Chef Klaus
Apfelwein-Schorle
Frankfurt's long drink for a warm table: dry Apfelwein, cold mineral water, and the ribbed Geripptes glass that tells you where you are.
Culinary Explorer
A cooking platform built around craft, culture, and the stories behind what we eat.
Apfelschorle
Created by
Cloudy apple juice, sharp mineral water, and no sugar bowl: the German Schorle that belongs in school bags, beer gardens, picnic baskets, and the table when supper is quick.
Beverages
German
Quick Meal
Outdoor Dining
Picnic
5 min
Active Time
0 min cook•2 hr 5 min total
Yield4 glasses
Apfelschorle has no feast day because it belongs to the ordinary table. It is the glass beside a weeknight supper, the bottle in a school bag, the picnic drink, the thing you order in a beer garden when you want your head clear. A Schorle is juice cut with sparkling water, and this one is strongest wherever apples and mineral water are close: Hesse, Baden, Swabia, the Rhineland. Still, every German household knows it.
Im Norden anders, im Süden anders. In the north you meet it leaner, often more Sprudel than juice and sometimes clear; in the south and the apple country I want naturtrüb, cloudy apple juice, because it tastes of the press and not only of sugar. Around Frankfurt the grown-up cousin is Apfelwein sauer gespritzt, apple wine cut with mineral water, but this glass stays clean and cold. Das ist kein Bierzelt.
The technique is simple and easy to ruin: chill both parts and mix at the last moment. Cold liquid holds the bubbles; warm juice drives them off and leaves you with sweet apple water. Nicht aus dem Glas, and for this drink I mean the bought bottle too. Two cold bottles on the table beat a factory-mixed Apfelschorle because the bubbles are still alive and the ratio is yours.
The larder logic is old enough: apples pressed in autumn, kept as juice, then lightened with water when the weather turns warm or the meal is quick. Das braucht seine Zeit only in the refrigerator. After that, five minutes.
The Schorle family is older than bottled apple spritzer: German sources use Schorle or Schorlemorle for wine cut with mineral water before the apple version became common. Sparkling mineral water grew from spa and spring culture, with Selters in the Taunus exporting stoneware bottles widely by the 18th century and giving Germans the word Selterswasser for fizzy water. Apfelschorle became the household, alcohol-free branch once pasteurised apple juice and bottled Sprudel were common in the 20th century, with Hesse and the apple-growing southwest still arguing hardest for cloudy juice over clear.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
naturtrüb apple juice (cloudy apple juice)
Quantity
500ml
well chilled
strongly sparkling mineral water (Sprudel)
Quantity
500ml
well chilled
thin apple slices (optional)
Quantity
2
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| naturtrüb apple juice (cloudy apple juice)well chilled | 500ml |
| strongly sparkling mineral water (Sprudel)well chilled | 500ml |
| thin apple slices (optional) | 2 |
Equipment Needed
- •1 liter glass carafe or four 250ml glasses
- •Measuring jug
- •Long spoon
Instructions
- 1
Chill the bottles
Put the apple juice and mineral water in the refrigerator until properly cold, at least 2 hours, or set the bottles in an ice bath for 20 minutes. Cold liquid holds carbon dioxide better than warm liquid, so the Sprudel keeps its bite instead of fading in the glass. Warm apple juice makes the drink sweet and tired before the first sip.
Use strongly sparkling mineral water, not still water. Still water gives you diluted juice, and that is not a Schorle. - 2
Set the ratio
Taste the apple juice before you measure. A tart, cloudy juice can take the classic 1:1 cut, equal juice and water; a very sweet clear juice wants 1 part juice to 2 parts water because the water is doing work, not stretching the drink. It turns apple juice into a thirst drink.
Buy juice, not apple nectar or apple drink. Those carry sugar or less fruit, and then you are fixing a sweet factory drink instead of making Apfelschorle. - 3
Pour it gently
Pour the chilled apple juice into a cold carafe or straight into four glasses. Add the mineral water slowly down the side and stir once, gently, because hard stirring knocks out the bubbles you just chilled for. The glass should be pale gold and slightly cloudy, with small beads rising.
- 4
Serve at once
Serve it immediately, with one thin apple slice if you want it. A Schorle is mixed for drinking, not for waiting; after 10 minutes the carbonation softens and the juice takes over. No sugar. No syrup. Schön ist, was schmeckt.
Chef Tips
- •Use naturtrüb apple juice if you can get it. Cloudy juice carries apple flesh and a little tartness, so the water cuts sweetness instead of leaving a thin, flat drink.
- •The standard table ratio is 1:1. For a hot day, a picnic, or children who have been running, go lighter with 1 part juice to 2 parts water; the point is thirst, not dessert.
- •Do not mix a carafe and let it wait. Carbonation is the spine of the drink, and once it is gone you cannot stir it back in.
- •For a picnic, carry juice and mineral water separately in a cool bag and mix when you pour. A closed bottle shaken on the way loses its bite the moment you open it.
Advance Preparation
- •Chill the apple juice and mineral water at least 2 hours ahead, or overnight. The drink is quick only if the bottles are already cold.
- •Do not prepare Apfelschorle in advance. Keep the parts separate and mix just before serving so the Sprudel keeps its sharpness.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 260g)
Calories
60 calories
Total Fat
0 g
Saturated Fat
0 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
0 g
Cholesterol
0 mg
Sodium
20 mg
Total Carbohydrates
15 g
Dietary Fiber
0 g
Sugars
14 g
Protein
0 g
Where cooking meets culture.
Culinary guides, cultural storytelling, and the editorial depth that makes cooking meaningful.
Discover Culinary ExplorerMore from German Home Beverages (Seasonal & Regional)
Browse the full collection
Chef Klaus
Berliner Weisse mit Schuss
Berlin's summer glass: sharp, pale Berliner Weisse softened with a red raspberry or green woodruff Schuss, cold enough to bead the glass and never from bottled syrup.
Chef Klaus
Eierlikör
The Easter bottle from yolks, sugar, cream, and good spirit, beaten warm just enough to thicken, then cooled into a yellow liqueur for cake, coffee, and small glasses.
Chef Klaus
Eierpunsch
The Advent mug that works only if you keep the heat gentle: egg yolks, sugar, and white wine whisked thick before the pot ever thinks about boiling.