Grape Spirit Cold Toddy (Original Recipe)

The idea behind this drink was to make the classic holiday hot cocktail with all of its fruity and spicy flavors in a cold form so it is easier to drink quickly. Unusually, I stuck with mostly grape spirits for the base and additional flavors, the one exception being MurLarkey orange whiskey, which comes across like a fruity orange peel and vanilla spice spirit.

But a neutral pisco, ginger brandy and Porto Morgado made this holiday cocktail as much about the juice of the grape as it was about apples and citrus. The spice combination on top was very important, including grated cinnamon, nutmeg, clove and anise.

• 1 oz. MurLarkey orange whiskey
• 1 oz. Capel pisco
• 1 oz. apple cider
• 1/2 oz. lemon juice
  
• 1/2 oz. ginger brandy
• 1/2 oz. honey syrup
• 1/4 oz. Porto Morgado
• cinnamon stick
• anise pod
• lemon twist
• grated nutmeg, clove and cinnamon

Combine liquid ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into an Old Fashioned glass full of crushed ice. twist lemon zest over the glass and drop it in. Grate spices and garnish with the cinnamon stic and the anise pod.

 

Fall Apple Sour (Original Recipe)

I know I'm doing a lot of drinks from the Death & Co. recipe book, and pretty soon I'll have completed my third recipe book in my odyssey of cocktails. But I do find time to innovate. Usually this happens when I am inspired by something I make or buy for a Death & Co. recipe. Who says leftovers are not as good as the first time around?

In this case, it was the Braeburn apple syrup I had left over. I used it to make a whiskey sour (no egg white) with a pronounced apple flavor. I used MurLarkey Heritage whiskey for it's intense country whiskey notes. 

• 2 oz. MurLarkey Heritage whiskey
• 1/2 oz. lemon juice
• 1/2 oz. apple cider
• 1 oz. Braeburn apple syrup
• apple fan garnish

Combine all ingredients except for garnish in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a rocks glass full of fresh ice. Garnish with apple slices in the shape of a fan.

Bobbing for Apples (MurLarkey Edition)

Spiking some soft cider is a Halloween tradition. I'm getting ready by spiking, and thereby spicing, a glass of cider while decorating. This easy recipe makes your drink taste better and hit a lot stronger. While the proportions are entirely up to you (and you can go as hard as you want) I will caution that the more cinnamon whiskey you use, the more you feel the burn. 

An ounce of cinnamon whiskey makes a glass of cider taste like apples and cinnamon. Three ounces gives you a cinnamon jawbreaker effect, a little hot and tingly and definitely hard!

• 1-3 oz. MurLarkey cinnamon whiskey
• 6 oz. unfiltered cider
• apple slice garnish

Build cocktail in a Collins glass full of ice by adding whiskey and cider and stirring. Float apple slice on top or stick it into the ice as a garnish.

 

Washington In-Cider (Original Recipe)

I needed a drink that would show off the flavors of Fall in Washington D.C., including local cider and spirits. MurLarkey cinnamon whiskey suggested itself quickly, but I also like the taste of rum with cider. Cotton & Reed dry spiced rum adds spicy flavor without overloading with cinnamon and baking spices. Between these two spirits, the farmer's market cider needed only a little sugar.

• 1 oz. Cotton & Reed dry spiced rum
• 1 oz. MurLarkey cinnamon whiskey
• 1/2 tsp. brown sugar
• non-alcoholic apple cider
• apple slice
• ground cinnamon

Build drink in a Collins glass with whiskey, rum and sugar. Stir to dissolve the sugar. Then add ice and top with apple cider and stir to combine. Garnish with the apple slice and dust it with cinnamon.

Happy Apple

This is one of the best fresh cider cocktails, and one of the easiest drinks to make to celebrate the fall season. You don't need much. Gold rum, unfiltered apple cider, and some citrus.

I decided that Jamaican rum is best used here. The appropriately named Appleton Estate rum is very characterful with brown sugar and spice notes. It lends mulling spice flavors to your cider.

• 2 oz. gold rum (Appleton Estate Signiture rum used)
• 1/2 oz. lemon juice
• 3 oz. apple cider 
• lime twist

Combine liquid ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and pour into an Old Fashioned glass. Twist lime peel over the glass and garnish with it. 

General Harrison's Eggnog

At first I thought of this drink as a low-ABV eggnog cocktail. I considered that this cocktail named for President and U.S. Army general William Henry Harrison took into account the man's penchant for sobriety by using less potent liquors like wine and hard cider over brandy and rum. Then I looked at the glass size, the fact that there's no ice in this eggnog, and the directions saying to top up with either cider or dry red wine.

