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Apple Cider Cocktail

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posted: 09/05/25

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy

This Apple Cider Cocktail will be your favorite drink all fall long. Made with just four simple ingredients, this cocktail is easy to make and even easier to drink.

I love a good themed cocktail, and this one is perfect for the autumn season. It tastes like you are sitting in a high-end bar and sipping on their talented bartender’s most recent creative creation. With its basic ingredients, it has no business being as good as it is.

Apple Cider Cocktail Ingredients

Four ingredients combine to create the perfect cozy fall flavor. Be sure to scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of the post for the full list of ingredients and their measurements.

  • Apple cider: Store-bought or homemade apple cider is the base of this cocktail. If you can’t find apple cider, you can use apple juice but know that the cocktail will be sweeter.
  • Bourbon: Use a good quality bourbon whiskey. I love Knobb Creek.
  • Simple syrup: It is so easy to make your own simple syrup. I always recommend making it and keeping it on hand for cocktails. It adds the perfect amount of sweetness without being gritty like sugar.
  • Lemon juice: Freshly squeezed lemon juice is always best for cocktails. Roll the lemon on the counter for about 20 seconds to get the most juice out of it.

How to Make an Apple Cider Bourbon Cocktail

Here is a brief overview of how this apple cocktail comes together. For the full recipe including all measurements, scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of the post.

  • Combine all ingredients. Add the apple cider, brandy, simple syrup, and lemon juice to a cocktail shaker filled with ice.
  • Shake until cold. The shaker should feel cold in your hand.
  • Garnish and enjoy! Strain in a tumbler filled with one large ice cube. Garnish with apple slices. In the photos, I have also added a rosemary sprig.

Other Great Fall Cocktails

If you make this apple cider cocktail recipe or any of my other recipes, I’d love to hear what you think!

Apple Cider Cocktail served in a glass with ice, garnished with rosemary sprig and apple slices. Cinnamon sticks, rosemary, and apples beside.
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Apple Cider Cocktail

Author: Lisa Longley
Serves: 1 cocktail
(tap # to scale)
Prep: 5 minutes
Total: 5 minutes
This Apple Cider Cocktail will be your favorite drink all fall long. Made with just four simple ingredients, this cocktail is easy to make and even easier to drink.

Ingredients

  • 2 ounces apple cider
  • 2 ounces bourbon
  • 1 ounce simple syrup
  • 1/2 ounce lemon juice

Instructions

  • Combine all of the ingredients in a cocktail shaker filled with ice.
  • Shake until the shaker feels cold in your hand.
  • Strain in a tumbler filled with one large ice cube. Garnish with apple slices.
Course: Drinks
Cuisine: American
Apple Cider Cocktail served in a glass with ice, garnished with rosemary sprig and apple slices. Cinnamon sticks, rosemary, and apples beside.

did you make this

Apple Cider Cocktail

I’d love to see what you made! Tag me @lisasimplejoy and hashtag it #simplejoyrecipes!

Lisa is the founder of Simple Joy. Lisa, is a self taught cook and avid lover of all things food, based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. For the last 10 years Lisa has been reading cookbooks, experimenting in the kitchen, and learning everything she possibly can about cooking. The result has been the ability to create recipes, both classics and new twists, that readers fall in love with and make with ease. Lisa loves not only providing delicious and easy recipes, but also giving the why behind what we are doing in the kitchen. She gets such great joy in sharing my love for food.

Lisa has been featured in many media outlets. These outlets include Country Living, Real Simple, Today, Parade, Good Housekeeping, Buzzfeed, Delish, Elle, and many others.

Prior to becoming a food creator, Lisa was a social worker. She received her master’s in social work from the University of Milwaukee and worked in child welfare.

Lisa is the mom to four amazing kids: Gavin, Elliot, Quinn, and Piper. Gavin, Quinn, and Piper are happy, amazing kids she loves spending time with.

Her husband, Nathan, is her partner in life and in business. He is her rock in more ways than one and supports all of her crazy dreams.

Lisa and Nathan lost their second child, Elliot, when he was 8 days old. If you want to know more about Elliot, you can read it here. If you want to read more of Lisa’s experience of grief, you can read this post.

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