Shutdown Cider

Note: To make simple syrup, combine 1 cup water with 1 cup sugar in a small saucepan and heat over medium heat, stirring constantly, until sugar is dissolved. Cool before using. Simple syrup will keep in a sealed container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

Special equipment: jigger, cocktail shaker, glass, strainer

Ingredients

serves makes 1 cocktail, active time 5 minutes, total time 5 minutes

• 1 1/2 ounces La Diablada pisco
• 2 ounces Knudsen's Cider & Spice apple cider
• 1 ounce fresh lemon juice, from 1 lemon
• 1/2 ounce simple syrup (see note above)
• 2 dashes Bar Keep Chinese Bitters

Procedures

1. Fill a cocktail shaker with ice and add pisco, apple cider, lemon, simple syrup, and bitters. Shake until well chilled. Strain into an ice-filled serving glass—use crushed ice if desired.

The Hot and Cold

Because of its bright citrus notes, New Amsterdam Gin easily makes the transition from G&T to toddy. Built on a base of fresh mint tea, this hot toddy is sweetened with ruby-hued cranberry syrup.

Ingredients

serves makes 1 cocktail, active time 5 minutes, total time 5 minutes

• 25 fresh mint leaves
• 3/4 cup boiling water
• 2 ounces gin, such as New Amsterdam
• 1/2 ounce lemon juice from 1 lemon
• 1 ounce homemade cranberry syrup
• Lemon slice for garnish

Procedures

1. In a mug or a small heatproof bowl, pour the boiling water over the mint leaves and let steep for 5 minutes.
   
2. While the mint is steeping, combine the gin, cranberry syrup, and lemon juice in a mug. Strain mint tea into mug and stir to combine. Discard mint leaves. Garnish the drink with sliced lemon and serve.

Cranberry, Aperol, and Soda

Slightly tannic cranberry syrup pairs perfectly with the mildly bitter, fruity Aperol in this festive (and fizzy) beverage.

Special equipment: cocktail shaker

Ingredients

serves makes 1 cocktail, active time 5 minutes, total time 5 minutes

• 2 ounces Aperol
• 1 ounce homemade cranberry syrup
• 2 dashes orange bitters
• 3 ounces chilled seltzer
• Orange peel for garnish, optional

Procedures

1. Fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Add Aperol, cranberry syrup, and bitters. Shake until well chilled, about 20 seconds. Strain into an ice filled highball glass and top with 3 ounces of seltzer, or more to taste. Stir gently. Garnish with orange peel if desired.

Bitter and Bold Sangria

This sangria, which starts with a base of red wine and has a supporting cast of Campari, cranberry syrup, and bourbon is bold, bitter, and complex.

Ingredients

serves makes about 8 servings, active time 10 minutes, total time 4 hours

• 2 cups red wine
• 1/2 cup homemade cranberry syrup
• 5 ounces bourbon, such as Four Roses Yellow Label
• 5 ounces Campari
• 1 orange, quartered and sliced into wheels
• Chilled seltzer for serving
• Fresh cranberries, halved lengthwise

Procedures

1. Combine red wine, cranberry syrup, bourbon, and Campari in a quart jar or pitcher and stir to combine. Add half the orange slices and refrigerate until completely cool.
   
2. To serve, put about 1/2 cup of the sangria concentrate into each glass and top with 2 to 3 ounces of seltzer. Garnish with one or two of the remaining fresh orange slices and a small handful of halved fresh cranberries.

Edible Pantries

Ingredients

serves makes 1 cocktail, active time 5 minutes, total time 5 minutes

• 1 1/2 ounces Pierre Ferrand 1840 Cognac
• 1/4 ounce Fernet Branca
• 1/8 ounce maple syrup (or slightly more to taste)
• 1/8 ounce apple cider vinegar (or slightly more to taste)
• Dash Angostura bitters
• Freshly grated cinnamon for garnish

Procedures

1. Combine cognac, Fernet Branca, maple syrup, apple cider vinegar, and bitters in rocks or old fashioned glass with cube of ice. Garnish with freshly grated cinnamon.

Eve's Addiction

Special equipment: medium saucepan, fine-mesh sieve

Ingredients

serves Serves 4, active time 10 minutes, total time 30 minutes

• 1 tablespoon whole allspice berries
• 1 tablespoon black peppercorns
• 1 tablespoon whole cloves
• 2 teaspoons whole coriander
• 3 cinnamon sticks
• 4 1/2 cups apple cider
• Rind and 1/4 cup juice from 1 large orange
• 8 ounces applejack
• 1 Granny Smith apple, peeled, cored, and cut into 1/4-inch slices
• 1 clementine or small orange, scrubbed and cut into 1/4-inch thick rounds
• 2 tablespoons dried cranberries

Procedures

1. Place allspice, peppercorns, cloves, coriander, and cinnamon in a medium saucepan. Cook, stirring, over medium heat until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Stir in apple cider, orange rind and juice, and applejack and bring to simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to lowest setting and allow cider to simmer for 15 minutes.
   
