Nova Scotia – Nova Scotia

Each month, the Sip Advisor will alphabetically travel Canada, discovering the best each province has to offer in a variety of subjects. We will also feature a drink the area is known for. Today, we visit Atlantic Canada’s most populated province, Nova Scotia. Let’s see what this ‘New Scotland’ has to offer:

Motto: “One defends and the other conquers” – Them sounds like fighting words!

Food: Mrs. Sip and I once did a food tour in Nova Scotia and among the many highlights was trying a Halifax Donair, the official food of the city. King of Donair (KOD), a chain founded in Halifax in 1973, is responsible for bring the dish to the area. KOD has been featured in the Trailer Park Boys, as well as visited by celebrity chefs, such as Anthony Bourdain. December 8 is National Donair Day.

Drink: Alexander Keith’s Brewery was founded in Halifax in 1820. The brand is best known for the India Pale Ale offering. The brewery tour is a lot of fun, as the experience tries to take you back in time, allowing visitors to play old drinking games, as they enjoy beer samples. Today, the brewery is owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev. Nova Scotia also has a Good Cheer Trail, covering breweries, wineries, cideries, distilleries, and meaderies.

Donair Sauce

Site to See: Peggy’s Cove and its famous lighthouse are a top tourist attraction in Nova Scotia. In 2021, a new viewing platform opened to the public, although walking the rocks is a lot of fun. The area is also home to the Swissair 111 Memorial, which was erected after the plane crashed into the nearby St. Margaret’s Bay, killing all 229 passengers and crew aboard.

Street: The Cabot Trail can be found on Cape Breton Island, named after explorer John Cabot, who landed in the region (most historians now agree Cabot reached Newfoundland, not Nova Scotia) in 1497. Some notable sites along the highway include the Cape Breton Highlands National Park and Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site. Nova Scotia also has a Lobster Trail, for those interested in dining on the tasty crustacean.

TV Show: Trailer Park Boys is a mockumentary of life at the Sunnyvale Trailer Park. The trio of Julian, Ricky and Bubbles are always getting into trouble with each get-rich-quick scheme they are working. Always on their heels is on-again, off-again trailer park supervisor Jim Lahey. The Trailer Park Boys franchise has spawned an animated series, as well as feature movies and other specials.

Movie: Goon and its sequel Goon: Last of the Enforcers are set in Halifax, where main character Doug Glatt is the enforcer of the Halifax Highlanders minor league hockey team. Ironically, the movies were filmed in Manitoba and Ontario, respectively. In a nice Nova Scotia crossover reference, Ricky, Julian and Bubbles from Trailer Park Boys appear in the movie as control room workers.

Trailer Park Boys

Book/Author: Novelist and short story writer Alistair MacLeod spent a great deal of time on Cape Breton Island and did much of his writing there, while staying on his family’s land during summer breaks. MacLeod has been praised for providing vivid images of Cape Breton Island’s landscape throughout his works. His novel No Great Mischief, was voted Atlantic Canada’s greatest book of all-time.

Fictional Character: Theodore Tugboat operates in Halifax Harbour and was the inspiration for a children’s TV series, before branching out into toy lines, books and other merchandise. Many of the other characters in the franchise are named after places in Nova Scotia, along with the other Atlantic provinces. A life-size version of Theodore Tugboat, named Theodore Too, was built in Dayspring.

Fictional City: While more of a community than a city, Sunnyvale Trailer Park is home to a vast collection of eclectic characters. Aside from those already mentioned, other notable residents include Randy, the always shirtless assistant park manager; Cory and Trevor, used by the main three as errand boys and scapegoats; and J-Roc, a white rapper who struggles with his identity.

Actor/Actress: Elliot Page (formerly Ellen), star of movies such as Juno, Inception and a couple of the X-Men films, was born in Halifax. Page currently stars on the Netflix series The Umbrella Academy, where his character has been written as transgendered, to match Page’s real-life gender identity. One of Page’s earliest credits was as Treena Lahey on the Trailer Park Boys.

Theodore Tugboat

Song: My Nova Scotia Home by Hank Snow is among many songs dedicated to the province. Perhaps the strongest line in Snow’s ode to his birthplace is “Nova Scotia is my sanctuary, and I love her so.” Snow was born in Brooklyn (not New York) and enjoyed a long career in music, releasing 140 albums and numerous chart-topping singles. The Hank Snow Museum can be found in Liverpool (not England).

