Washington Apple

Crown Royal, Sour Apple Pucker, and cranberry — Seagram's 1939 Canadian whisky meeting DeKuyper's 1996 sour apple category, named for Washington's apple dominance.

The Washington Apple is a sweet-tart party shot combining Crown Royal Canadian whisky with DeKuyper Sour Apple Pucker schnapps and cranberry juice — a combination that became one of the most widely ordered casual bar shots in the United States through the early 2000s. Crown Royal was created by the Seagram's company in 1939 specifically to honor the first visit to Canada of a reigning British monarch: King George VI and Queen Elizabeth's Royal Tour of Canada in May through June 1939, which required a special Canadian whisky blended by Samuel Bronfman of Seagram's as a regal gift. The whisky was named Crown Royal and bottled in the distinctive purple velvet bag with gold stitching. DeKuyper Sour Apple Pucker schnapps, launched in 1996 by the John DeKuyper & Son company, was one of the key ingredients that drove the Appletini craze and expanded sour apple as one of the most commercially significant schnapps flavors. The apple reference in the shot's name honors Washington State's identity as the largest apple-producing state in the United States, responsible for approximately 60 percent of domestic apple production.