This is a cocktail for spring, made with fresh apples and nettle cordial (nettles are at their best in early spring, when the shoots are tender and young). If you don’t fancy making your own nettle cordial, try Thorncroft’s wild nettle version. Nebojsa Kutlesic, bar manager at Skylon, describes Rustic Apple as a twist on a classic apple martini and swears by using Babicka vodka, which is flavoured with wormwood, the thujone-containing active ingredient in absinthe.

Ingredients (makes one cocktail)

quarter of apple
cinnamon stick
40ml Babicka vodka
20ml crème de pommes (e.g. Domaine Pinnacle crème de pommes)
10ml wild nettle cordial
20ml lemon juice
6ml gomme syrup

optional garnish: slice of apple drizzled with brown sugar and caramelised

Method

Place the apple and cinnamon stick into a cocktail shaker and muddle together. Add the remaining ingredients and a handful of ice into a cocktail shaker and shake well. Strain into a goblet glass and if you want to garnish, add an apple slice coated in caramelised brown sugar to the rim.