Band/Musician: Nova Scotia’s most notable musicians are female artists, including Sarah McLachlan and Anne Murray. McLachlan, with hits such as Building a Mystery and I Will Remember You, has sold 40 million albums globally and started the Lilith Fair tour. Murray has enjoyed a decades-long career and is viewed as someone who paved the way for future Canadian females to crossover into international markets.

People: Danny Gallivan enjoyed a long broadcasting career, including 32 years as the voice of Hockey Night in Canada. His unique calls became known as ‘Gallivanisms’, including inventing the now common term spin-o-rama. Gallivan, who was born in Sydney, created the Danny Gallivan Golf Tournament, which has raised close to $1.5 million for Cystic Fibrosis Canada.

Animal: Rutledge the Lion was born at Aylesford’s Oaklawn Farm Zoo (Nova Scotia’s largest zoo) in 1991. The big cat grew so large, at one time, it held the Guinness World Record for heaviest lion in captivity at 807 pounds. Sadly, Rutledge was euthanized in February 2009, at the age of 17. He had stopped eating and begun losing weight. Rutledge was buried at the zoo.

Sarah Mclachlan

Invention: Newsprint, allowing newspapers and other publications to operate more economically, was invented by Nova Scotia’s Charles Fenerty in 1844. After perfecting his process, Fenerty took a sample of the finished product to the Acadian Recorder, Halifax’s most popular newspaper of the time. Despite his work on newsprint, Fenerty never tried to patent the invention.

Crime: In April 2020, Gabriel Wortman murdered 22 people before he was killed by police, ending the 13-hour rampage, the deadliest in Canadian history. The spree resulted in a federal ban of many assault-style weapons. Another infamous crime in the province was the 1992 Sydney River McDonald’s Murders, where three friends went from robbing a McDonald’s to murdering three employees.

Sports Team: Two Quebec Major Junior Hockey League teams, the Halifax Mooseheads and Cape Breton Screaming Eagles, are perhaps the biggest games in the province. The Atlantic Schooners are a proposed expansion team for the Canadian Football League. The franchise had a failed 1984 bid, which was revived in 2018, although no official application has been made.

Athlete: Sidney Crosby was born in Halifax and has gone on the meet all the expectations that were thrust upon him as a young hockey prodigy. Crosby has won three Stanley Cups, along with earning nearly every personal NHL award available. In a “you couldn’t write a better ending” moment, Crosby scored the ‘golden goal’, which won Canada a gold medal on home ice at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.

Sidney Crosby

Famous Home: The Maud Lewis House, originally located in Marshalltown, is a work of art. So much so, that the cottage now resides in the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, allowing for its safe preservation. Maud Lewis was a Nova Scotian folk artist, who used her home as a canvas. Despite living most of her life in poverty, Lewis’ work is now recognized on postage stamps, while paintings have sold for record prices at auction.

Urban Legend: The Oak Island Mystery is so legendary, it inspired the reality TV series The Curse of Oak Island. The mystery involves tales of buried treasure on Oak Island, with the lost artifacts believed to be anything from Marie Antoinette’s jewels to the Holy Grail or Ark of the Covenant. Legend says seven men will die before the treasure is discovered. Thus far, six men have perished while searching.

Museum: The Maritime Museum of the Atlantic can be found on the Halifax Waterfront. It was opened in 1948 and is the oldest and largest maritime museum in Canada. The museum is home to more than 30,000 artifacts. Exhibits include Shipwreck Treasures of Nova Scotia, a Convoy Exhibit on the World War II Battle of the Atlantic, and Titanic Exhibit, including items from the doomed ship.

Firsts: On December 15, 1902, electrical engineer Guglielmo Marconi successful made the first wireless message from North America to Europe. Thus, Marconi is viewed as the inventor of radio. He was co-awarded the 1909 Nobel Prize in Physics for his continued efforts in the field. The Marconi National Historic Site and Marconi Wireless Station National Historic Site can be found on Cape Breton Island.

Titanic

Company: Sobeys, Canada’s second largest grocery store chain, was founded in Stellarton in 1907. The company, which operates each of the country’s 10 provinces, is still headquartered in Stellarton today. Grocery chains under the Sobeys banner include IGA, Safeway, Thrifty Foods and FreshCo. The Subsidiary has also dabbled in the movie theatre and gas station industries.

