Fall is the time we celebrate the harvest, from corn to apples. It’s also a great time of the year to modify your favorite cocktails with fall flavors. There are lots of options for bringing the flavors of fall into your cocktails, from adding fall fruit brandies to different kinds of bitters, fall flavor syrups, and even dried fruits and fall citruses. Whiskey is a great cocktail base for the fall because it pairs so well with so many different flavors and it already has a warm spiciness. Just about every cocktail, classic or otherwise, can be modified with the addition of simple fall flavors. Check out these cocktail recipes for some inspiration!
Old Fashioned cocktails are very simple in their basic form — it’s just whiskey (or brandy, in some parts of the world), some sort of sugar like simple syrup or a sugar cube, and bitters. It’s an easy cocktail to make kosher, because all of the ingredients are really easy to find kosher, and it’s also a really simple cocktail to modify to fit a season or a mood. For fall, you can add baking spices or pumpkin spice, anise, dried fruit, apple, or even fall citrus like grapefruit to give it a fall twist. Swapping out the bitters is an easy modification, but infused simple syrups also open up a world of possibilities!
RD1 Maple Old Fashioned
Ingredients
• 2oz RD1 Kentucky Straight Bourbon Double Finished in Oak and Maple Barrels
• 0.25oz maple syrup
• 2-3 dashes aromatic bitters
• Small splash of club soda
• Orange peel and Luxardo maraschino cherries
Method
Add all ingredients to a glass, add ice, and stir well. Garnish with orange peel and Luxardo maraschino cherries.
Old Line Campfire Old Fashioned
Ingredients
• 2oz Old Line Spirits Navy Strength American Single Malt Whiskey
• 0.25oz smoked maple syrup
• 2 dashes chocolate bitters
• Freshly grated nutmeg
Method
Combine whiskey, smoked maple syrup, and chocolate bitters in a mixing glass and stir with ice. Strain into a rocks glass over fresh ice. Float freshly grated nutmeg on top.
Blue Note Apricot Old Fashioned
Ingredients
• 2oz Blue Note Crossroads
• 0.5oz apricot liqueur
• 0.25oz vanilla simple syrup*
• 2 dashes ginger bitters
• Orange twist garnish
Method
Combine ingredients in mixing glass with ice. Stir to combine. Strain into double Old Fashioned glass over a large cube. Garnish and enjoy!
*To make the vanilla simple syrup, use 2:1 sugar (try demerara or brown sugar to mix things up) to water and a teaspoon of vanilla extract. Boil and stir to combine. Cool and store refrigerated for up to a week.
Spirit Hound Spitfire Old Fashioned
Ingredients
• 2oz Spirit Hound Colorado Rye Whisky
• 0.25oz real maple syrup
• 0.25oz dropper woodland bitters
• Sambuca, to rinse
• Brûléed orange garnish*
Method
Begin by lightly rinsing an Old Fashioned glass with sambuca using an atomizer. In the same glass, combine the Spirit Hound Colorado Rye Whisky, real maple syrup, and woodland bitters. Gently swirl the mixture to blend the flavors, then add a large ice cube. For a finishing touch, garnish with a brûléed orange slice.
*To make the brûléed orange garnish, sprinkle an orange slice with turbinado sugar, then carefully torch it until the sugar caramelizes to a light, golden brown.
