Apricot brandy is the bottle that sits at the back of the cupboard because nobody quite knows what it is for. It is not brandy, for a start. It is a fruit liqueur, sweet, around 23% when you make it at home, and it belongs in far more drinks than most people realise.
These are seven apricot brandy cocktails with real measurements. Three are genuine pre-Prohibition classics that have been quietly forgotten, and they are the reason to keep a bottle.
Three things worth knowing first
- It is a liqueur, not a spirit. Made to the pack instructions it comes out around 22.9%, roughly half the strength of a brandy. Drinks built on it are lighter than they taste, and standard drink counts are given below.
- It is sweet, so most of these need acid. Lemon or lime is doing the balancing work in five of the seven recipes here. Without it apricot brandy turns cloying fast.
- It is a supporting player more often than a lead. In the classics below it usually sits at 15 to 20 ml alongside gin or rum, adding fruit and body rather than dominating. Pour it like a modifier, not a base spirit.
Which essence, and which base pack
Apricot Brandy needs a base. The pack calls for the essence plus 645 ml of alcohol at 40% added to Liqueur Base B, topped up to 1.125 L, which lands it at about 22.9%. The alternative printed on the pack is 250 ml of sugar and 100 ml of liquid glucose.
Buying the essence without the base is the most common ordering mistake in the whole liqueurs and schnapps range, and the bases are not interchangeable between products.
Several recipes below use a second bottle, all of which are worth having:
| Essence | Used in |
|---|---|
| Cherry Brandy | A close cousin. Swap it into the Valencia for a darker drink |
| Sloe Gin | The Charlie Chaplin |
| Apple Schnapps | The Angel Face, standing in for calvados |
| Peach Schnapps | Interchangeable with apricot in most of these, softer and sweeter |
The recipes
Measurements in millilitres. A standard Australian nip is 30 ml.
Valencia
The drink this page has always been about. Three ingredients and nowhere to hide.
- 45 ml apricot brandy
- 90 ml fresh orange juice
- 2 dashes orange bitters
- 10 ml fresh lemon juice, optional but recommended
- Orange twist
- Shake the apricot brandy, orange juice and bitters hard with ice.
- Double strain into a chilled coupe, or over fresh ice in a rocks glass.
- Twist orange peel over the surface and drop it in.
Roughly 0.8 standard drinks, which makes this one of the lightest drinks in any of our cocktail guides.
Two notes. The older version of this page called it a "sweet and sour orange drink", but as written there is nothing sour in it at all, which is why it can taste flat. Ten millilitres of lemon fixes that and is worth adding.
And a naming point worth clearing up: this is not Agua de Valencia, which is a different drink entirely. Agua de Valencia is a Valencian jug drink of cava, orange juice, gin and vodka, invented in the 1950s. The Valencia is an older, smaller cocktail built on apricot brandy. Our own page has been illustrated with a photo of the wrong one for years.
Apricot Sour
The simplest way to understand what apricot brandy does.
- 60 ml apricot brandy
- 25 ml fresh lemon juice
- 10 ml sugar syrup
- Optional: half an egg white
- Lemon twist
- Shake hard with ice for about twelve seconds.
- Strain into a rocks glass over fresh ice.
- Garnish with a lemon twist.
For the silky version, dry shake with the egg white and no ice first, then shake again with ice. Roughly 1.1 standard drinks. Go easy on the syrup; the liqueur is already sweet.
Charlie Chaplin
A pre-Prohibition classic from the Waldorf, equal parts, and the best argument on this page for keeping apricot brandy in the house.
- 30 ml apricot brandy
- 30 ml sloe gin
- 30 ml fresh lime juice
- Lime wheel
- Shake all three hard with ice.
- Double strain into a chilled coupe.
- Garnish with a lime wheel.
Equal parts sounds crude and tastes excellent. The lime is what holds the two sweet liqueurs apart. Roughly 1.2 standard drinks.
Angel Face
Gin, apricot and apple in equal measure. Traditionally made with calvados, and apple schnapps stands in well.
- 30 ml Dry Gin
- 30 ml apricot brandy
- 30 ml apple schnapps
- Orange twist
- Stir all three with plenty of ice for around 30 seconds. This one is stirred, not shaken.
- Strain into a chilled coupe.
- Twist orange peel over the surface and drop it in.
Roughly 1.6 standard drinks. Stirring keeps it clear and silky, which is the point of the drink.