2. Strain mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl and discard solids. Return cider to saucepan and add apple pieces, clementine slices, and cranberries. Simmer medium-low heat until apples are fork tender but still retain their shape and cranberries are plump, about 10 minutes. Serve.

Salty Maple Buttered Cider

Hot buttered rum is even better with warm cider. A sprinkle of Maldon salt and a hint of lemon juice round out the flavors.

Special equipment: small plate, small saucepan

Ingredients

serves makes 2 cocktails, active time 10 minutes, total time 10 minutes

• Maldon salt
• Half of 1 lemon
• 1 tablespoon softened butter
• 2 tablespoon pure maple syrup
• 1/2 vanilla bean pod, seeds scraped out
• 4 ounces dark rum
• 8 ounces apple cider

Procedures

1. Scatter Maldon salt on a small plate. Rub the rim of two heatproof glasses or mugs with the lemon half, then dip in salt.
   
2. Combine the butter, maple syrup, and vanilla bean seeds in small bowl. Set aside. Combine rum and cider in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Pour into prepared glasses, then top each with half of the butter. Serve immediately.

Peppery Ginger Cider

This warm cocktail is spiked with bourbon and ginger liqueur. Cracked black pepper underscores the ginger's subtle burn.

Special equipment: small saucepan

Ingredients

serves Makes 2 cocktails, active time 10 minutes, total time 10 minutes

• 8 ounces apple cider
• 4 ounces bourbon
• 3 ounces ginger liqueur, such as Domaine de Canton
• Lemon juice to taste
• 4 Luxardo cherries
• Cracked black pepper

Procedures

1. Bring cider and bourbon to a simmer in small saucepan. Stir in ginger liqueur and add lemon juice to taste. Divide cherries between 2 heatproof glasses or mugs and pour in cider combination. Sprinkle with pepper and serve immediately.

Pop! Cider

Try serving this seasonal sparkling cocktail as guests walk into your home for this year's round of parties. A splash of apple cider makes this drink appropriate for fall, and herbal, honeyed Benedictine is a natural mate.

Ingredients

serves Serves 1, active time 5 minutes, total time 5 minutes

• 2 ounce Bénédictine liqueur
• 1 ounce apple cider, chilled
• Prosecco, chilled
• Fresh rosemary or thyme sprigs (optional)

Procedures

1. Combine Benedictine and cider in a Champagne flute or coupe. Top with Prosecco. Garnish with rosemary or thyme, if desired.

Orchard Boulevardier

The classic Boulevardier is a favorite of ours: it's like a Negroni, but with whiskey instead of gin. In this variation, the combination is served warm, stirred into a steaming saucepan of hot apple cider.

Special equipment: small saucepan

Ingredients

serves makes 2 cocktails, active time 5 minutes, total time 5 minutes

• 8 ounces apple cider
• 4 ounces rye whiskey
• 2 ounce Campari
• 2 ounce sweet vermouth
• Garnish: 2 orange twists

Procedures

1. Bring apple cider to a simmer in a medium saucepan. Add rye, Campari, and vermouth, stir until warm. Divide between two heatproof mugs or glass serving glasses, garnish with orange twist and serve immediately.

Vasco da Gama

Note: Use unsweetened apple cider from your local orchard or grocery store refrigerated section for this drink.

Ingredients

serves makes 2 cocktails plus extra spiced syrup, active time 10 minutes, total time 45 minutes

• For the garam masala-spiced apple syrup:
• 2 tablespoons whole coriander seed
• 1 tablespoon whole cumin seed
• 2 cardamom pods
• 2 teaspoons mustard seed
• 2 teaspoons black peppercorn
• 1 teaspoon whole cloves
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 1 dried bird's eye chili
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 cups apple cider (see note above)
• 1 1/2 cups turbinado sugar
•  
• For the cocktails:
• 4 ounces bourbon (such as Buffalo Trace)
• 1 1/2 ounces garam masala-spiced apple syrup
• 1 ounce single malt Scotch
• 2 dried apple chips for garnish

Procedures

1. To make garam masala-spiced apple syrup, toast all spices in a medium saucepan over low heat until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add apple cider, and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to a simmer and add sugar. Cook, stirring occasionally, until cider has absorbed flavor from spices, about 30 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool, then strain into a jar and refrigerate. Cider can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
   
2. To make the cocktails, add bourbon, garam masala-spiced apple syrup, and Scotch into a cocktail shaker and fill with ice. Stir until well chilled, at least 10 seconds. Add a large ice cube to two Old Fashioned glasses. Strain cocktail evenly between the two prepared glasses. Garnish each glass with a dried apple chip and serve.

