One of the delights of cocktail making is learning how making a small tweak to a well-known recipe can really make a drink your own. It also helps to have a place to start — when you’re experimenting, you don’t need to come up with a recipe from scratch. Rather, you can take inspiration from a drink you already love and make small changes to see how that alters the flavors.
Today we’ve got a trio of cocktail recipes which take classic combinations and give them a seasonally-appropriate fall twist. There’s the El Pueblo, which takes a tequila old fashioned and adds a splash of spicy Ancho Reyes chili liqueur, the Campfire Old Fashioned which uses maple syrup and special bitters to give the classic drink a fall flavor, and the Big Sur Sunset which is a twist on the delicious Clover Club cocktail that adds a sweetener more typically used in tiki drinks, orgeat.
El Pueblo
Ingredients:
- 2 oz Cantera Negra Reposado Tequila
- 0.25 oz Ancho Reyes
- 0.5 brown simple syrup or raw cane sugar
- 2 dashes of chocolate bitters
- Orange peel for garnish
Method:
Add ingredients into a mixing glass and stir for about 20 seconds. Pour over large ice cube. Garnish with a flamed orange peel.
Campfire Old Fashioned
Ingredients:
- 2 parts Bib & Tucker Double Char Bourbon
- 0.25 part Maple Syrup
- 2 dashes Coffee Pecan Bitters
- 2 dashes Black Walnut Bitters
- Garnish with Orange Peel
Method:
Add Bib & Tucker Double Char Bourbon, maple and bitters to mixing glass over ice. Stir for 30 seconds until cold. Strain liquid over fresh ice into rocks glass and garnish with orange peel.
Big Sur Sunset
Ingredients:
- 2 parts Gray Whale Gin
- 1 part Lemon juice
- 0.75 parts Raspberry syrup*
- 0.5 parts Orgeat
- 1 Egg white (optional)
- Garnish: Fresh raspberries
Method:
If making it with egg white, add all ingredients into a cocktail shaker and shake vigorously with no ice, add ice, and shake again. If making with no egg white, add all ingredients into cocktail shaker and shake with ice. Fine strain into a coupe glass. Garnish with raspberries.
* Raspberry Syrup can be store-bought or homemade. If making the syrup, combine 4 oz berries, ½ cup sugar, and ½ cup water in a small saucepan. Heat over medium-high heat until simmering, stirring occasionally. Simmer for 5-7 minutes until the berries have disintegrated into seeds. Muddle if needed. Fine strain syrup to remove seeds and berries. Let cool completely before using. Store in an airtight container in a refrigerator. Keeps for 2 weeks.
