When Libation Goddess Audrey Saunders suggests a drink, it's wise to pay attention.
That's why I was immediately intrigued when I saw her tweet this, a few days before Thanksgiving:
✨🍎EVE🍎✨
One of my favorite preprandials and a
snap to prepare💫
Light yet complex, low-alc
aromatic & refreshing8 McIntosh Apples
&
1L Noilly Prat Dry V🍁Slice apples mandolin thin
🍁Infuse in vermouth 5 days
~Start Sat for 🦃Happy Thanksgiving🤗
From my table to yours— Audrey Saunders (@AudreySaunders) November 22, 2019
This sounded delicious right off the bat, and Audrey's elaborations about how easy it was to make and drink meant that I'd be stopping by the store quite soon to pick up some McIntoshes and dry vermouth.
I know Helen Rosner wrote in the New Yorker about how a Boulevardier was the perfect Thanksgiving cocktail, and while she makes her case well, I'd have to disagree. I like Boulevardiers, and made a lot of them for a wedding reception once (and drank so many of them that Campari gives me a slight twinge to this day), but that's a lot of strong flavors to hit your palate with all at once, especially just before a big meal. I like the Eve's approach better as an aperitif: lower alcohol, some acid for structure, a bit of sweetness and herbs. Think of it as something light to get the juices going, rather than a ten-pound spiritous sledgehammer.
So off I went, following Paul Clarke's instructions, slicing the apples (and managing not to slice my thumb on the mandoline, the only kitchen tool that frightens me), adding a liter of dry vermouth (and then another 375ml after realizing a full liter wouldn't completely cover all eight apples), and tucking them into the fridge. After five days of daily shaking and checks, it was ready to strain and serve.
In a word, wow. This was delicious. Served chilled and without ice, it was crisp and clean, refreshing and complex, and it did its job in whetting the appetite for the intense meal to come. As I remarked to Audrey, I couldn't decide if I wanted to drink this straight, put it in a Fitty-Fitty, or rub it all over my body. (She came right back with "All of the above? 😂") Of course, given the lead time required, you can't whip this up on the spur of the moment for your feast…but since we're entering the holiday season, there are hopefully more feasts in your immediate future, relatively soon.
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