Vodka · Classic · Sweet
Apple Martini Recipe
Bright green, sweet-tart, and pure 1990s nightlife — vodka meets sour apple schnapps. Sweet-tart and candy-apple green, built for sipping cold on a night out rather than lingering over. A nostalgic 1990s crowd-pleaser that still turns heads on a bar cart.
- Prep Time
- 1.5 min
- Method
- Shaken
- Glass
- Martini glass
- Strength
- Balanced
Every recipe on Sipped Right is tested for taste and balance before it's published.
Last updated October 20, 2026
About the Apple Martini
The Apple Martini was created in 1996 at Lola's, a West Hollywood restaurant, when owner Loren "Lola" Dunsworth asked bartender Adam Karsten to build a drink around a half-used bottle of Ketel One vodka and DeKuyper Sour Apple Pucker schnapps. Karsten's equal-parts pour, finished with a splash of sweet-and-sour mix, became known as "Adam's Apple Martini" before the name shortened to Appletini. It exploded through the late '90s and 2000s on nightclub menus, propelled by its neon-green glow, and became a fixture on TV screens and bar carts alike. Despite the name, it isn't a true martini in the vermouth-and-gin sense — like the Cosmopolitan, it belongs to the era's wave of vodka-and-liqueur "-tinis" served up in the same stemmed glass.
Two parts vodka to one part apple schnapps is the backbone — vodka carries the volume while the schnapps' concentrated apple-candy flavour and neon-green colour still dominate the nose and the glass. A half part of fresh lemon juice cuts the schnapps' sugar so the drink reads sweet-tart rather than syrupy. It's built the same way as its most famous vodka-and-liqueur "-tini" cousin, the Cosmopolitan — a spirit-and-modifier base sharpened with citrus — just swapping cranberry and triple sec for apple schnapps.
Ingredients
- Vodka2 oz
- Apple schnapps1 oz
- Fresh lemon juice½ oz
- Green apple slice, for garnish1 fan
Method
- Measure and pour the vodka, apple schnapps and fresh lemon juice into the shaker tin.
- Add a scoop of ice to the shaker tin.
- Shake for 15 seconds.
- Fine-strain the cocktail into a chilled martini glass.
- Cut a thin, fanned slice of green apple.
- Perch the apple fan on the rim of the glass.
Glass & Garnish
Martini glass, chilled well before pouring and filled only after straining — there's no ice in the glass itself, so the drink needs to be shaken hard and poured cold to stay refreshing through the last sip. The stemmed glass also keeps the neon-green liquid on full display, which is half the point of ordering one. Garnish with a thin fan of green apple perched on the rim. Slicing the apple paper-thin and fanning it lets it hold its shape and colour through the drink instead of browning or slumping into the liquid, and it visually echoes the drink's apple flavour rather than just decorating it.
Notes
Keeps the original three-ingredient structure: vodka, apple schnapps and citrus. Some recipes add a splash of triple sec or swap the lemon for lime and sweet-and-sour mix.
Tools Used
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FAQ
- Who invented the Apple Martini?
- Bartender Adam Karsten created it in 1996 at Lola's, a West Hollywood restaurant, when owner Loren Dunsworth asked him to build a drink around Ketel One vodka and DeKuyper Sour Apple Pucker schnapps. His equal-parts pour, called Adam's Apple Martini, was quickly shortened to Appletini and became a defining drink of the era.
- Can I make an Apple Martini without apple schnapps?
- Not really — apple schnapps supplies both the candy-apple flavour and the drink's signature bright green colour, so swapping it out changes the drink entirely. If you're out, a green apple liqueur is the closest substitute; plain apple juice will thin the flavour and lose the colour.
- What's the best vodka for an Apple Martini?
- A clean, neutral vodka like Ketel One or Absolut works best — the schnapps and lemon juice already carry the flavour, so you want a vodka that stays out of the way rather than adding its own character. Save a more distinctive, flavoured vodka for drinks where it's the star.
- How is an Apple Martini different from a Cosmopolitan?
- Both are vodka-based '-tinis' from the same era, served up in the same glass, but a Cosmopolitan gets its colour and tartness from cranberry juice, lime and triple sec, while an Apple Martini leans on apple schnapps and lemon juice for a candy-apple flavour and neon-green hue instead.
- Why does an Apple Martini get garnished with an apple slice?
- A thin, fanned slice of green apple echoes the drink's flavour rather than just decorating it, and it signals at a glance what's in the glass. Slicing it paper-thin and fanning it helps it hold its shape and colour instead of browning or sinking.
- Can I batch Apple Martinis for a party?
- Yes — scale the vodka, apple schnapps and lemon juice proportionally and combine them ahead of time in a bottle, keeping it chilled. Add ice and shake individual servings (or a big batch in a large shaker) right before pouring, since it needs the aeration and dilution shaking provides.