Events: The 1917 Halifax Explosion occurred when a French cargo ship, carrying explosives, crashed into a Norwegian boat. The resulting explosion killed at least 1,782 people and completely decimated the Halifax Harbour. As if the blast wasn’t enough, a tsunami followed. The Halifax Harbour also played a role in the aftermath of the Titanic sinking, being where recovered bodies of those who perished were shipped.

Miscellaneous: Nova Scotians are known as ‘Bluenosers’, a reference that was later used to name the famous racing schooner Bluenose, which was built in Lunenburg in 1921. The sailing ship and fishing vessel was nicknamed ‘Queen of the North Atlantic’. The Bluenose appears on Nova Scotia licence plates, the Canadian dime, three different postage stamps, and was inducted into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame in 1955.

Nova Scotia: Nova Scotia

Nova Scotia

  • 2 oz Scotch
  • 0.25 oz Yellow Chartreuse
  • Dashes of Orange Bitters
  • Garnish with a Lemon Twist

Nova Scotia has a cocktail named after it, so I had to use the recipe. I didn’t have any Yellow Chartreuse on hand, so I used Drambuie as a substitute. We finish by saying “sociable”, the province’s version of “cheers”!

Mixer Mania #30 – Blowing Bubbles

One of the things that pops into my mind when working with Bubble Gum Soda is the character of Bubbles from Trailer Park Boys. That got me thinking of other characters with similar monikers… and there’s more than you would think. Here are some of the more infamous ones:

Trailer Park Boys

The trio of Julian, Ricky and Bubbles is always on the prowl for a get-rich-quick scheme, with Julian the brain, Ricky the muscle and Bubbles the heart of any operation. Bubbles real name has never been divulged, while his nickname certainly stems from his large glasses. The kitty-loving resident of Sunnyvale Trailer Park splits his time between fixing shopping carts, wrestling as the Green Bastard and playing a mean guitar.

Bubbles Kitties

Bubble Bobble

One of my favourite video games as a youngster was Bubble Bobble, featuring the characters of Bub and Bob, two bubble dragons. This classic Taito platformer sees the twins attempt to rescue their girlfriends from the Cave of Monsters. Given the creatures are good at blowing bubbles, I wonder how Bub and Bob were rewarded for their heroic efforts!?

Bubbles the Chimpanzee

Michael Jackson bought this chimp from a Texas research facility in the 1980s and turned him into an international celebrity, with exploits including drinking tea with the mayor of Osaka, Japan. Hopefully this wasn’t an attempt by Jackson to seem more normal! Bubbles is actually still alive, aged 34, and has lived at a Florida-based sanctuary since 2005.

Little Britain

Bubbles DeVere is the worst nightmare of every health spa. She has racked up massive debts at the Hill Grange Health Spa, often roams the facility in the buff, acts like a member of the social elite, and worst of all, she refuses to ever leave the place. As you can imagine, this leads to numerous hilarious situations, which oddly make Ms. DeVere endearing.

Bubbles Little Britain

Lilo & Stitch

Former CIA agent Cobra Bubbles is the social worker overseeing Lilo and her being in the custody of her older sister Nani. Despite some initial problems, by the end of the film, Cobra is a friend to the family, knowing full well that Stitch is not the family dog, but is in fact an alien species. This is thanks to his CIA experience… the truth is out there.

Legend of Zelda

The names of enemies in video games are often quite interesting. Did you know that if you encounter a flying skull (sometimes on fire) in the Legend of Zelda franchise, that these are known as Bubble. When hero Link is hit by a Bubble, he will react in different ways, depending on the type of Bubble. Through the series, players have met Fire, Ice and Cursed Bubbles, thus far.

Detroit Lions

For whatever reason, the NFL’s Detroit Lions logo, featured predominantly on the team’s helmets and various merchandise, is nicknamed Bubbles. This is apparently more of a fan nickname and not an official one, started by radio personality Art Regner, who once opined that the lion looked like he was “batting at bubbles”. Some would argue the Detroit franchise often plays that way, too.

