Absolut Orient Apple Review

…..One of the biggest hits for the Absolut Vodka brand has been their “city series” vodkas. Releasing 1 per year, Absolut tries to capture the essence of a given city and bottling it for you to buy. One of the most genius things about it (brace yourself, this is my inner marketing nerd coming out) is that it allows for Absolut to produce new flavors in small quantities, test it out in certain markets, and from there decide whether or not to make it a full on regular member of there flavor portfolio. Absolut L.A was one of the first, being relaunched as Absolut Berry-Acai. Next was Absolut Boston which was later relaunched as Absolut Wild Tea. The latest to make it global; Absolut Brooklyn now repackaged as “Orient Apple”. I never had the pleasure of tasting the Brooklyn edition myself before it sold out, so seeing that this was now available to the masses brought a huge smile to my face. It features a fusion of orient apple and ginger, very fitting for what was originally Brooklyn inspired. Other city editions that did NOT make the cut include Vancouver, and New Orleans. They do have a San Francisco edition as well but it’s the current city being promoted and has not been out long enough for a verdict to be known.

First Impression: First things first, the secret ingredient in Orient Apple is not apple. Orient apple is more commonly known as an Asian Pear and thus why you’ll notice an “orange-ish” tent to the “apple” on the bottle Like most Absolut Vodkas, each bottle is shaped the same but usually offers a unique piece of artwork relating to the flavor. In this case the bottle is clear with stencil like sketches of tree, leaves, and an orient apple. Time to crack it open. Very appealing aroma of apple cider hits the nose. Does a great job of creating a visual because I immediately could see a freshly picked apple dangling in front of me. Now let’s see if that can translate into flavor.

The Taste: Such beautiful artwork, such a authentic and stimulating aroma, and in the end it all falls flat when you take a sip. Shockingly I heard so many good things about Absolut Brooklyn, so unless they decided to change the recipe for it’s repackaging then I just have to disagree. While the apple-like aroma suckers you in you are left with a vodka that covers much of the taste with the exception of a hint of apple-pear when it first touches your tongue. From there you are left with quite a bit of gingery after taste. I imagined the subtle notes of apple and after taste of ginger go better in a mixed drink than when sipped neat so I used various fruit mixers to see what you get. In the case of mixing it actually DOES work well. The apple is still subtle but works and the ginger adds a new complexity to any fruity drink. I wish I could say I was a bigger fan of this but that’s just not the case. If you’re a fan of ginger than you’ll probably have a different view than I do, so I would say judge for yourself.  Below are a few recipes provided by Absolut that I picked and felt best worked well with Orient Apple.

Grade: C

Price: $17.99

Overall: If you’re a fan of the ginger you’ll love this one. That wasn’t the case for me as I felt it was a bit overdone especially considering the name, the artwork, and the aroma suggests that this one will be bursting with apple-pear like flavors. It was a bit decieving for me so unfortunately it’s not one of my favorites. That said it blends nicely with fruit mixers and let’s be honest, these days everyone is mixing their vodkas with something fruity.

Absolut Orient sample was provided courtesy of the brand. Photo above was provided courtesy of AbsolutRegis. For more recipes, and information on some of their other flavors be sure to visit Absolut.com. Don’t forget to “Like Us” on Facebook. Cheers !

Apple Breeze 

2 parts Orient Apple
2 Parts Cranberry
1 Part Pink Grapefruit

Add all ingredients in a highball glass, and garnish with a grapefruit wedge. 

Ginger Smash

2 Parts Orient Apple
2 Parts Ginger Ale
4 Mint Leaves
2 Wedges of Lemon

Muddle lemon and mint in a rocks glass. Fill with ice, add in your orient apple and top with ginger ale. 

Orient Ice Tea

2 Parts Orient Apple
6 Parts Tea
1 Part simple syrup
1 Part Lemon juice
6 Mint leaves

Add all ingredients in a highball glass filled with ice. Stir and garnish with one mint leaf, and a peach wedge.