Ante Cocktail

A bold pre-Prohibition aperitif combining apple brandy with Dubonnet and triple sec for a complex, fruity opener.

The Ante Cocktail is a Prohibition-era aperitif that appears in Harry Craddock's 1930 Savoy Cocktail Book, where the original recipe paired Calvados or apple brandy with Cointreau and a now-discontinued maté-wine apéritif called Hercules, finished with a dash of Angostura bitters. Hercules disappeared from the market decades ago, and modern versions — including this one — substitute Dubonnet Rouge for the missing ingredient, a swap that has circulated among bartenders since at least the mid-2000s. The drink's name references the poker term for a mandatory opening bet, positioning it as something to be consumed before the main event begins. Calvados, the apple brandy produced in Normandy under an appellation of origin regulated since 1942, must be distilled from cider made from regulated apple and pear varieties, with the most prized expressions from the Pays d'Auge sub-appellation. Dubonnet is a French aromatized wine aperitif created in 1846 by Joseph Dubonnet, originally formulated to encourage French Foreign Legion soldiers in North Africa to consume its quinine as a malaria prophylactic. The combination of Calvados's apple warmth, Cointreau's orange brightness, Dubonnet's bittersweet complexity, and Angostura's aromatic depth produces an aperitif of genuine complexity suited to the pre-dinner moment the drink's name identifies.