Fall Recipes 2012

When it comes to autumn cocktails, I’ve pretty much burned through the “easy builds” on this site. The Applejack Rabbit, the Apple Ginger Sangaree, the Stone Fence, the Hunters Cocktail, most of my previous fall cocktail recommendations from the past take only a little time and effort to mix up. This year I decided that since we spend a bit more time indoors between September and November, more time on seasonal meal prep and living room entertaining, we should roll up our sleeves and add a touch more creativity and craft to our cocktails. I’ve found a few fall cocktails this time out that, while take a bit of time to prep and craft, I believe will enhance your seasonal celebration in delightful ways. Get ready to infuse with a few of these recipes. At least half call for infused simple syrups and spirits; but that’s half the fun of home bartending, putting your personal touch on the cocktails you present. I promise you this, you will feel the leaves crunch beneath your feet, the snap of an autumn breeze on your face, the smells of an October farmer’s market with these cocktails. I’m a seasonal drinker and believe me when I say we’ve captured fall in a glass with the following six delightful autumnal cocktails. Put on your favorite sweater and pour yourself a drink.

Apple Harvest Collins

I found this one on the NY Daily News website. Perez Kiebhan & Jack Judson of the Suba Bar in NYC created the drink. I made a round of six just last night and while a bit time consuming, the drink garnered the most “ooohs” and “ahhhs” of the evening. Loaded with the tastes of the season — apples, cinnamon, & spiced cider — this drink is also gorgeous to look at. Tall and satisfying, I’d definitely consider pairing this one with a fall meal. Its rich flavor would tremendously compliment a bowl of spicy chili or a salty lamb stew.

Here we go –

1 Macintosh apple peeled, cored and sliced
1 ½ oz of a complex, juniper gin (Bulldog or Bombay will do the trick)
1/3 oz simple syrup (if you have the ginger, it couldn’t hurt)
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 oz spiced cider
club soda to finish

Begin by muddling a quarter of a med apple in the bottom of a shaker. Add lemon juice and syrup as muddling. Add ice and gin then shake ‘til ingredients are mixed and cold. Pour into tall Collins glass and add cider. Stir then top with a little club soda. You can rim your glass ahead of time with cinnamon/sugar but I feel it can make the drink too sweet so be conservative. Garnish with a beautiful slice of red or green apple.

The Nutty Monk

Found this surprise in the December 2008 issue of Imbibe magazine. I was quite surprised by the reaction of the Mr. Booze fans that tried this one. More than half called it their favorite of the evening. A cousin of the Manhattan, this is a booze- mixed-with-more-booze cocktail that even unaccustomed strong drink drinkers might enjoy. This one does require a couple days pre-prep because you’re going to infuse toasted walnuts into cognac, so think ahead. You’ll need a quality cognac but they’re expensive so here’s what Mr. Booze did; I purchased a small, split size bottle of V.S. Courvoisier for $15 which ended up making 10 cocktails, more or less. I found this to be an affordable option.

* To make the walnut infused cognac called for in this drink roast ½ lb shelled walnuts in a 350-degree oven ‘til nuts are toasted dark. Soak warm walnuts in a glass pitcher with the cognac (if you happen to use a full bottle of cognac, use one lb of walnuts) for 1 ½ – 2 days, no more. Infuse the foil-covered pitcher in a dark, cool place. Strain the liquid though a strainer back into the bottle (you’ll notice a little of the liquid is gone but that’s ‘cause your walnuts drank it). You can also substitute with broken chestnuts as a holiday drink.

Here we go –

2 oz walnut infused cognac
1 oz Benedictine liqueur
couple dashes aromatic bitters (Angostura are fine)
nice, big pieces of cracked ice.

Pour the ingredients into your glass martini pitcher on top of a couple pieces of cracked ice. Stir ‘til ingredients mix properly and get nice and cold. In a double old-fashioned or rocks glass place a piece or two of large cracked ice (just freeze a Tupperware or two with 1 1/s inches of water and crack w/ an ice pick.) Pour cold Nutty Monk over ice and serve. Garnish with a brandied cherry.

Ginger Daiquiri

I mixed up one of these on a whim after making a batch of ginger simple syrup and fell in love. Even back in July, I realized that the strong ginger flavor would carry this drink into the brown & orange months long after my taste for summer sours went off to hibernate. It calls for ginger simple syrup, which is pretty easy to make, and I suggest you make yours strong. You’ll want the ginger to stand up against the lime.

To make the ginger simple syrup start with a large ginger root. Peel the ginger and cut into large enough pieces that grating won’t cause problems. Grate all your fresh ginger with a cheese grater and set aside. Boil 2 cups water along with 1 ½ cups cane sugar. Stir as you heat ‘til liquid is clear. Let sugar water boil for about 45 seconds, then add ginger and boil for another two minutes. Take off heat and let mixture cool to room temperature. Strain out all the ginger and bottle the liquid. Syrup will last in your bar fridge for around 6-8 weeks.

Here we go –

2 oz dark rum (Appleton or Pusser’s are perfect)
1 oz fresh lime juice
¾ oz ginger syrup

Shake ingredients with ice in shaker ‘til frothy & freezing. Pour up into a cocktail glass or serve over rocks in a rocks glass. Garnish w/ a lime wedge.

Misty Maple Leaf

A perfect drink to enjoy as the sun sets on the day’s leaf piles, you can walk your yard with this cocktail knowing that in just a week, you’ll have to rake the whole damn thing again. The maple takes the muscle out of the whisky, creating a slightly sweet drink that goes down easy.

Here we go –

2 oz Canadian whisky
½ oz pure maple syrup
club soda to fill

Pour the whisky and syrup over ice in a shaker. Shake ‘til cold and well mixed. Pour in a tall glass over ice and fill to top with club soda. Stir with your straw and enjoy. If you can find those pretty little maple candies that come out in the fall, use one as a garnish.

Applejack Old-Fashioned

Exactly what it says it is, this drink should be far from a mystery. But I did promise autumn cocktails and Laird’s Applejack is about as fall-like as a spirit can get. I love Applejack. It tastes strong as it goes down and leaves an apple finish in your mouth that will leave you smiling. Just consider this as a lovely October substitute for your regular old fashioned cocktail.

Here we go –

1 sugar cube (yes, I still prefer the cube over simple syrup with an old fashioned)
3 dashes Angostura bitters
2 oz Applejack

In a rocks or double old fashioned glass, place sugar cube and splash it with a couple shakes of your bitters. Muddle ‘til muddy and add ice. Pour Applejack and garnish with a long, fat orange peel. Walk around your backyard with this drink while wearing your tweed hat.

Maple Cocktail

I found this one over at the virtual Vermont site. I’ll trust a Vermontian’s opinion on a Maple cocktail any day. Like our friends from the Green Mountain State, this one’s strong willed and fun, both meant as compliments. One of the few drinks I’ve come across which mixes gin and bourbon, the non-alcoholic ingredients do wonders to fuse it all together and leave the drinker with quite a cocktail experience. This one’s pretty simple to make so, if you’re feeling a bit daring on a crisp fall night, why not try it?