granny Smith might need more honey, but they would add another “sour” dimension of flavor which I think might be really nice.
The apples don’t need to be perfect for this infusion. You can use apples that are wilted, bruised or blemished. Just cut out any bad bits before adding them to the infusion.
How to use apple whiskey in mixed drinks?
Aside from sipping (which has a nice warm, smooth winter glow to it, without a nasty “bite”), here are some other ideas for enjoying your apple-infused whiskey:
- slip a shot of this apple whiskey into sparkling apple juice, apple cider, ginger beer or cranberry juice
- add a bit to hot apple tea (or try adding to other teas like chai, ginger tea, )
- make an Apple Whiskey Sidecar
- try an Apple Old Fashioned (which my friend says is the BEST old fashioned EVER)
- how about an Apple Whiskey Sour?
- also: apple pie cocktail (with RumChata!), apple rosemary julep, apple martini, apple mint julep, apple manhattan – recipes for these and more at lovetoknow
How long does it take to make apple whiskey?
To get a good apple flavor, the apples will need to bathe in the whiskey for at least 7 days. You can let them soak longer too. Give your whiskey a little taste after 7 days and see if it is “apple-y” enough for you. If not (or if life just gets busy), then let it sit longer. It’s all good.
I might have bought some specially personalized flasks from etsy for gifting this delightful whiskey to friends this year, but shhhh … please don’t tell them! I want it to be a surprise. Some of them might see this post ahead of time, but I’ve already received one request for the recipe and who am I to disappoint? Besides, I want you to have the opportunity to make this for your friends/family this holiday season.
Enjoy responsibly and stay safe and healthy this holiday season, my sweet foodie friends!
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Honey Apple Whiskey
Ingredients
- Fresh apples, cored and sliced (NOT peeled)
- 2 – 3 Tablespoons honey
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 slice fresh ginger root
- 3 – 4 whole cloves
- 2 teaspoons real vanilla extract
- Whiskey
Instructions
- Fill a quart jar about half to 2/3 full with apple slices. Add the honey, cinnamon stick, ginger root, cloves and vanilla.
- Pour whiskey over to fill the jar and cover the apples. Cover with the lid. Set the jar in a dark place and gently shake once each day for 7 days or more.
- Strain out the apples and spices and use a funnel to pour the strained whiskey into a nice bottle or flask (especially if you’re gifting the whiskey). Enjoy for sipping or add this lovely libation to tea, sangria or cocktails.
Notes
© Copyright 2020, Sumptuous Spoonfuls. All images & content are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to publish any of my images, please ask first. If you want to republish this recipe as your own, please re-write the recipe in your own words or link back to this post for the recipe.
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[…] also wanted to use some of the apples left over from my honey apple whiskey infusion, so I shredded up the apple slices in my little Ninja chopper and added some to the […]
[…] finished off the year with a wonderful new infusion … honey apple whiskey, which I made from the sweet honeycrisp apples that I helped my dad harvest from his tree. Oooh […]