Giving Thanks for Cocktails

Thank goodness for cocktails!

Apple cider is a fun fall beverage that is available at many a farmer’s market and grocery store. To honour the Thanksgiving long weekend and recognising that the weather is starting to get a little cooler, I thought I’d go with warmer cocktails and flavours of the fall. Apples are a quintessential fall flavour and if an apple a day keeps the doctor away, well then let’s just mark these drinks as preventative medicine!

The Hot Apple Pie (why should Pumpkin Spice have all the fun?)

What you need:

• 1/2 cup Apple cider
• 1 1/2 oz Amaretto di Saronno
• 1/4 tsp lemon juice (lemon wedge 1/8th of the lemon)
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 tsp cinnamon powder
• 1 tsp sugar

What you do:

• Mix the cinnamon and sugar together on a plate

• Wipe the glass with the lemon and dip in the cinnamon sugar mix

• On the stop top in a pot or in the microwave, heat the apple cider
• Add the Amaretto di Saronno to the glass

• Top with the hot cider
• Squeeze the lemon wedge into the cocktail

• Stir with the cinnamon stick

Bourbon for me seems more like a fall drink than a summer drink, Mint Juleps aside! One of my coworkers, Andrew, introduced me to Red Stag Black Cherry Bourbon a few years ago. Besides being a great mix with lemonade, or great on its own, it pairs nicely with apple cider. Vanilla vodka rounds out the fall flavours.

Cherry Vanilla Cider

What you need:

• 1 1/4 oz Red Stag Black Cherry Bourbon
• 1/2 oz vanilla vodka
• 4 oz apple cider
• 1 sprig rosemary

What you do:

• Fill a rocks glass with ice
• In a shaker, add ice, Red Stag Cherry Bourbon, vanilla vodka and apple cider, shake vigorously

• Strain into the rocks glass
• Garnish with a sprig of rosemary

• Stir

The French Apple

What you need:

• 1 1/2 oz Grand Marnier
• 1/2 oz Bourbon
• 2 oz apple cider
• 1 clementine

What you do:

• Fill a rocks glass with ice
• In a shaker, add ice, Grand Marnier, bourbon, and apple cider, shake vigorously
• Strain into the rocks glass

• Squeeze a 1/4 clementine into the cocktail

The Bonnie Bourbon Apple

What you need:

• 1 1/2 oz Bourbon
• 1/2 oz Drambuie
• 2 oz apple cider
• 1 lemon wedge

What you do:

• Fill a rocks glass with ice
• In a shaker, add ice, Drambuie, bourbon and apple cider, shake vigorously
• Strain into the rocks glass

• Squeeze a lemon wedge into the cocktail

For those of you who don’t like apple cider, here is a classic Bermudian cocktail that has a gingery taste of fall. If it isn’t already, it should be the national drink of Bermuda. It’s tangy with ginger beer and a little sweet with the black rum. The first time I ever had it was many years ago at The Swizzle Inn (and stumble out) in Bermuda. It was love at first sip. This drink is super simple to make.

The Dark and Stormy

What you need:

• 2 oz Gosling’s Black Seal Black Rum
• Ginger beer
• Lime

What you do:

• Fill a rocks glass with ice
• Add dark rum
• Top with ginger beer
• Squeeze lime the wedge into your drink

• Stir

Hope these drinks help you tolerate the Thanksgiving festivities and the family!