The top 5 cider cocktails in Toronto

Hard ciders work well in cocktails and these boozy and effervescent drinks are already becoming a fixture on Toronto bar menus. Cider has a natural acidity, which brightens up brown spirits and pairs well with fruity flavours too.

Here are five great cider cocktails you can find at Toronto restaurants and bars.

The East Cider
Exclusive to La Carnita's Queen East outpost (Get it? It's called the East Cider), this sweet take on a michelada subs in cider instead of cerveza.

2-3 oz freshly squeezed peach nectar
1 bottle Spirit Tree pub cider
Cinnamon sugar rim

Rim a 10 oz mason jar with cinnamon sugar, fill it halfway with ice, pour peach nectar in the jar, crack open your bottle or can of cider and pour it overtop. Grab a straw, stir that bad boy and sip your brains out. Keep adding cider as you go.

Reoccurring Dream About You #2
Bartender Dimitri Karakostas from The 47 crafts some incredible cocktails, including a small selection that features cider. My favourite is this refreshing take on a cider swizzle, which layers Capo Capo and Fernet with Revel Hop-X cider for a drink that's quite boozy, but doesn't taste that way.

1 oz Capo Capo
½ oz Lillet Blanc
½ oz Benedictine
2.5 oz Revel Hop-X cider
Fernet float

Layer ingredients in a tall glass starting with Capo Capo (though Aperol would work too), a healthy dose of ice and garnish with an orange peel.

Apple Ginger Cider Sangria
Cider adds a sparkling finish to this wine-free take on sangria from Against The Grain. You'll find it on the menu by the glass or in pitchers ready to be shared on the patio.

1 oz Gordon's London Dry Gin
2 oz White Cranberry Juice
½ oz Sweet-and-sour mix (i.e. margarita mix)
½ oz Monin Ginger Syrup
3 oz Brickworks Cider

Fill a wine glass with ice and add gin, cranberry juice, sweet-and-sour mix and ginger syrup. Top it with cider and garnish with maraschino cherries, lemon wedges and apple slices.

Sidra House Rules
Cava embraces the tradition of high-pouring Basque cider. Not only does it aerate the otherwise still brew, but it offers some theatrics from behind the bar as well.

1½ oz Gonzalez Byass Solera 1847
4 oz Basque Sidra
3 large sage leaves, bruised
3 drops orange flower water

Build this drink in a Collins glass by layering sherry, orange flower water and cider. Finish with a ¼ ounce of soda water, garnish with bruised sage leaves and serve.

The Catalan Cobbler a.k.a Oliver's Breeze
This cocktail designed by The Toronto Temperance Society's Oliver Stern is among the seasonal faves at Barque Butcher Bar.

1 oz Don's mix (equal parts cinnamon syrup and grapefruit juice)
1 oz Bacardi rum
1 oz Zapiain cider

Combine rum and Don's mix and stir. Serve in a highball glass over crushed ice and top with Zapiain cider.

Thanks to the LCBO for sponsoring this post.

Photos by Hector Vasquez and Derek Flack.

by Liora Ipsum via blogTO