Apple cider gin and tonic is our gin and tonic with juniper, rosemary, and fresh apple cider! This gin and tonic is light and refreshing, cool and crisp, and FULL of fall flavor – with notes of juniper berries, muddled rosemary, and fresh apple cider – its solid to celebrate a gorgeous fall day with.

You can use any apple cider you like – or even make this a little lighter, and more reminiscent of the polish Zabrovka and Apple Juice cocktail that we LOVE sipping when traveling in Poland (only with an earthier kick thanks to the gin), and use apple juice, instead of cider, instead. We hope you love this good fall cocktail as much as we do!

At Avdaye, we add lots of tips in all of our recipes – because we are a home cook without any formal training, and we find we are more confident making dishes when we understand why it works, and what each ingredient means to the flavor of a recipe. Our goal is for even the most beginner home cook to feel empowered in the kitchen.

How to Make Gin and Tonic with Apple Cider

Unlike our juniper cardamom gin and tonic (which is adorably named after our friends goats), this gin and tonic uses apple cider instead of a simple syrup, so is quick to mix and lightly muddle – so you can get sipping right away without having to mix a simple syrup.

Apple Cider Gin and Tonic Ingredients

First assemble the following ingredients:

Gin – Mothers ruin! That's what it used to be called, because people in the early 1700's though women who got too drunk were led to neglect their kids and turn to prostitution thanks to the intoxicating flavor of gin. We always chuckled at that nickname, and it makes us wonder why it's our favorite liquor;), but we prefer mineral-forward, herbal gins to pair with apple cider. We personally don't like anise-forward gins with apple (licorice and apple aren't our favorite combination), but we know some people LOVE that profile, so grab a gin whose notes you love!

Cider – Apple cider gives this drink the solid fall kick with apple cider – find one you love the taste of cold, as we're serving this drink over ice. We prefer ciders that are a little less spicy, since we don't want to overpower the gin and juniper flavors.

Tonic – Tonic water gives us the bubbles and mineral flavor that make a great base for our drink. We prefer using diet tonic, since we feel sugar is unnecessary, but you can use any kind you prefer.

Juniper Berries – There is nothing like letting juniper berries give off an extra herbal kick to gin as you sip it – we love the flavor it brings! This is optional, but as someone who LOVES gin and tonics, we buy juniper berries in bulk and add them to pot roasts, cocktails, and of course, lots of G&Ts!

Steps to Make Apple Cider Gin and Tonics

Once you have assembled the ingredients, use this method:

Ice. Pour gin into glass over ice with cider, stir to combine.

Stir. Pour tonic over top, stirring to mix. Add more or less tonic, to taste.

Garnish. Top with fresh herbs, apple slices, and juniper berries. Lightly muddle rosemary (press on it with back of spoon) to release flavor. Enjoy!

Kitchen notes

What Gin To Use

For this gin and tonic, you want a more floral gin that doesn't have a ton of anise flavor.

We recommend Hendricks, Botanist, Tanqueray, Monkey 47, or Gunpowder Gin – but you can use a gin you love.

If you love cardamom, you can make an over the top G&T with Bertha's Revenge Milk Gin. We once had an insanely cardamom-filled G&T at Muriel's in Belfast with Milk Gin that inspired this drink!

What Tonic to Use

For any gin and tonic, you want to use a tonic water that you love, since it is a main flavor component for your drink.

We personally like diet tonic to avoid the extra (and in our mind unnecessary) sugar in tonic – and opt for Fever Tree Naturally light, Schweppes diet tonic, or Q tonic.

If you want to try something a bit more flavorful, we love Fever Tree Indian Tonic.

While we love flavored tonics like Fever Tree's Elderflower tonic, an overly floral tonic would complicate the flavor of this drink and compete with the cardamom, so we advise a plain tonic for this cocktail.

Other Gin Drinks You'll Love

If you love this good and easy gin and tonic, check out more of our other easy gin based drinks below:

To see the rest of our cocktail and drink recipe index, click here.

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Apple Gin and Tonic FAQs

What other fruits can we add to the glass to dress it up?

We prefer adding apples to this since we use apple cider vinegar, but oranges or pineapple give it a nice acidity. They also taste good if you eat them when you are finished with the drink since they have been sitting and marinating in the gin and tonic for a while.

Ingredients

2 oz gin
4 oz apple cider
4 oz diet tonic
½ apple, thinly sliced
sprig of rosemary, mint, lavender, or other fresh herb you love, lightly muddled, to garnish
optional: whole juniper berries

Method

Pour gin into glass over ice with cider, stir to combine.
Pour tonic over top, stirring to mix. Add more or less tonic, to taste.
Garnish with fresh herbs, apple slices, and juniper berries. Lightly muddle rosemary (press on it with back of spoon) to release flavor.
Enjoy!