Want a fun beverage recipe to make tonight? Try our sparkling apple cider mocktail. It's full of sparkles, it's red, it's pretty--you'll love each sip.
Looking for more ideas for fall drinks? Try apple crisp macchiato or this caramel apple mocktail!
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Ingredients
Our sparkling apple cider mocktail uses only 6 ingredients.
- Fruit Juice: We used 6 fluid ounces of apple juice per glass.
- Cider: We used nonalcoholic sparkling.
- Grenadine: We used 1 teaspoon of grenadine per glass.
- Angostura Bitters: We used 3 dashes of Angostura bitters per glass.
- Rim Decoration: We used homemade butterscotch sauce and margarita salt.
How to Make
Gather the ingredients for our festive mocktail: juice, sparkling apple cider, grenadine, and Angostura bitters.
- Twirl the rim of the glass in butterscotch. Lightly press it into the salt.
- To build the drink in the glass, pour in 6 ounces of juice.
3. Pour in 6 ounces of the sparkling beverage.
4. Add the grenadine and the Angostura bitters.
5. Carefully stir with a long handled spoon.
6. Enjoy this cold beverage with a group of friends or with your family at a holiday meal. It's a showstopper, plus it's quick to make, which makes this drink recipe a real winner in our book.
Recipe FAQs
This bottled beverage is often used as a non-alcoholic alternative to champagne. It comes in a similar bottle and has bubbles. It also makes a tasty non-alcoholic stand in for champagne to make mocktails.
The flavors of this beverage go well with ingredients you'd enjoy with apples. The naturally sweet and astringent flavors of apples pair well with cinnamon, cranberries, ginger, honey, lemon, and maple.
Not really, but they have some similarities. The main similarity is that they both do not contain alcohol and both work great to make a mocktail. When it comes to differences, the sparkling is carbonated so it has bubbles while the apple cider has no fizz. The sparkling version is also pasteurized and filtered while the regular isn't.
It is quite crisp with a hint of the sweet, tart flavors of apples. In our mocktail, its natural sweetness is mixed with grenadine and the bitters adds a hint of herbal flavors while the butterscotch rim gives it a taste of caramel.
Variations
- Want a garnish on your mocktail? Float a thin slice of apple on top.
- Can't find store-bought grenadine, or need to substitute? Learn how to make your own grenadine syrup here.
Expert Tips
- No ice? Use cold ingredients to make your mocktail, and you can skip the ice.
- Plain sparkling cider is best for this recipe.
- Need to make it ahead? Prep the rim of the glasses. Mix up everything, except the sparkling cider, refrigerate, then add it just before serving.
- Want to use butterscotch for the rim? Make sure it's plain and not smoked butterscotch.
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Recipe
Sparkling Apple Cider Mocktail
Ingredients
- ¼ cup homemade butterscotch sauce
- ¼ cup margarita salt
- ½ glass apple juice, approximately 6 fl oz
- ½ glass sparkling cider, approximately 6 fl oz
- 1 teaspoon grenadine
- 3 dashes Angostura bitters
Instructions
Decorating the Glass
- Put the butterscotch sauce and margarita salt in two separate bowls. Twirl the rim of the glass in the butterscotch, then lightly press it in the margarita salt.
Making the Beverage
- To build the drink in the glass, fill it halfway with juice (approximately 6 fl oz). Next, carefully fill the rest of the glass with sparkling cider (approximately 6 fl oz). Add the grenadine and the Angostura bitters, gently stir, and serve immediately.
- To make a small pitcher, quadruple the ingredients. Stir together the juice, grenadine, and Angostura bitters and refrigerate until ready to serve. Just before serving, gently stir in the sparkling cider.
Notes
- Make it ahead tips: prep the rim of all the glasses. Add the sparkling water just before serving.
- Use cold ingredients, and the ice can be left out.
- The best kind of cider is plain.
- Make sure the rim is dipped into plain and not smoked butterscotch.
Nutrition
Our sparkling mocktail was originally published on November 2, 2018.
Beth
This is very good. The sparkle is nice with the flavor of the apple.
Emma
This is a fun way to drink sparkling apple cider!