We’re on the backside of autumn looking toward winter but that doesn’t mean we can’t still enjoy the bounty of the current season. Gone (but not forgotten) are the light and airy tastes of summer, replaced with the warming, heavy tones of brown spirits and seasonal ingredients. Whether you’re looking for a cocktail to fight off the descending chill of an early December night or you just want a little more apple, pumpkin, fresh citrus, or baking spices in your life, you’ll find something to fall for among the fifteen delicious cocktail recipes below.
The Valet
(Created at Pulitzer’s Bar, Amsterdam)
- 50ml Blue Corn Don Julio Blanco
- 20ml Belsazar Rose
- 10ml Ancho Reyes Verde
- 15ml coriander syrup
- 20ml lime juice
- 4 dashes +2 dashes Manganero + salt solution
- 20ml egg white
- 50ml soda
Method: Shake all ingredients in cocktail shaker and pour in a long drink glass. Garnish with toasted baby corn.
Pumpkin Spice Latte
(Created by Yani Ramos)
- 1.5 oz Volcan de mi Tierra Cristalino
- 1 oz Pumpkin-coconut emulsion*
- .75 oz fall spice syrup (cinnamon, clove, star anise)
- .5 oz fresh lemon juice
Method: Combine all ingredients, shake and serve over ice. Garnish with shaved coconut.
*Pumpkin-Coconut Emulsion: Combine 1 can of coconut milk and 1 can pumpkin puree in a large bowl and blend with hand mixer or emulsion blender.
The Apples & Pears
(Created by Glenfiddich National Ambassador, Allan Roth)
- 1 part Glenfiddich 12-Year-Old
- .25 part Drambuie
- 1 part club soda
- 1 part non-alcoholic apple cider
- .5 part fresh lemon juice
- 2 dashes Angostura bitters
- Lemon peel, to garnish
Method: Combine the Glenfiddich 12-Year-Old, lemon juice, Drambuie, and bitters. Shake briefly and pour into a flute. Add club soda and cider. Garnish with a lemon twist.
Pilgrim Punch
- 10 oz Belvedere Vodka
- 14 oz Strongbow Cloudy Apple Cider
- 3 oz allspice syrup
- 4 oz lemon juice
- 4 lemon wheels
- 4 orange wheels
- 5 cinnamon sticks
Method: Combine all ingredients in large punch bowl with ice and serve immediately. Serves 6-8.
Cocalero Hot Chocolate
(Created by Burke Podany, Chloe, Washington, D.C.)
- 5 oz Cocalero Clásico
- .5 oz Tiki Lovers Dark Rum
- Mexican hot chocolate
Method: Prepare Mexican Hot Chocolate per the included instructions. In a large coffee mug add the Cocalero and Tiki Lovers Rum. Add hot chocolate almost to the top. Garnish with whipped cream.
Smoky Calabaza
(Created by Gabe Orta, Bar Lab + Broken Shaker)
- 1 oz Jamaican rum
- .25 oz scotch
- .5 oz sweet coconut cream
- 2 heaping bar spoons pumpkin purée
- 1 bar spoon Tabasco chipotle sauce
- Dash angostura
- Grated nutmeg for garnish
Method: Place all ingredients into a cocktail shaker. Fill with ice and shake for 8-10 seconds. Double strain into a clean chilled cocktail glass.
Sweet Chai of Mine
(Courtesy of Fitz Bailey, Coopers’ Craft Mixologist)
- 2 oz Coopers’ Craft Barrel Reserve
- 1 oz vanilla chai tea honey syrup*
- 3 dashes black walnut bitters
Method: Put all ingredients into an ice-filled shaker, stir until chilled, pour into a rocks glass over ice cube and top with garnish with speared walnut.
*Coopers’ Vanilla Chai Tea Honey Syrup
- Your favorite chai tea packet
- Local honey
Method: Brew 1 cup of Chai Tea using either a stove or microwave. Remove tea bag and pour into heated skillet, add 1 cup local honey and stir until dissolved, about 2 mins. Cook an additional 2 mins while stirring, then remove from heat. Allow to cool and enjoy.
