Autumn is in full swing and you might be looking for the best fall cocktail for that get together or Halloween party. We can’t just leave you without some guidance there. Someone might suggest some vodka cocktail or something (God forbid). So here are five easy cocktails to make at home courtesy of your good friends at Whiskey Tramp.
Just a note. I am not a professional bartender. I just drink a lot of whiskey. With that in mind, I’ve tried to stick to cocktails that you can easily make with ingredients you can find at your local grocery store. In general one of the things that annoys me most on these types of lists are impossible to find ingredients or odd measurements. I will try to avoid both pitfalls and if things are likely to be hard to find I will give you a link straight to them so you can easily get it.
The sweetness of the cider with a little spice from the ginger cider bourbon ginger cocktail
Cider Bourbon Ginger Cocktail
This won’t be the first time we’ll be incorporating cider here today. But why wouldn’t you? Nothing says fall like apples. I mean maybe apples and bourbon of course.
Ingredients:
1 or 2 good large slices of fresh Ginger
1 shot of bourbon (I usually do a double but you do what you think is best). I used Belmont Farms Apple whiskey. Because apples.
Apple Cider (We’re going to be shaking this don’t get a carbonated one) ⅓ to ½ a cup
Lemon juice (a couple tablespoons will do)
An Apple
Ice (Some crushed ice for shaking and a large cube for the glass)
Directions
Get your crushed ice and fill the glass you will be using and then set it aside or set it in the freezer
Slice a couple good large pieces of ginger and drop them in your shaker
Fill your shaker with crushed ice
Add your shot or two to your shaker
Add your lemon juice
Add the apple cider
Now shake the crap out of that thing until it’s too cold to hold (don’t forget to cover your shaker before you do that)
Get that glass you set aside earlier and dump out the crushed ice. The glass should be nice and cold now.
Add a nice big (the bigger the better) cube to that thing
Pour your cocktail over the cube
Cut a nice big slice of apple and add it as a garnish
Enjoy and smile with satisfaction at your handiwork (Optional)
whiskey, brandy, lemon with a little twist
Maple Bourbon Twist
Okay, so this one is pretty similar to the previous. However, in place of cider we’re going to have Apple Brandy and as a sweetener we’re going to add some maple syrup. Apples, maple, with a little bourbon and brandy to warm you up. What could be better right? Credit where credit is due. I got this idea from trolling around YouTube and found it through An Idiots Liquor. While I’ve kind of done it our way that’s the origin of what first led me down the rabbit trail. Check out his channel and give him some love here.
Ingredients
Double of bourbon (again went with Belmont Farms Apple Whiskey but feel free to substitute whatever you like)
A single shot of Apple Brandy of your choice
Maple Syrup about a half a shot
Juice of about half a small lemon (use the other half to make one for your friend)
Crushed ice
Large ice cube
Twist of lemon peel for garnish
Directions
Fill your glass up with crushed ice and set aside (just chilling the glass like before. Because we’re not barbarians)
Fill your shaker with crushed ice as well
Add your shot of bourbon (if a double is too much you can use a single and just not admit your weakness to others)
Add your shot of Apple Brandy
Add the maple syrup
Add lemon juice
Shake that thing
Dump the crushed ice out of your glass
Put a nice giant chunk of ice back in there
Filter the ingredients from you shaker over that big ol chunk of ice
Twist that slice of lemon peel over your glass and watch that lemon zest do it’s magic
Drop it in the glass so it sits there delicately looking all cool
Sip your drink and stare at your audience like Jules Winfield
A little citrus a little maple, a little chocolate a campfire sling
Campfire Sling
Do you like bourbon? Do you like maple syrup? Do you like lighting things on fire? This cocktail is for you.
A word of warning though. Of the cocktails on this list I have found this one to be the most sensitive. I think because there aren't a lot of ingredients. One of them gets a little off and it can ruin it. Because of that I would definitely recommend using a good bourbon or rye and try to get the measurements right. When it's right the campfire sling is one of my favorites when one of those ingredients isn't right it can crash and burn.
Ingredients
Rye whiskey (just do a double you know that’s what you want)
Maple syrup (half a shot .75 ounces)
Chocolate bitters two dashes (I’ve seen people say three. Three is a little overpowering in my experience)
An orange peel
Ice (crushed and a large cube)
Fire (you can use a torch or a match or a lighter)
Tongs (optional if you’re not into burning your fingers)
Directions
You know the drill at this point. Chill your glass.
