The Apple Blow Fizz Recipe

Even on the sunniest of spring days, winter has a way of letting you know it's not completely out of the game. As tempting as it is to head outside without a jacket—your t-shirt a symbol of exuberant optimism for the warm weather that's surely here to stay, as well as a figurative middle finger to the cold weather that's just GOT to be behind us—we've all learned at some point in our lives that such a gesture is just begging for trouble.

Sure, it was nice and warm when you stepped out, and if it were July then you'd have no reason to worry; but it's April, and there's a freezing shower or a frigid breeze just waiting for you to get far enough from your house, office or car before it catches you by surprise, chilling you through your skin in a successful effort to remind you that winter's going to take its own sweet time sashaying out the seasonal door.

When I wrote about springtime drinks on Wednesday, common elements included the bright snap of citrus and the cooling draught of bubbles.The Apple Blow Fizz has both of these features, but rather than a base of gin or light rum—which would take the drink in a summery, shorts-and-sandals direction—it's built on apple brandy, which with its depth of flavor and implied warmth of character is like the sweater that experience has taught you to keep close by on an early spring day.

Is the drink cool and refreshing? Absolutely—but just in case the weather should change, the Apple Blow Fizz can easily slip into cool-weather comfort mode.