Seeking to elevate the much maligned appletini, the Poire Royale from Holy Water in Los Angeles utilizes Bartlett pears, winter spices, and a touch of sparkling Chenin Blanc.
The appletini doesn’t have a great reputation among bar and spirits professionals, but that negativity led to the creation of the Poire Royale, an elevated twist on the not-so-classic classic cocktail. Switching from apple to pear and topping things off with a bubbly California Chenin Blanc makes this riff an ideal partner for a dessert cheese plate.
Holy Water Beverage Director Cameron Dodge-White tells us…
Name the cocktail.
Poire Royale
What inspired the name? What’s this drink’s origin story?
This drink started as a conversation between myself and our Bar Lead, John. We had an idea of taking a cocktail that was widely looked down on and elevating or twisting it into something that shook people out of thinking that that cocktail was whatever they thought it was. That cocktail was the Appletini.
Once one of us said it, we laughed and then immediately started pitching ideas. We wanted to use a specific and unique Vodka as the base to immediately force us to be creative, and after tasting with a couple different apples decided it might not work, until John suggested pear. It was coming up on winter last year and we knew we wanted to have those warm cooking spices and flavors represented so we began playing with different pear types. Eventually we landed on Bartlett pears, and then had to decide how to process and incorporate the fresh pear into the drink. That led to us mulling, and being from the Midwest I was very familiar with mulled and spiced ciders, which often incorporate apples (see where this is going?). So we developed a spiced mulled pear syrup and then had to figure out texture.
Pear can get very mealy, and we wanted a silky texture to mimic Appletini’s using puckers or overly sugared cordials or liqueurs, so we tried a number of filtering ideas and techniques until we realized that it was really about going whole hog on it and using three different filtrations while the mull was still warm. We combined it with a spirit base using Origen vodka and built around a Martini-like structure, it’s shaken and then fine strained, served up, with a sugar ¼ rim (for those that really do want a Sweet cocktail) and a fresh sage leaf to layer another aroma and fall / winter vibe. The final flourish for the cocktail is that it is topped with a delicious, small production sparkling Chenin Blanc produced here in California. It gives just a touch of brioche, honey, green apple and more pear notes and makes it lively on the palate while being dry and keeping the cocktail from veering into sweet territory.
What I love about the drink is that you think it’s going to be sweet and once you take a sip it goes up to the edge and then backs all the way off to finish on the drier side.
What other drinks belong in its family?
Anything-Tinis!
if you like ________ and ________ you should try this drink.
Appletinis, warm mulled cider, drinks made with love, care and a desire to surprise.
What food is this cocktail best served with?
I’d totally drink this with a cheese plate, especially for dessert if you don’t love sweets!
- Ingredients
- .75 oz Origen Vodka
- .25 oz Dolin Dry Vermouth
- .75 oz Cocchi Americano
- .25 oz Amaro Nonino
- 2 dash Peach Bitters
- .5 oz Mulled Spiced Pear Syrup
- Top (roughly 1oz) with Sparkling Chenin Blanc
Directions
Combine ingredients except wine into shaker, add ice, shake and fine strain into a chilled Nick & Nora glass that has a ¼ sugar rim. Top with sparkling wine, garnish with a single sage leaf.