Mixer Mania #30: Blue Bong

Blue Bong.JPG

  • 1 oz Vodka
  • 1 oz Gin
  • Top with Bubble Gum Soda
  • Splash of Blue Raspberry Mixer
  • Dash of Lemon Juice
  • Garnish with a Lollipop

While not a character, the importance of bubble wrap as a packing tool and an entertainment device cannot be underestimated… just wanted to get that out there!

Sip Advisor Bar Notes (4 out of 5 Sips):
I did halve each of the alcohol ingredients to make the cocktail more palatable and it really worked. This beverage is quite tasty, with just the right amount of sweet and sour. I was forced to garnish to cocktail with a Lollipop, as Mrs. Sip recently got rid of all the candy garnishes – including bubble gum pieces – I had lying around. Such is married life!

June 27 – True Canadian

Canadian Content

Recently, we looked at some of the most notable Canadian patriots and icons, in RL (that means real life!). Today, we enter the fictional world and examine some of the greatest contributions to this country’s (and outside its borders) culture, from persons who have never actually existed:

#5: Northstar

While many have probably not heard of Northstar, he is an important figure in comic history and LGBT culture. A member of the Canadian Alpha Flight team (also featuring his sister Aurora and other members, such as Guardian, Sasquatch, Shaman, and Snowbird), Northstar gained notoriety for being the first openly gay major character created by Marvel Comics. Despite debuting in April 1979, Northstar didn’t officially come out until 1992. The superhero was finally allowed to marry his partner 20 years later, in 2012.

Northstar Marriage

#4: Bob and Doug McKenzie

These two hosers got their beginning on the SCTV sketch comedy show, leading to a feature film, Strange Brew, in which they are thrust into becoming unlikely heroes, trying to save their favourite brewery. If that’s not a definitive Canadian story, I don’t know what is! These roles launched the careers of both Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas. In a great casting choice, Disney reunited the McKenzie brothers to play a pair of comical moose, Rutt and Tuke, in the movie Brother Bear, also set in the Canadian wilderness.

#3: Ike Broflovski –South Park

Ike is the adopted brother of Kyle, born in Canada as Peter Gints. As the main characters have aged, so has Ike, who is now in kindergarten, despite being only three years old.  Any episode that revolves around Ike is usually pretty good, whether he’s entered into a relationship with his adult teacher, is going through early puberty, caused by steroid, or is saving the Canadian Princess (wait, we have one of those?).  Crude TV stars Terrence and Phillip are also Canadian, which is why the folks of South Park, Colorado aren’t too happy with their neighbours from the north!

ike broflovski

#2: Trailer Park Boys

Julian, Ricky, Bubbles, and the rest of the gang seem to always be getting themselves into trouble, as they move from one get-rich-quick scheme to another, trying to avoid the capture of police and Sunnyvale Trailer Park disciplinarian Mr. Lahey and his partner in crime (and other things) Randy. Set in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, this mockumentary shows the love that can develop between folks stuck in hard times, as they scratch and claw their way towards better lives, sometimes taking shortcuts, rather than conventional means.

#1: Wolverine

One of the most rugged, bad ass superheroes has Canadian blood running through his veins… well, that and adamantium bones! Wolverine debuted all the way back in 1974 and over the rest of the decade, grew in popularity, leading to his own four-part series in 1982. The character has proven to be so prevalent, that he has been the focal point of numerous movies for the franchise. Wolverine’s on-again, off-again enemy Sabretooth also hails from Canada, as does Deadpool, who has been previously played by Canadian actor Ryan Reynolds, and will be again in the 2016 eponymous feature film.

Super Saturday Shot Day: True Canadian

  • Rim glass with Bacon Bits
  • 0.75 oz Vodka
  • 0.5 oz Maple Syrup

In closing, I have to include an honourable mention for Anne Shirley (better known as Anne of Green Gables), or else Mrs. Sip might strip me (wait for it) of my Canadian citizenship! Next week, we get to look at the fictional patriots from south of the border… and there are a lot of them!

