The Ethicurean Apple Flip

Set up by four young friends a couple of years ago, The Ethicurean restaurant operates from an old glasshouse in a walled garden near Bristol. It takes seasonal, local eating–and seasonal cocktails–to heart. Here, from the Ethicurean cookbook, a classic recipe for an Apple Flip:

“This is a refined descendent of the egg drinks that were a staple in America up until the middle of the 19th century. Early flips were a mixture of beer, rum, egg, and sugar, poured from container to container to aerate them. A red-hot poker would then be plunged into the flip, causing it to froth and adding a burnt caramel flavor. We have not tried this yet, but it becomes increasingly tempting after a few flips.

“We particularly like the apple juice and brandy blends made by Julian Temperley of The Somerset Cider Brandy Company. As well as some excellent vintages of brandy and cider, he has created two drinks, Kingston Black and Pomona. Kingston Black is slightly sweeter and is similar in many ways to a Pineau des Charentes or white port.”

N.B.: For more on Julian Temperley’s distillery, see A Visit to Somerset: Temperley’s Cider Brandy.

Photograph by Jason Ingram.

The Ethicurean Apple Flip

Serves 1

Ingredients:

“¢ 45 ml Kingston Black (apple aperitif)
“¢ 25 ml 3-year-old Somerset Cider Brandy
“¢ 20 g caster sugar
“¢ 1 free-range egg
“¢ A small grating of nutmeg
“¢ Enough ice to fill a cocktail shaker by two thirds

Instructions:

Combine all the ingredients except the nutmeg and ice in the glass part of a Boston shaker. Place the tin on top and tap to secure it, then shake vigorously. Break apart the shaker and pour the contents from as high up as you dare back into the metal half of the shaker. This adds even more air to the drink. Drop in the ice. Shake until the sides of the shaker condense, then pour the flip into a glass using a Hawthorne strainer. Finish with a fine grating of nutmeg.

For more about Ethicurean recipes, see Required Reading: The Ethicurean Cookbook.

Planning a holiday party? See more of our favorite Cocktail Recipes.