ZERO PROOF: APPLE WAGON by Tom Blassman, Allen St. Pub

For The Dishing’s ZERO PROOF non-alcoholic cocktail series, Tom Blassman serves up the Apple Wagon, an on-the-wagon döppel for an Apple Cider Mule.

Story: Susie Davidson Powell
Photos: Joe Tersigni/Allen Street Pub
Location: Allen Street Pub, Albany, N.Y.

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Guest Shift bartender: Tom Blassman

The cocktail: The Apple Wagon (zero-proof)

The Ingredients: Indian Ladder Farms apple cider shrub (fruit vinegar shrub), cranberry juice, ginger beer, apple chip

The story: “We regularly carry a lot of alcohol alternatives at Allen Street Pub, so our Spirit-Free Cocktail Menu intentionally makes use of them. I chose to highlight our Apple Wagon because it is centered around a fermented apple shrub that we make in-house for an apple cider mule.  The shrub combines Indian Ladder Farms apple cider, apple cider vinegar, local apples, and brown sugar, which is paired here with cranberry juice and Gosling’s Ginger Beer.  The Apple Wagon is garnished with an apple cider apple chip, made from dehydrating the apple slices that soaked in the shrub.  Because we like to focus on seasonal and local products, we can make additional spirit-free drinks based on the bar’s seasonal prep, as available.“ — Tom Blassman  

The build:
1 oz Indian Ladder Farms Apple Cider Shrub
2 oz Cranberry Juice
Ginger Beer

Combine the shrub and cranberry in a mixing glass and stir. Pour that over ice and top with ginger beer. Garnish with a dehydrated apple chip.

Meet Tom in our full tastemaker interview here.

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