May 25 – Banana Boomer

Attached at the Hip

I got the formula for today’s shot from one of those recipe cards attached to the bottle of Crème de Banane I bought a few months back. While it’s somewhat common nowadays to receive a few ideas on how to use the liquor you’re buying, companies have also come up with a number of creative freebies to entice customers to purchase their brand over another. Here are some of those items:

Beef Jerky – Alberta Premium Whiskey

Nothing beats buying a bottle of liquor and having a suggested snack right there waiting for your consumption. It’s one stop shopping, as now you don’t have to hit the convenience store on your way home and can get straight to the important part: the drinking! One little side note about Alberta Premium Whiskey: it was the favourite drink of one Jim Lahey on Trailer Park Boys, except the label was covered (for copyright reasons) with Jeddore Premium, a joke on the French J’adore, meaning “I love”!

beefjerky

Glasses – Various

As common as it is to get recipe cards with your booze, a glass to enjoy those recipes in is frequently thrown into the sale’s mix. My favourite glasses that I’ve been able to accumulate include the always classy Crown Royal, the fun-loving Bacardi, and delicious Jack Daniel’s Honey Whiskey shot glass. One day, this could be like a young kid’s baseball card collection… just a little more scrumptious.

Pump – Big Bottles (Smirnoff Vodka, Jack Daniel’s Whiskey)

I’m not sure if anyone other than me has looked close enough, but you know those giant bottles of liquor… I’m talking about the ones that come in at a price of about $100 and are 3 litres… did you ever notice that they come with a giant pump, similar to ones that come on hand soap? I guess that’s not really a freebie and more of a necessary accessory, but it’s pretty cool nonetheless.

Mini Bottles – Various

Another fixture of the liquor freebie is the mini bottle of the same or another brand. If I have the choice between buying a bottle with no mini bottle attached and buying a bottle that comes with a mini bottle of another liqueur I’ve been wanting to try, of course I’m going to take the free mini. I’m smarter than the average alcoholic, after all!

minibottles

Muddler – Bacardi White

I’ve already recounted the tail about how I went out and bought a $40 bottle of rum a few years back, just because it came with a muddler. It was at a time when I was just getting into mixology and experimenting with different ingredients and techniques. While I could have just gone to a kitchen utensil store and picked up a muddler for $10, I figured it never hurts to have a giant bottle of rum accompany said muddler.

Luggage Tags – Fuzion Wines

This is just a neat little add on and a fantastic marketing ploy by Fuzion Wines. What a perfect way to spread word of their wines across the world than have customers (or as I like to affectionately call them, mules) do it for you, as they travel the globe. Not to mention, buyers will be more drawn to your wine among the thousands that exist if you are offering them a little something extra. It’s win-win-win!

Chocolates – Bailey’s Irish Crème, etc.

You might as well indulge your sweet tooth while grabbing some booze to go. These treats are often combined with Irish Crèmes and Chocolate Liqueurs, but can also be found with bottles of wine and even tequila brands. Usually the chocolates are long gone before the bottle of booze has even been tapped (especially with Mrs. Sip around), but it’s the thought that counts.

Drink #145: Banana Boomer

Banana Boomer Shooter

What was your favourite alcohol freebie? I’m sure there are many out there that I’ve missed, given that I largely have to do my liquor shopping in Canada and despite the fact we’re supposed to be some of the nicest, friendliest people in the world, we don’t seem to be extremely high on liquor swag. I guess you can only be so awesome!

Sip Advisor Bar Notes (4 Sips out of 5):
This shot tastes very good, an obvious conclusion given the ingredients. You’ll want to be careful with any candy you put into the shot, as they could become a choking hazard (unless you’re into auto-erotic asphyxiation). The one downside of the drink is that it’s a little plain. Still, it’s a fun one to bust out around friends!

January 9 – Appletini

Signature Drinks

ChristopherDaniels-Appletini

One of my favourite wrestlers – yeah, that’s right, I watch wrestling, so what of it? I like to watch a good slobber-knocker every now and again, while sipping back the booze… mmm, booze… wait, where was I? As I was saying, one of my favourite wrestlers of all time, the ‘Fallen Angel’ Christopher Daniels, started a gimmick recently in which he’s always seen with an Appletini during interviews and even while coming down to the ring. This got me thinking (and drinking) about the Appletini, of course, and also about the characters out there that are associated with a particular drink, frequently having it in their possession.

Julian – Trailer Park Boys (Rum & Coke)

Julian rum and coke

It is a rare sight to see Julian without a rum and coke in his hands and there were many times throughout the run of Trailer Park Boys when viewers marveled over the tasks he was able to complete while not spilling his coveted beverage. Among them, playing street hockey and running from the cops in a high-speed chase.

