Jump up and down if you love honeycrisp apple season!
Jump up and down if you love honeycrisp apple cocktail season.
I’m basically doing cartwheels.
It’s no secret I wait all year for honeycrisp apples. There’s something about their crisp texture, bright sweetness and unmistakable apple flavor that makes them my favorite.
Max eats an apple with cinnamon every day, so I was excited to give him a honeycrisp. He declared it the perfect apple—honest and simple—and I had to laugh. He was right: honeycrisps really do taste like the ideal apple.
After making lots of summer drinks—rosé cocktails and fruit-forward sips—my favorite ended up being the orange crush. Its bright citrus and soda make it irresistibly refreshing. That soda, ideally a lemon-lime, adds a fizzy lift that keeps the drink light and bubbly.
Oddly, orange isn’t usually my go-to flavor, so I was surprised the orange crush became my top pick. But that made me want a fall version using fresh apple instead of orange.
I considered cider but wanted something closer to the orange crush in spirit: fresh juice, bright and fizzy, but with a cozy fall twist. Fresh apple juice—made from honeycrisp apples—felt like the perfect base.
Here’s how the drink comes together:
- Honeycrisp syrup: a concentrated, sweet apple syrup that amplifies the apple flavor.
- Honeycrisp juice: slightly thicker than store-bought juice—more like a puree—but full of fresh apple goodness.
- Vodka: a neutral spirit to let the apple shine.
- Ginger beer or ginger ale: ginger beer gives a bit of bite, while ginger ale keeps the drink milder. Either works depending on how spicy or comforting you want the cocktail to feel.
This cocktail feels like a giant spiked honeycrisp apple: icy, cold and full of real apple flavor without tasting like cider or artificial green-apple candy. It’s refreshing yet cozy—perfect for crisp autumn afternoons and chilly evenings alike.
Honeycrisp Crush
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Ingredients
Honeycrisp juice and syrup
- 2 large honeycrisp apples peeled and diced
- 1/4 cup water
- sugar
Honeycrisp crush
- 3 ounces honeycrisp juice
- 1 to 2 ounces honeycrisp syrup
- 2 ounces vodka
- 3 ounces ginger beer or ginger ale
- apple slices for garnish
- a sprinkle of cinnamon on top
Instructions
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Note: you can use regular apple juice or apple cider instead; adjust the syrup amount to taste.
Honeycrisp juice and syrup
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You can make the juice and syrup ahead of time.
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Place the apples and water in a saucepan over medium heat. Simmer until the apples are tender and breaking down. Puree in a blender or food processor until smooth, then strain through a fine mesh sieve to collect the juice. Reserve about 3 ounces per drink and set aside.
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For the syrup, measure the remaining honeycrisp juice and use an equal amount of sugar. Heat juice and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat, whisking until the sugar dissolves and the mixture simmers. Remove from heat, cool completely, and store in a sealed container in the fridge.
Honeycrisp crush
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Fill a glass with crushed ice. Add honeycrisp juice, syrup and vodka, then stir gently. Top with ginger beer or ginger ale, garnish with an apple slice and a light sprinkle of cinnamon. Serve immediately.
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I appreciate you so much!
You can totally cinnamon-sugar the rim too and be my BFF forever.