Elements: Calvados

Calvados is a distilled cider curated by strict French tradition. Like Champagne and Cognac, the spirit carries an Appellation d’Origin Controlee (AOC) to regulate and protect its production. Under the mandate, Calvados can only be produced within designated areas within Normandy. It must be primarily apple-based, although there is an allowance (and, in some cases, a requirement) for pears. It must also be aged in French oak barrels for at least two years.

This tight control results in a crisp, fruit-rich spirit with a flavor profile that can radically evolve overtime. Younger Calvados can evoke aromas and flavors of fresh apples and pears, while older bottles can take on spicy, jammy notes akin to apple pie. This range makes serving a chilled, mid-dinner pour of Calvados (the classic trou Normand) a power move. But it also offers a way to breathe new life into a cocktail.

“Its versatility really can take a simple drink to the next level,” explains Maxx Kleiner, bartender at Oliver’s in Chicago. “Want to make your Vesper Martini better, or make your Manhattan more fall-like, or add an extra layer to your Gin and Tonic? Mess around with some Calvados.” Kleiner highlights the spirit’s ability to elevate the riff-on-a-classic motif in his Dirty Daiquiri, a combo between the Dirty Martini and the Daiquiri in which Calvados mingles with olive brine, Cocchi Americano, and two styles of rum to maintain balance while enhancing complexity.

While apples are commonly associated with fall, Calvados’ value as an ingredient goes beyond autumnal cocktails. “I find Calvados to be among the most versatile spirits for warm- and cold-weather drinks,” explains Paul MacDonald, bartender at The Lover’s Bar, a bar-inside-a-bar at Friday Saturday Sunday in Philadelphia. “With a little finesse, you can take it in a surprising number of directions.” For the Sweet Nothings cocktail he created for Friday Saturday Sunday, MacDonald uses cilantro and a lemon coriander shrub to coax Calvados’ brighter notes to the forefront, creating a sunny drink underscored by the spirit’s expected velvety warmth.

It may be tempting to view Calvados as a European analogue for American apple brandy or applejack, yet this is not the case. At Holy Water in San Francisco, bartender Chris Kiyuna uses a touch of Calvados in his Nautical Mile cocktail to add a juicy element, but also because its nuanced profile better supports the drink’s other ingredients. “American apple brandies or applejacks tend to have more prominent flavors from the barrels they’re aged in,” he says. “That would undercut the delicate interplay between the cocktail’s brandies, orgeat, and honey.”