Any way you cut it, that's a lot of wine or cider in one drink when there's only an egg and a bit of sugar in the drink. So my guess is that General Harrison made his eggnog with what he had available in an army camp. Cider or wine? Check. Eggs and sugar? Check.

This was an easy nog to make considering. I chose Angry Orchard Cinnful Apple cider because cinnamon would only go along with the winter spices in this drink. I also wanted to avoid a bruit cider that would be awkwardly dry in such a rich cocktail.

The effect was pretty awesome! The bubbles in the cider forced the egg foam to rise half way up the glass and force cinnamon and nutmeg scents toward your nose. Underneath is a silky but not overly rich cider nectar.

• 1 egg
• 1 tsp. sugar
• dry red wine or hard cider (Angry Orchard Cinnful Apple used)
• grated nutmeg

Combine egg and sugar in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled Collins glass. Fill with wine or cider and grate nutmeg on top. 

Mulled Cider

This cider drink is the quintessential hot mulled cider cocktail. It is colonial and rich, with gold rum, cider and spices. While you can make it with any brown spirit and cider, there's something about the old world taste of rum that clinches it.

Interestingly enough, "gold rum" does not denote a particular category. It refers vaguely to the color of the rum, which may be lighter or darker depending on age and blending. To prove this point, Cruzan labels all their rums, light, gold and dark as simply aged rum. The color, not the label is the only visible difference between them and is a result of the blending decisions. In fact, gold rum is created by blending light and dark rums--but it also may contain caramel as a cheap way to achieve the color of an aged rum.

I blended Cruzan aged rum with the very dark Pampero Venezuelan rum. Both are aged and contain no added caramel. You can chose to blend yourself, or open a bottle of brownish (not-spiced) rum to go with your home-spiced cider.

• 2 oz. gold (aged blended) rum
• 6 oz. apple cider
• 1 tsp. honey
• cinnamon stick
• grated nutmeg
• lemon peel

Combine all ingredients in a sauce pan over medium heat. Stir occasionally until well heated but do not boil. Pour into a heated coffee mug. 

Mulled Cider Warmer (Non-Alcoholic)

Hot mulled cider is so rewarding in the fall that it almost doesn't matter if there's alcohol in it at all. I mean, you really enjoy it for the seasonal apple flavor, the spices and the warmth. Of course if you were to throw a shot of whiskey in this, it wouldn't detract from the experience. But for me, it was a great sober Sunday afternoon drink fit for a chilly November.

This recipe makes for six servings, but can be adjusted accordingly.

• 1 quart apple cider
• 1 oz. honey
• 1/4 tsp. ground allspice
• 5 cardamom seeds
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 8 whole cloves
• 1 tbsp. orange peels
• 6 cinnamon stick

Combine all ingredients except cinnamon sticks in a saucepan and stir over high heat until the honey dissolves. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes or longer (covered). Pour into warmed coffee mugs and garnish with cinnamon sticks. 

Mulled Cider

I love a good mulled cider in winter, but I've never made one before. When you get a store brand, you never know what ingredients go into them, but there's almost never a decent rum in the mix.

Making your own mulled cider is easier than it looks and requires little prep time. This recipe is for a single serving. If you scale it up, you might want to put the spices in a sachet to prevent them from filling up the last glass you pour with a spicy mud.

• 2 oz. gold rum
• 6 oz. apple cider
• 1 tsp. honey
• cinnamon stick
• 3 cloves
• lemon twist
• grated nutmeg

Combine all ingredients except cinnamon stick in a saucepan and warm it on low heat while stirring. Bring it almost to boiling and pour into a warm mug. Garnish with the cinnamon stick. 

Cider Cup (Punch)

This is an apple cider punch cocktail that is pretty easy to make on the fly. I put it in a pitcher and had a lot of apple and mint garnishes around to fill each glass.

You can make the Cider Cup with non-alcoholic cloudy cider (the brandy still makes it mildly alcoholic, though not much, or do it with hard cider, but then you get some of that fizz from fermentation. I used North Gate Vineyards cider wine, which is stronger than hard cider, clear and not overly sweet.

Preparation for this cocktail includes dicing apples and having mint picked into leaves, with the tops of stems saved for sprig garnishes.

• 4 oz. brandy (cognac is appropriate)
• 2 oz. Cointreau or triple sec
• 16 oz. apple cider
• 8 oz. sparkling water
• 4 tsp. sugar
• apple pieces
• mint leaves and sprigs

Stir all ingredients except apple pieces and mint in a large pitcher full of ice. Pour into wine goblets and garnish with apple pieces and mint.