Fall is in the Air, and in Your Glass

Welcome back! I've been quiet here for a while, but I was busy being bitten with the autumn bug-- this time of year gets me right in the "feels." And yes, I may have enjoyed a pumpkin spice latte or two this season, but who’s counting?

There is no season which makes me as nostalgic as fall. Every aspect of it floods my mind with fond memories of times gone by. As soon as the crisp aroma of leaves and spices hits the air, I'm reminded of college homecomings, sweaters, family holidays, and most importantly, a time to settle in and get back to business. That's right, thirsty readers, we are diving right into fall, and we're taking no prisoners along the way!

When I think of fall flavors in cocktails, I'm instantly struck with allspice, cinnamon, sage, and pretty much everything else you'd expect at a holiday feast. We're talking about the insides of turkeys and the tops of pies here, people! A few industry friends and I put our heads together and compiled a few fall-forward cocktails to really get things going. These are not the simplest to prepare, as many include infusions and other professional techniques, but hopefully they will lend you a little inspiration for your home mixing.

Goodbye Sober Day Ian Adamczyk

1oz Bonded Rye

1oz Pedro Ximenez Sherry

1oz Angostura Bitters

This cocktail is meant to be thrown and strained into a double old fashioned glass over a large piece of ice.

Garnish with a lemon peel.

Basic Beach Brian Maxwell

1.5oz Espresso infused Wray & Nephew

0.5oz Don's Spices #2

0.25oz Falernum

2oz Pineapple Juice

1oz Orange juice

1oz Coconut Cream

A tiki-take on a Pumpkin Spice Latte.

Combine All ingredients with crushed ice and serve in a coconut!

For Closers Only Nik Shumer Decker

1oz Famous Grouse

0.5oz Green Chartreuse

0.5oz Laphroaig 10 year

0.75oz Coffee Cold Brew Concentrate

1 Tsp rich Demerara Syrup

3 dashes Angostura Bitters

Orgeat Whipped Cream to top

Shake all ingredients (except whipped cream) and strain into a chilled coupe glass.

Top with a later of 2:1 Orgeat Whipped Cream.

Garnish with splashes of Angostura Bitters.

You've Got Mail Brian Maxwell

1oz Raisin Infused Smith & Cross

0.75oz Amaro Averna

0.5oz Fig Shrub

1.5oz Pumpkin Beer

1 Whole Egg

Reverse Dry Shake all ingredients.

Strain into a Chilled Punch Goblet.

Garnish with Freshly grated nutmeg.

Note: The above cocktails can be currently found at either The Franklin Mortgage and Investment Co. or The Upstairs Bar in Philadelphia, PA.

I would love to go on and on more about the wonder of fall, the way it makes us all feel comfort, and the way it makes a kid of us all again, but I think I'll just leave that part to John Keats...

To Autumn

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness,

Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;

Conspiring with him how to load and bless

With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run;

To bend with apples the moss’d cottage-trees,

And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;

To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells

With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,

And still more, later flowers for the bees,

Until they think warm days will never cease,

For summer has o’er-brimm’d their clammy cells.

Who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store?

Sometimes whoever seeks abroad may find

Thee sitting careless on a granary floor,

Thy hair soft-lifted by the winnowing wind;

Or on a half-reap’d furrow sound asleep,

Drowsed with the fume of poppies, while thy hook

Spares the next swath and all its twined flowers:

And sometimes like a gleaner thou dost keep

Steady thy laden head across a brook;

Or by a cider-press, with patient look,

Thou watchest the last oozings, hours by hours.

Where are the songs of Spring?

Ay, where are they?

Think not of them, thou hast thy music too,--

While barred clouds bloom the soft-dying day,

And touch the stubble-plains with rosy hue;

Then in a wailful choir the small gnats mourn

Among the river sallows, borne aloft

Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies;

And full-grown lambs loud bleat from hilly bourn;

Hedge-crickets sing; and now with treble soft

The redbreast whistles from a garden-croft,

And gathering swallows twitter in the skies.

Enjoy those leaves, and your pumpkin pie; enjoy donning that favorite sweater and sipping a hot coffee on a cold morning. I'll be here, shaking as always. Until next time thirsty readers, keep shaking.