Shake up fall with fun new cocktail flavors!

We need some new fall cocktail flavors! Out with the old fashioned and in with the newfangled. No offense to pumpkin spice and apple cider, but isn’t it time to give those flavors a rest and try something new?  For inspiration, let’s see what some of our favorite mixologists and chefs are mixing up this fall.

One of the best places to find trendy seasonal cocktails is on the Food Network website. Ina, Ree, Valerie, Guy, Bobby and Tieghan are all there, just waiting to entertain us with the cocktail of the moment.

Pomegranates are in season in the fall and winter months and they are refreshing with a sweet tart flavor that is perfect for making cocktails pop!  Ina Garten is making Pomegranate Gimlets with Tanqueray gin, pomegranate juice, simple syrup and lime juice. Only four ingredients needed to make this fabulous pink cocktail! I think she might say, “How easy is that?”

What’s the secret ingredient that many chefs use to make their cocktails so flavorful? Fruit preserves! Tieghan Gerard, author of the Half Baked Harvest blog makes a Fig Bourbon Cider Smash with apple cider, fig preserves, orange zest and a splash of balsamic vinegar. She says this is the perfect transitional cocktail to say goodbye to summer and embrace fall.

Bobby Flay is mixing up some fig infused bourbon this fall. He simply places fresh cut figs in a jar with bourbon, seals the jar and places it in a cool dark place for 2 to 7 days.  Maple syrup, fresh fig, lemon juice, bitters and ginger beer complete this delightful concoction – Figgy Bourbon Fizz.

You will find plenty of fall cocktail inspiration in the August/September issue of Garden and Gun Magazine. This special cocktail edition introduces us to a Smoked Bourbon Cinnamon Ginger Tea Cocktail, The Cuba Libre with Angostura ice cubes and La Piña made with fancy pineapple rum. The colorful dramatic cocktail photos jump off the page and make you want to start shaking up cocktails! Lots of fun entertaining tips to get your party off to a dazzling start.

If you are in the mood to mix up a very special fall cocktail, treat yourself to a POMMARRÉ (pomme is French for apple).  Featured in the Fall 2021 issue of The Local Palate Magazine, this lively apple cocktail is made with a spiced honey crisp apple shrub. A fun snippet is included with the recipe about the French expression “all in the apples” which is often used to describe someone who has passed out from drinking. Mix yourself one of these and enjoy this  10th anniversary issue of the magazine that celebrates food culture of the south.

You’ve worked up quite a thirst after reading this and you deserve a fabulous cocktail full of fresh fall flavors! Cheers!

What fun new flavor will you be adding to your cocktails this fall?