Recipe

• 2oz Calvados (or other apple brandy)
• .25oz rich sugar syrup (2 parts sugar, 1 part water)
• 2 dashes of orange bitters (I used Bittercube)
• Saline solution (aka salt water)

Stir all ingredients with ice and strain over a fresh large cube. Express an orange peel twist over top and rub across the rim of the glass.

About

I recently got some of these beautiful rocks glasses by The Elan Collective, so here we have an Old Fashioned variation, using the French apple brandy Calvados as the base spirit. Overall, the drink is light and fruity without the heaviness of whiskey, but still boozy and spirit forward. Perfect for these warmer summer evenings.

Now let me tell me about my favorite spice: SALT. I’m a bit of a salt fiend and huge advocate for adding salt into anything and everything. Yogurt, oatmeal, fruit, literally anything. A few grains of salt won’t make things ‘salty’ to the taste, but will really just intensify and bring out the natural flavors of the ingredients. I keep a little dropper of “saline solution” to add to my cocktails; it’s just salt dissolved in water. A few drops of this stuff works magic to brighten up any drink, it’s literally like magic in a bottle.