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Recipes: Fall cocktails

September 18, 2014 at 11:34AM

Fall Manhattan (with apple brandy)

Serves 1.

Note: Cider season is upon us, but for a stiffer apple drink reach for apple brandy. The appletini may have killed the cocktail, but there's no shame in leveraging a spirited form of Minnesota's favorite fruit in a Manhattan. Applejack and Calvados — the French apple brandy sometimes including pears — can do the trick, though we like Laird's 100-proof straight apple brandy. With more depth and punch than its applejack, which is composed of 35 percent apple brandy and blended with neutral grain spirit, the New Jersey-born distiller's high-octane brandy nicely heats up a harvest-season Manhattan.

• 1 oz. (2 tbsp.) bourbon

• 1 oz. (2 tbsp.) apple brandy

• 1 oz. (2 tbsp.) sweet vermouth

• 2 to 3 dashes aromatic bitters such as Angostura

Directions

Stir all ingredients in a shaker with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

Nutrition information per serving:

Calories180Fat0 gSodium3 mg

Carbohydrates4 gSaturated fat0 gCalcium2 mg

Protein0 gCholesterol0 mgDietary fiber0 g

Pumpkin Old-Fashioned (With pumpkin spirit)

Serves 1.

Note: Craft distillers hang their hat on innovation, but for every home run there are a handful of strikeouts. This category-confounding pumpkin spirit is one of the more alluring experiments. A collaboration between Milwaukee's Great Lakes Distillery and Lakefront Brewery, this limited fall release (about $45) is distilled from Lakefront's pumpkin lager made with real pumpkins and a medley of spices. Not overly refined like a genever without the juniper, the Great Pumpkin spirit comes alive in this cocktail. It's what Linus drinks when he grows up. Adapted from Eat Street Social in Minneapolis, which uses a maple/brown sugar syrup and laces the pumpkin spirit with brown butter. You could get by with an aromatic bitters, but Bittercube's Trinity bitters is worth the investment.

• 2 oz. (1/4 c.) Great Lakes Distillery Seasonal Pumpkin Spirit (see Note)

• 1/4 oz. (1 1/2 tsp.) maple syrup

• 2 to 3 dashes Bittercube Trinity bitters (see Note)

• Orange peel

Directions

Stir together the pumpkin spirit, maple syrup and bitters with ice and strain into a rocks glass with fresh ice (preferably one large chunk). Garnish with an orange peel after expressing its oils over the glass.

Nutrition information per serving:

Calories160Fat0 gSodium2 mg

Carbohydrates7 gSaturated fat0 gCalcium10 mg

Protein0 gCholesterol0 mgDietary fiber0 g

Nacional Daiquiri (with apricot eau de vie)

Serves 1.

Note: Don't dismiss the venerable daiquiri because of some silly old calendar. Instead of adding flavorless sweetness with simple syrup, substitute an apricot liqueur and you've got a Nacional Daiquiri. Try Rothman and Winter's Orchard Apricot liqueur, made with apricot eau de vie and apricot juice, and imported by Minnesota's Haus Alpenz. The stone fruit liqueur features an almost almond undercurrent that complements the classic cocktail without being cloyingly sweet. To make simple syrup, dissolve equal amounts sugar and water over low heat; cool before using.

• 1 1/2 oz. (3 tbsp.) rum

• 3/4 oz. (1 1/2 tbsp.) apricot liqueur

• 3/4 oz. (1 1/2 tbsp.) fresh lime juice

• 1 tsp. simple syrup (see Note)

Directions

Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

Nutrition information per serving:

Calories170Fat0 gSodium1 mg

Carbohydrates11 gSaturated fat0 gCalcium3 mg

Protein0 gCholesterol0 mgDietary fiber0 g

Lion's Tail (With allspice dram)

Serves 1.

Note: This long-lost liqueur (a staple in tiki drinks also known as pimento dram) is no longer too difficult to find, thanks to brands like St. Elizabeth (another product in the Haus Alpenz fleet) and the Bitter Truth. And given its potency, a liter could last a lifetime, depending on your hosting habits. Just a touch of the rum-based liqueur imparts a bouquet of autumnal baking spices and it's often employed by the dash. Though a quarter ounce is plenty, the classic Lion's Tail calls for a healthy half ounce of the clove, nutmeg and cinnamon swirl-in-a-bottle made from the pimento berry. To make simple syrup, dissolve equal amounts sugar and water over low heat; cool before using. From Paul Clarke's The Cocktail Chronicles blog.

• 2 oz. (1/4 c.) bourbon

• 1/2 oz. (1 tbsp.) allspice dram (adjust amount to taste)

• 1/2 oz. (1 tbsp.) fresh lime juice

• 1 dash of simple syrup (see Note)

• 1 dash aromatic bitters, such as Angostura

Directions

Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

Nutrition information per serving:

Calories180Fat0 gSodium1 mg

Carbohydrates7 gSaturated fat0 gCalcium2 mg

Protein0 gCholesterol0 mgDietary fiber0 g

Fall Sidecar (With pear liqueur)

Serves 1.

Note: Transform your next Sidecar into an even more fall-friendly tipple by swapping out the triple sec for a pear liqueur. Subtler than the traditionally called for orange liqueur, this pear remix — pared down (pun shamelessly intended) from a recipe from Robb Jones at Saffron — is a subtler, less biting alternative. (Jones adds 6 drops of Bittercube Bolivar bitters and rinses the glass with allspice dram.) Rothman & Winter and the softly sweet Mathilde are commonly available brands. By the time the glass is empty you will forget that winter is weeks away. To make simple syrup, dissolve equal amounts sugar and water over low heat; cool before using.

• 2 oz. (1/4 c.) cognac

• 3/4 oz. (1 1/2 tbsp.) pear liqueur

• 3/4 oz. (1 1/2 tbsp.) fresh lemon juice

• 1/2 oz. (1 tbsp.) simple syrup (see Note)

Directions

Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

Nutrition information per serving:

Calories220Fat0 gSodium1 mg

Carbohydrates15 gSaturated fat0 gCalcium3 mg

Protein0 gCholesterol0 mgDietary fiber0 g