Equinox Recipe

Make the infused apple syrup

Combine 1 cup apple juice and 1/2 cup granulated sugar in a small saucepan. Add 2 sprigs fresh rosemary, 1 tsp pink peppercorns (lightly crushed), and 1 tsp fresh lemon zest. Warm gently over medium-low heat, stirring until sugar dissolves. Maintain just below simmer for 6–8 minutes to allow flavors to infuse; do not boil aggressively to keep aromatics bright.

Remove from heat, cover, and let steep 20–30 minutes to deepen infusion. Taste and adjust: if too sweet, add a little lemon juice; if too vegetal, remove rosemary earlier next time.

Strain syrup through a fine mesh sieve lined with cheesecloth into a clean container, pressing solids to extract liquid. If a clearer, smoother redux is desired, bloom 1 tsp gelatin in 1 tbsp cold water, dissolve gently into 2–3 tbsp of hot syrup, mix back into the batch, chill until set, then break up and filter through a coffee filter or fine muslin to clarify (optional step).

Cool syrup completely. Yields roughly 10–12 servings at 0.5 oz per cocktail. Store refrigerated up to 7 days.

Build and chill

Add 2 oz house vermouth, 0.75 oz Calvados Réserve, 0.5 oz Orchards Amaro, 0.5 oz fresh lemon juice, and 0.5 oz Pomme-Rosemary-Pink Peppercorn Redux into a mixing glass.

Fill the mixing glass with ice and stir gently for 20–30 seconds (about 20–25 strokes) until properly chilled and slightly diluted.

Strain mixture into a chilled rocks glass over a single large ice cube.

Finish with lager

Carefully top with 2 oz cold lager beer — pour slowly to preserve carbonation while allowing a light foamy head to marry with aromatics.

Express a rosemary sprig over the drink by gently clapping it between your hands to release oils, then place it standing in the glass. Add 1–2 whole pink peppercorns to the surface or skewer them on the rosemary for aroma and visual pop.

Serve immediately. Recommend serving with tasting note: bright apple and rosemary on the nose, warm apple-brandy backbone, herbal bitter from vermouth and amaro, with a light effervescence from the lager.