Dekuyper Pucker Sour Apple

Dekuyper is the world s largest producer of liqueur, selling more than 50 million bottles of products annually to countries all around the world. This company, headquartered in the Netherlands, is best known for its various flavors of schnapps. In particular, Dekuyper s name is almost synonymous with fruit- flavored schnapps. And one of it s most popular varieties is Dekuyper Sour Apple Pucker Schnapps, a mostly sweet- tasting, fruity liqueur.

Basic Characteristics of This Liqueur:

Sour Apple Pucker Schnapps is green in color with the scent of granny smith apples. When first poured, it isn t quite clear- there are (what look like) sediment particles in the glass. But after sitting for a minute or two, the particles are gone and the liqueur is clear as a bell.

The taste of this schnapps is, like you would guess, dominated by the taste of apples. I could also detect what seemed like a flavor characteristic similar to wood. The overall flavor profile is sweet, with only a hint of sourness and only a touch of bitterness in the finish. The sweetness level keeps the liqueur from tasting very strong, in the alcoholic sense. And with its pleasant aftertaste, the nice, sweet flavor of green apples stays with you long after you finish.

This brand of schnapps weighs in at a moderate to low 30 proof, making it only 15 percent alcohol. There are 72 calories in a one oz. (30 ml) shot, along with 8.1 grams of carbohydrates and .7 grams of sugar.

Drinks Made With This Liqueur:

Sour Apple Pucker Schnapps is a versatile liqueur, mixing easily with many other types of liquor/liqueur. Here s a list of some of the many drinks you can make with this product:

All Puckered Out
1.5 oz. Sour Apple Pucker Schnapps
1 can ginger ale
1 lime wedge

Add ice and a shot of pucker to the highball glass. Fill with ginger ale. Squeeze a wedge of lime and toss it in the glass. Stir.

Apple Jolly Rancher
1 oz. Sour Apple Pucker Schnapps
1 oz. Vodka
3 oz. sweet and sour mix
splash of Seven- up

Chill in tumbler, shake. Serve up in rocks glass

Caramel Apple
1 oz. Sour Apple Pucker Schnapps
.75 oz. Butterscotch Schnapps

Mix and serve from a shot glass

Golden Apple
1 oz. Sour Apple Pucker Schnapps
.5 oz. Goldschlager

Mix and serve from a shot glass

Mother Pucker
4 oz. Sour Apple Pucker schnapps
4 oz. Seven- up

Pour schnapps into tall glass over ice and pour an equal amount of Seven- up on top.

Fruit Salad
1 part Sour Apple Pucker Schnapps
1 part Cheri- Beri Pucker Schnapps
1 part Grape Pucker Schnapps
splash of orange juice

Combine all ingredients, pour into a cocktail glass, and serve

Octapussy
1 oz. Sour Apple Pucker Schnapps
1 oz. Triple Sec
1 oz. Sloe Gin
.5 oz. Amaretto
1.5 oz. orange juice
1.5 oz. sweet and sour mix
Pour all ingredients over ice cubes in a cocktail glass

Final Thoughts:

Dekuyper s products are known the world over to lovers of schnapps. I don t buy products like this very much (preferring to stick with beer most of the time) but when I do, Dekuyper is always the first name that comes to mind.

Some qualities about this product surprised me at first. Judging by the name, I expected this to taste much more sour than it turned out. Basically, I was expecting a taste that was more along the lines of an apple- flavored sweet and sour mix. But in actuality, this product is more sweet than sour and it tastes like a jolly rancher. I have heard that some people drink a shot with a little bit of salt to smooth out the sour flavor, but there is really no need to do this. This product caused no puckering at all when I took a few sips. The dominant flavor profile is sweetness.

Sour Apple Pucker Schnapps is also a little weaker than I thought it would be. For liqueur, 30 proof really isn t all that much and this level of strength may disappoint those who make a purchase hoping to get hammered quickly. You will need to look for something with more potency, if intoxication is your primary goal. But on the bright side, lower alcohol means that the product tastes more like apples than booze and that makes it smoother and easier to drink.

This liqueur is mostly sweet and good- tasting, but it needs to be chilled to taste right. Without the chilling, the apple flavor is not as pronounced and the presence of alcohol can more easily be detected. If you have a bottle that s presently at room temperature, you can quickly chill the liqueur by shaking it with ice. It s best, however, not to serve this liqueur on the rocks because the melting ice will quickly dilute the schnapps and ruin the good flavor.

Dekuyper sells this product in four different bottle sizes: 375 ml, 750 ml, 1 liter, and 1.75 liter. The prices for each of the four sizes are approximately $5.49, $9.99, $12.49, and $18.99 respectively. These prices make Dekuyper schnapps a little more costly than many of the bargain- priced schnapps that exist on the market. But the quality, in my opinion and of many others, makes it worth the extra cost.

Overall, this is a very good- tasting schnapps product. I don t normally like to drink fruity liqueurs, but this is one of the better examples of fruit- flavored schnapps that I have come across. The taste of granny smith apples reminds one of a nice, tasty dessert at grandma s house when you were a kid. Just don t tell grandma about the alcohol- she might insist on downing the entire bottle. This is good stuff!