Fanciulli Cocktail

The origins of the Fanciulli cocktail are somewhat dim, but the flavor certainly isn't. It's a Manhattan with a bitter menthol backbone. The drink first appears in the 1931 book, Old Waldorf Bar Days, by Albert Stevens Crockett, and Mr. Crockett states that the name is Italian slang for "the boys." Crockett traces the cocktail to no later than 1910, however, and as Eric Felten showed in his Wall Street Journal column a few years ago, the Fanciulli may have been named for a music composer of some renown.
The original recipe calls for bourbon; rye works too. But whichever you choose, pick a strong whiskey, something that will stand up to the fernet. I'd go with Bulleit or Wild Turkey 101, if you're choosing bourbon.
As for the vermouth, Felten suggests something with backbone: Vya or Punt E Mes, he recommends. He was writing before Carpano Antica was fairly widely available, so I'd add that suggestion to his. You'll certainly want something a little punchier than your standard sweet vermouths.

Special equipment: mixing glass, jigger, strainer, cocktail glass

Ingredients

serves makes 1 cocktail, active time 3 minutes, total time 3 minutes

• 1 1/2 ounce bourbon or rye
• 3/4 ounce sweet vermouth
• 1/4 ounce Fernet Branca

Procedures

1. Pour the whiskey, sweet vermouth, and Fernet Branca into a mixing glass filled with ice. Stir until outside of mixing glass is very cold to touch, about 15 seconds. Strain into a cocktail glass and serve.

The Cure-All

With the same flavor base as the Penicillin—lemon, ginger, and Scotch—this foundation of this drink is already a delicious antidote to a long, cold day. Adding a shot of beet juice just ups the curative ante.
No juicer? Alas, me either. But I had no problem getting a small cup of beet juice from the my local health food store.

Note: I use Black Bottle Islay Scotch here, a blended Scotch that's a great value, but still has nice smoke and spice.

Special equipment: cocktail shaker

Ingredients

serves makes 2 drinks, active time 5 minutes, total time 5 minutes

• 2 ounces beet juice
• 3 ounces blended Scotch (such as Black Bottle)
• 1 1/2 ounces lemon juice, from two lemons
• 2 ounces Domaine de Canton ginger liqueur

Procedures

1. Fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Add beet juice, Scotch, lemon juice, and ginger liqueur. Shake until well chilled, about 20 seconds.
   
2. Strain evenly into two coupe glasses and serve.

The Taproot

Although this drink is served over ice, it still packs a toasty punch thanks to the layers of warm flavors from the Bulleit Bourbon and Carpano Antica Sweet Vermouth.
No juicer? Alas, me either. I had no problem getting a small cup of beet juice from the my local health food store.

Special equipment: cocktail shaker

Ingredients

serves makes 2 cocktails, active time 5 minutes, total time 5 minutes

• 1 ounce beet juice
• 1 ounce carrot juice
• 1/2 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
• 2 ounces Carpano Antica Sweet Vermouth
• 3 ounces Bulleit Bourbon

Procedures

1. Fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Add the beet juice, carrot juice, balsamic vinegar, Carpano Antica, and bourbon. Shake until well chilled, about 20 seconds. Strain evenly into 2 ice-filled cocktail glasses and serve.

The Hot Pink

Inspired by my favorite way to eat beets—with horseradish and a cider vinegar dressing—this savory beet shrub is a great match for a juniper-forward gin like Tanqueray. The finished product here has just a touch of heat from the horseradish.
As I've made more shrubs for cocktails, I've found that I often prefer something with less than a 1:1 ratio of syrup to vinegar. I definitely went light on the vinegar here, but you can add more to your taste if desired.

Special equipment: cocktail shaker, quart jar

Ingredients

serves makes 1 drink, makes 1 cup shrub syrup, enough for about 20 drinks, active time 15 minutes, total time 3 days

• For the Beet, Celery, and Horseradish Shrub Syrup:
• 6 ounces celery, sliced 1/4 inch thick
• 1 medium beet (4 ounces), peeled and grated
• 1 tablespoon grated fresh horseradish, tightly packed
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
•  
• For the Hot Pink Cocktail:
• 3/4 ounce Beet, Celery, and Horseradish Shrub
• 2 ounces Tanqueray gin
• 3 ounces seltzer

Procedures

1. For the Beet, Celery, and Horseradish Shrub Syrup: Combine the celery, beets, horseradish, sugar, and salt in a quart jar. Shake to combine and refrigerate for 72 hours, shaking once a day to help dissolve the sugar.
   
