Boulard seeks calvados revival with new serves

As part of an initiative to get Calvados Boulard back on bar menus, the brand has launched a series of three signature serves under the Apple Twist umbrella.

Vincent Boulard with a Mojito by Boulard

The Old Fashioned, Manhattan, and Mojito serves were developed to “support bartenders to create the calvados category on the drinks list,” Vincent Boulard, managing director and family member, told The Spirits Business.

By adding a calvados twist to the three classics, Boulard hopes the initiative will result in more visibility for both the calvados category and the brand, increased distribution, and then eventually grow on-trade volumes.

“A long time ago, calvados was on bartender’s cocktail lists, but they had no idea how to experiment [with it] as a cocktail ingredient. We want to make calvados distinct from other spirits and to re-introduce calvados to bartenders,” he continued.

First introduced in Stockholm in 2015, the Apple Twist collection has already rolled-out in Paris, Montreal, Toronto and Quebec, with the concept “very well received”, Boulard continued. The brand is now focusing on London, followed by Helsinki, New York, Brussels, and the Russian market.

“The idea is to propose a concept which will facilitate bartenders to create the calvados category. We know the category is not huge in London, but London bartenders are open.”

The ambition is that accounts will first take all three cocktails, and then bartenders will create their own calvados serves, Boulard added.

Apple Twist collection

Old Fashioned by Boulard

4cl Calvados Boulard VSOP

1 dash Angostura Bitters

1 tea spoon sugar cane syrup

½ orange slice

2 Amarena cherries

Manhattan by Boulard

6cl Calvados Boulard

1 dash Angostura Bitters

2cl Red Vermouth

1 orange zest

Mojito by Boulard

4cl Calvados Boulard Grand Solage

1cl sugar cane syrup

½ lime

Mint leaves

6cl ginger ale soda

In October 2015, Boulard launched Freezstyl, a travel retail exclusive calvados expression developed to modernise the category and explore the spirits’ versatility.