The Boy and His Poison: The Applejack

Sometimes it pays to be an opportunist when seeking out new cocktail recipes. Never was this more true than last week - whilst ostensibly I was visiting my family for Mother's Day, what I was secretly excited about was the unopened bottle of calvados somewhere in their garage meaning I'd finally be able to test whether this cocktail (with its apple, citrus and smokey maple flavours) was as delicious as it sounded.

The good news, as a very merry set of mothers and grandmothers can attest, is it is. In some respects this drink shares a number of flavour similarities with the apple-pie old fashioned, but here the tastes are far more pronounced and immediately apparent. Similar in construction to a Sidecar, the maple syrup does incredible things to the mixture of orange and lemon juice which in turn balances perfectly with the calvados. By far the best part of the recipe is the cinnamon sugar rim: it's ridiculously easy to make but the sand-like colours and the extra flavours it gives the cocktail are amazing.

You'll need:

• 50ml calvados, but you can substitute with brandy, or even bourbon and rye.
• 25ml lemon juice
• 25ml orange juice
• 25ml maple syrup
• 3tbsp fine caster sugar
• 1tbsp cinnamon

Make it! 

1. Add your calvados, lemon juice, orange juice and maple syrup to a shaker.
2. Dry shake for a few seconds to blend the syrup with the rest of the ingredients.
3. Meanwhile in a shallow bowl wide enough to accommodate a martini glass, mix your sugar and cinnamon together.
4. Wet the rim of your martini glass and dip it into the cinnamon sugar mix.
5. Add the ice to the shaker.
6. Shake for 5-10 seconds.
7. Strain into your sugar-rimmed martini glass.