Pendennis Club
From the Louisville club of the same name, and the most sophisticated thing here.
- 45 ml Dry Gin
- 20 ml apricot brandy
- 20 ml fresh lime juice
- 2 dashes Peychaud's bitters
- Lime twist
- Shake everything hard with ice.
- Double strain into a chilled coupe.
- Garnish with a lime twist.
Peychaud's rather than Angostura if you have it; the anise note is what makes this drink. Roughly 1.6 standard drinks.
Millionaire
Rum, apricot and lime. Sounds tropical, drinks like a proper cocktail.
- 45 ml White Rum
- 20 ml apricot brandy
- 20 ml fresh lime juice
- 1 dash grenadine
- Lime wheel
- Shake all four hard with ice.
- Double strain into a chilled coupe.
- Garnish with a lime wheel.
Real pomegranate grenadine if you can find it. Most supermarket grenadine is red sugar syrup. Roughly 1.6 standard drinks.
Apricot Fizz
The long one, and the drink for a warm afternoon.
- 45 ml apricot brandy
- 20 ml fresh lemon juice
- Soda water, to top
- Lemon slice
- Shake the apricot brandy and lemon with ice.
- Strain into a tall glass over fresh ice.
- Top with soda and stir once, gently.
- Garnish with a lemon slice.
Roughly 0.8 standard drinks. Swap the soda for sparkling wine and you have something close to an apricot Royale.
Kit
- A jigger. These are modifier-led drinks and 20 ml against 45 ml is a distinction you cannot eyeball.
- A fine strainer. Four of the seven are double strained.
- A citrus press. Five of the seven need fresh lemon or lime, and it is the ingredient doing the balancing.
- Orange bitters and Peychaud's. Two small bottles that will outlast everything else on the shelf.
Making the liqueur first
- A clean neutral still matters. Sugar and fruit mask roughness rather than remove it. Filter before you flavour. Our T500 instructions guide covers producing a clean base.
- Measure your alcohol. The pack specifies 645 ml at 40%, and that figure assumes 40%. Use an alcometer rather than assuming.
- Get Base B specifically. The liqueur bases are lettered for a reason and swapping them changes the body and sweetness.
Distilling alcohol in Australia requires an ATO excise manufacturer licence and there are rules about still size. Our guide on whether it is legal to distil alcohol in Australia sets out where you stand.
Where to start this weekend
Of the seven apricot brandy cocktails here, make the Charlie Chaplin. Equal parts, three ingredients, and it will change your opinion of a bottle you had written off.
- Never made a cocktail before? Apricot Fizz, then the Valencia. Both are forgiving.
- Want to learn the shake? Apricot Sour. You can taste the balance immediately.
- Learning to stir? Angel Face. Watch it turn silky.
- Only buying one more bottle? Sloe gin, for the Charlie Chaplin.
Start with the liqueurs and schnapps essences range and check the base pack before you order. If you are unsure, ask us.
FAQ
Q: Is apricot brandy actually brandy?
No. Despite the name it is a fruit liqueur rather than a distilled fruit spirit, and it is considerably sweeter and weaker than brandy. Made from the essence to the pack instructions it comes out around 22.9% ABV, roughly half the strength of a Classic Brandy. Treat it as a modifier in cocktails rather than a base spirit.
Q: What base pack does apricot brandy essence need?
Liqueur Base B, plus 645 ml of alcohol at 40%, topped up to 1.125 litres. The alternative printed on the pack is 250 ml of sugar and 100 ml of liquid glucose. The lettered bases are not interchangeable, so Base B specifically.
Q: Is the Valencia the same as Agua de Valencia?
No, they are different drinks. The Valencia is a short cocktail of apricot brandy, orange juice and orange bitters. Agua de Valencia is a Valencian jug drink from the 1950s made with cava, orange juice, gin and vodka. The names are similar and the drinks are not.
Q: Why does my Valencia taste flat?
Because as classically written it has no acid in it. Apricot brandy is sweet and orange juice is only mildly tart, so the drink can read as syrupy. Ten millilitres of fresh lemon juice sharpens it without changing its character.
Q: Can I swap peach schnapps for apricot brandy?
In most of these, yes. Peach schnapps is softer and sweeter and sits at a similar strength, so it works in the Valencia, the sour and the fizz. It is less successful in the Charlie Chaplin and the Pendennis Club, where the apricot is providing structure rather than just fruit.