Garibaldier
- 2.5 oz parts Grand Marnier Cordon Rouge
- .5 oz part fresh lemon juice
- 1.5 oz part Campari
- 5 oz parts fresh orange juice
- 1 Orange, thinly sliced
Method: Add all ingredients in a punch bowl or mixing tin. Shake and strain over fresh ice into a Collins glass.
Apfel Collins
- 2 oz Monkey 47 Gin
- .75 oz fresh lemon juice
- .5 oz 1:1 simple syrup
- Dry hard cider
Method: Add gin, lemon and simple syrup to a shaker, add ice and shake for 5-7 seconds. Strain over fresh ice into a glass of your choice and top with a dry-styled hard cider of any brand. Garnish with a slices of apple and a lemon wheel or a fresh citrus twist.
Honey Old Fashioned
- 1.5 oz Mount Gay Rum XO
- 2 dashes of Angostura bitters
- 1 tspn honey
- 1.5 oz hot water
- Orange zest
Method: Pour all ingredients into an old fashioned glass. Add hot water. Stir with spoon until honey is dissolved. Express the orange zest and serve.
Autumn Breeze
- 2 oz Off Hours Bourbon
- 1 oz Lillet Blanc
- 1 oz Creme de Cacao
- .25 oz Pernod Absinthe
- Sprig of rosemary
- Fresh cranberries
Method: Combine all ingredients in a tin with ice and stir until very cold. Strain into a cocktail coupe. Garnish with fresh cranberries and rosemary.
Otoño Sangria
(Created by Lana Vesselova, Analogue, NYC)
- 1.5 oz Hiatus Tequila Blanco
- 1 oz blood orange juice
- 1 oz orange juice
- .75 oz lemon juice
- .5 oz simple syrup
- 1 oz Red wine floater
Method: Build all ingredients in a shaker tin. Top off with ice, then shake hard for roughly 10-15 seconds until the outside of the tin begins to frost over. Strain into a highball filled with ice or a wine glass. Top off with a float of red wine. Garnish with a dried wheel of blood orange.
Port Flip
(Adaptation by Carey Jones, Food & Wine)
- 2 oz ruby port
- 1 oz dark rum (Diplomático Reserva Exclusiva is suggested)
- .5 oz simple syrup
- 1 egg
- Nutmeg for garnish
Method: To a cocktail shaker without ice, add 1 ounce dark rum, 2 ounces ruby port, and 1/2 ounce simple syrup. Crack in a whole egg. Shake all that up without ice, then add ice and shake until well-chilled. Double strain — that is, strain through a fine mesh strainer in addition to the cocktail shaker’s own strainer — into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a dusting of freshly grated nutmeg.
Egan’s Spiced Sour
- 1.5 oz Egan’s Vintage Grain
- .5 oz fresh lemon juice
- .5 oz fresh blood orange juice
- .5 oz cinnamon/clove rich simple*
- 1 egg white
Any Port in a Storm
(Created by Danny Kuehner, Madison on Park, San Diego)
- Dash of Absinthe
- 5 dashes Angostura bitters
- .75 oz Avocado Seed Orgeat*
- 1 oz lime juice (save the husks for a garnish)
- 1 oz Pineapple Juice (save the husks for tepache)
- .75 oz Port
- 1.5 oz Appleton Estate Blend Rum
- .25 oz Dr Bird Rum
*Avocado Seed Orgeat: Clean 4 avocado seeds and let dry overnight. Blend them up in a food processor or blender then lightly toast them until they are bright orange-ish. Add about a liter of water and sugar and heat until it all dissolves. Let that sit overnight and blend it again before fine-straining it.
Method: Shake all ingredients and pour into a tiki mug including the ice. Use a spent lime husk from juicing as a vessel for a maraschino cherry and overproof rum. Light on fire and serve.
Article originally published October 2019 by Sam Slaughter.
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