2. Strain the mixture through a fine mesh sieve, pressing the solids to extract as much of the syrupy liquid as possible. Discard solids and add the vinegar to the syrup. Refrigerate until ready to use.
   
3. For the Hot Pink Cocktail: Fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Add shrub syrup and gin. Shake until well-chilled, about 20 seconds.
   
4. Strain into an ice-filled highball glass, top with seltzer, stir to combine and serve.

Orgeat Lemonade

This drink combines traditional bar staples into a non-alcoholic drink that's both tasty and elegant.
Use a good-quality orgeat that contains orange flower water for to add the most high notes and complexity to the drink. If you can't find one, use my ridiculously simple recipe for making your own orgeat at home.

Ingredients

serves makes 1 serving, active time 2 minutes, total time 2 minutes

• 1 ounce fresh lemon juice from 1 lemon
• 2 ounces orgeat (or to taste)
• 3 ounces water
• Garnish: lemon peel or fresh herb sprig (optional)

Procedures

1. Add lemon juice, orgeat, and water to a cocktail shaker and fill with ice. Shake until well chilled, about 15 seconds. Strain into a highball glass over crushed ice. Garnish with lemon peel or fresh herbs if desired.

Turkey and Sage Cocktail

The extra kick of a high-proof bourbon is great up against the bold, woodsy sage in this cocktail. We used Wild Turkey 101, which offers caramel and vanilla notes that are an ideal match for pumpkin.

Note: I followed this recipe for pumpkin butter, but you could also use something store-bought and adjust the final drink for sweetness as needed.

Special equipment: cocktail shaker

Ingredients

serves makes 2 cocktails, active time 5 minutes, total time 5 minutes

• 20 fresh sage leaves
• 4 ounces Wild Turkey 101 Bourbon
• 2 tablespoons pumpkin butter (see note above)
• 1/2 ounce lemon juice, from one lemon
• 4 dashes angostura bitters

Procedures

1. Reserve two sage leaves for garnish and muddle the rest gently in a cocktail shaker.
   
2. Fill the shaker with ice. Add bourbon, pumpkin butter, lemon juice, and bitters. Shake until well-chilled, about 20 seconds.
   
3. Strain evenly into two coupe glasses and float a sage leaf on top of each drink.

The Storm Cloud

Ingredients

serves makes 1 cocktail, active time 5 minutes, total time 5 minutes

• 1 1/2 ounce Cocchi Americano
• 1/2 ounce Fernet Branca
• 1 ounce fresh juice from 1 pink grapefruit
• 3 ounces chilled club soda
• Grapefruit twist and kosher salt for garnish

Procedures

1. Add Cocchi Americano, Fernet Branca, grapefruit juice, and simple syrup to cocktail shaker and fill with ice. Shake until chilled, about 10 seconds. Strain into an ice-filled Collins glass.
   
2. Top with soda and stir gently to incorporate. Garnish with a long grapefruit swath and a pinch of kosher salt on the top of the ice cube.

Bourbon Renewal

Ingredients

serves makes 1 cocktail, active time 5 minutes, total time 5 minutes

• 2 ounces bourbon
• 1 ounce fresh juice from one lemon
• 1/2 ounce crème de cassis
• 1/2 ounce simple syrup (see note above), or less to taste
• 1 dash Angostura bitters

Procedures

1. Add bourbon, lemon, crème de cassis, simple syrup, and bitters to a cocktail shaker and fill with ice. Shake until well chilled, about 15 seconds. Strain into an ice-filled Old Fashioned glass.

Sazerac and Cider

Ingredients

serves makes 2 cocktails, active time 5 minutes, total time 5 minutes

• 2 sugar cubes
• 6 dashes Peychaud's bitters
• 3 ounces rye, such as Rittenhouse 100 proof
• 2 dashes Pernod Absinthe
• 4 ounces Crispin Original Cider
• Ice
• Lemon peel, optional

Procedures

1. In a mixing glass, saturate the sugar cubes with the bitters and muddle to break down the sugar cubes. Add ice and rye.
   
2. Stir until well chilled and the sugar is almost completely dissolved.
   
3. Put a dash of absinthe in each of the two serving glasses and swirl it around to coat the glass, discarding any extra. Fill the glasses with ice.
   
4. Strain the chilled rye mixture evenly between the two serving glasses and top each one with two ounces cider. Garnish with lemon peel if desired and serve.