Add the whiskey to your shaker
Add the maple syrup
Shake it, shake it, shake it
Change out the ice in your glass
Pour over the larger cube
Add two dashes of chocolate bitters to your drink
Cut a twist of orange peel
Holding the peel over your drink light that sucker up and watch the oils drip all over your drink
Position the twist of orange peel in your drink like a boss
Drink and laugh at how terrified your guests are about how much you like playing with fire
What’s more perfect on a cool evening than mulled cider
Mulled Cider
Yup, more apples. But tell me does your home currently smell like a magical autumn wonderland? No? You should probably drop a bunch of cloves and cinnamon in a sack and roast them up in some apple juice to remedy that. Plus with this one you can choose to serve it dry for that one friend who is driving everyone else home and they’ll still have fun.
Ingredients
Bourbon
Mulling spices (there are a bunch of suggestions out there for what mulling spices constitute but I’ll just tell you what I used. They’re all kind of a variation on the same thing)
½ teaspoon of cloves (honestly the first time I just used a pinch didn’t really measure it. Just be careful with the cloves they’re just take over everything if you go too crazy)
1 cinnamon stick
1 teaspoon cardamom
1 teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon of nutmeg
Cider
A lemon
Some cheese cloth
Some string
A cool mug (preferably one that looks like a boot)
Directions
Get your cheesecloth out and drop your mulling spices in the middle of it
Tie it up like a little hobo satchel
Get that Crock Pot you haven’t used in months out and put it out on the counter
Dump about a gallon of cider in the thing
Squeeze a little lemon juice in there
Set it the crockery on low
Drop that sack of spices right in the middle
Walk away for about two or three hours
While everyone is marveling at how great it smells drop a generous amount of bourbon in their mugs (they won’t notice with all those spices and sugar)
Get a ladle and top their cup off with that deliciousness
Sit back and wait for the party to get lit
The Road to Marrakech
I can take zero credit for this one. It comes 100% from Paula Lukas via an article I read on liquor.com here. She was very generous to allow us to use it so please go over and check out her page or give her a follow on social media. She’s got tons of other great stuff.
So, how is a cocktail named after a place in Morocco a fall cocktail? I found it in the fall. I don’t know. For some reason the spices involved make me think of Autumn (probably the cinnamon and cardamom). Bottom line I made the syrup for this and have basically been unable to stop drinking it every time I think about making something. Enough said.
A couple notes I will leave on this one is that it does break my one rule of using ingredients that are easily found at your local grocery store. You may easily be able to find tamarind paste if you’re in a larger city but if you live in the middle of nowhere like I do you will probably have some difficulty finding it so I went ahead and linked to it on Amazon below. That said once you have that ingredient this is incredibly easy.
Also, I don’t have a proper measuring jigger so I tend to just eyeball things. While this was a forgiving recipe and it turned out great for me either way. Save yourself the trouble (It would have been really worth it for the campfire sling too) and get yourself a good one that will clear that up for you. Something like this.
Ingredients
2.25 oz of bourbon (she suggested Four Roses and while I love Four Roses we spent most of last month hitting Virginia distilleries so I had a bunch of Virginia whiskeys. I used Ragged Branches double oaked wheated bourbon which is a slightly different flavor profile. Do it her way first. Four Roses is probably easier to find too.)
½ oz of spiced tamarind syrup (I just did a half a shot which is actually probably closer to ¾ oz)
½ cup of sugar
½ cup of water
1 tablespoon of tamarind paste
½ teaspoon of cinnamon
½ teaspoon of cardamom
2 dashes of Orange bitters (I used Reagans)
A twist of grapefruit peel
A dried apricot
Ice
Directions
Spiced Tamarind Syrup
In a shaker combine ingredients
Shake vigorously
Pour into a bottle you can dispense it from
Put it in the fridge
Cocktail
Chill your glass
Add another large cube of ice to a cocktail stirring glass (or some other container you can stir things with)
If you’re stirring you probably shouldn’t use crushed ice for this one it’ll melt more rapidly while you stir and water down your drink
If you don't have molds that will yield large cubes you should invest in some they're definitely worth it
Add bourbon
Add tamarind syrup
Add 2 dashes of orange bitters
Stir until outside of container is cold to the touch
Add a large cube to your rocks glass
Strain cocktail over ice
Twist grapefruit over the drink
Add dried apricot and rose petals as garnish
Immediately pour another because you just drank that way too quickly and you know it
And there you have it. Our five favorite cocktails to make this fall. If you end up making any of them and would like to let us know what you thought or you just would like to let us know what you like to make drop a comment below or just hit us up on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook. We love to hear from you.