Ron Swanson – Parks & Recreation (Scotch)

Tough as nails, Ron Swanson refuses to drink anything but Lagavulin Scotch. Only once has he departed from his nectar-of-choice, after co-worker Tom Haverford designed snake juice (described as a high-end Kahlua style liquor by its creator, but as basically rat poison by others – to be discussed in a future post on invented drinks) and bet Ron he would love it. Ron did and the result was the video posted below.

The Dude – The Big Lebowski (White Russian)

The Dude white russian

Throughout the movie, The Big Lebowski, The Dude enjoys nine White Russian cocktails. There’s even a drinking game out there, where players are supposed to have a White Russian every time The Dude has one. That’s an impressive feat and could be a future Liquor Challenge for myself (coming soon to The Sip Advisor)!

Don Draper – Mad Men (Old Fashioned)

Sorry, Don... no photo for you!

Sorry, Don… no photo for you!

Mad Men sucks… sorry, it had to be said. I love how my site can be a platform for me to hate things! I’d start writing about Mr. Draper, his drink of choice and his show, but too many words have been wasted on—

(see what I did there?)

Carrie Bradshaw – Sex and the City (Cosmopolitan)

Carrie Bradshaw cosmo

The ladies of Sex and the City revitalized this cocktail after making it their favourite libation. As I recently wrote in my Cosmo post, I do enjoy this drink and for that, I guess I have to thank Carrie and company for making it so popular in restaurants. In return for my gesture of gratefulness, I only ask that there be no more Sex and the City movies. Deal?

Ron Burgundy – Anchorman (Scotch)

Ron Burgundy scotch

“I love scotch. Scotchy, scotch, scotch. Here it goes down, down into my belly.” That is one of many amazingly funny quotes about scotch in Anchorman. I can’t wait for the Anchorman sequel, where I’m sure Ron will get back to his womanizing, scotch-loving ways. Stay classy, San Diego!

Burton Mercer – The Blues Brothers (Orange Whip)

The 'Orange Whip' isn't pictured, but you can tell that this guy is a booze hound!

The ‘Orange Whip’ isn’t pictured, but you can tell that this guy is a booze hound!

Mercer’s drinking of this beverage even inspired a renaissance of sorts for it. I definitely need to steal his way of asking who wants a drink. He basically makes a drink for each time he asks if anyone wants one and then likely enjoys them all, himself. “Who wants an orange whip? Orange whip? Orange whip? Three orange whips.” Ha, classic!

James Bond – James Bond Series (Vodka Martini/Vesper: shaken, not stirred)

james-bond-vesper-martini

Everybody has done the “shaken, not stirred” joke at some point in their life. We get it, you watch movies and can quote one of the shortest and most misinformed lines featured on the silver screen. The funny thing is that the way Mr. Bond has his drink constructed, is actually incorrect. Anytime you are only using alcohols, with no mixers involved, it’s recommended that you stir your ingredients, rather than shake, so as not to bruise the alcohol too much and diminish its taste. Tisk, tisk, James…

And finally…

J.D. – Scrubs (Appletini, easy on the tini)

JD appletini

And now we come full circle! Like wrestler, Christopher Daniels, J.D. on Scrubs loved his Appletinis. Despite the fact most bartenders mistook him for being female, as a result of his drink order, J.D. would not be deterred and that takes some balls. J.D. even paid $105 for an Appletini once, but found it a little too light on the ‘tini’. Let’s salute J.D. and make him a proper one.

Drink #9: Appletini

Appletini

The best part about putting this piece together is that it has inspired me to make some cocktails I had previously never tried. I’ve always wanted to try the Bond-styled martini – although I’ll be stirring my ingredients, thank you very much – and the Orange Whip intrigues me, as well. I also have never had a true old fashioned yet, but I will certainly not be thinking about ‘the show that shall not be named’ when I enjoy the classic concoction.

Have I missed anything? Did I neglect your favourite character and their drink of choice? Drop me a line and chew me out, just make sure to have fun with your insults. Until next time…

Sip Advisor Bar Notes (3.5 Sips out of 5):
I like the Appletini… there, I said it. That sour apple flavour, while not my favourite, is quite tasty. One must always be sure to use sour green apples for this recipe. I guess you could use red or golden delicious, but what would be the point.