Lucky Lime Appletini

Alex and I have been talking about collaborating on a little cocktail series for awhile now, and figured that St. Patrick's Day would provide us with the perfect excuse. Since neither of us are particularly fond of green beer or overly sweet and syrupy drinks, we were determined to come up with something that reflected our usual tastes but still channeled the spirit of the holiday. In other words, it needed to be green.

And so we present to you the Lucky Lime Appletini. With it's electric green colour and crisp, slightly spicy flavour, it's the perfect cocktail to sip on St. Patrick's Day. Or anytime, really. I realized once we started that we didn't have any regular vodka, so we substituted apple flavoured vodka, but that's definitely not necessary. I do feel like it added bonus lucky points though, with the little flakes of gold that felt pretty appropriate given the occasion.

Lucky Lime Appletini // 

4 oz ginger infused vodka (recipe below) 4 oz fresh green apple lime juice (recipe below) Crushed Ice Apple slices for garnish

For Ginger Infused Vodka // 

4 oz vodka 1/2 tbsp of fresh ginger, peeled and grated

For the Green Apple and Lime Juice // 

1 large green apple, cured and sliced 1/4 cup water Juice of 1 large lime

For the Ginger Infused Vodka // 

Place the vodka and grated ginger in a resealable jar. Shake gently and set aside for two or more hours until infused. When ready, strain to extract all the liquids.

For the Green Apple and Lime Juice // 

Add the apple slices, water and lime juice to a blender and blend until smooth. Strain through a fine mesh strainer to remove all the pulp.

Make the Lucky Lime Appletini // 

Add the ginger infused vodka, green apple and lime juice to a cocktail shaker. Fill the shaker halfway with crushed ice and shake until the shaker turns frosty.

Strain into martini glasses to serve. Garnish with apple slices (and, ideally, four leaf clovers for extra luck. We had mint on hand, so we substituted with that).

Note: If you prefer a slightly sweeter cocktail, add 1 tbsp of honey or maple simple syrup to the recipe.

Illustration: Alex Perlin