It’s October and we are finally below 90 degrees here in Alabama so everyone is buying pumpkins and freaking out. The mornings start off mostly cool and I happily dress my children in pants and a cute sweater. But let’s not forget - it’s Alabama - so by the time I pick them up in carpool the sweater has been left in art class and the pants are pulled up around my children’s thighs. They are crying and asking why I would be so mean as to dress them like it was actually Fall. The nerve of me! I guess I sort of freak out when Fall arrives too. I can’t help it. It’s my favorite season!
So I recently got together with my friend Caley Goins, co-founder of The Wilder Blog, and we put together 3 simple fall-themed cocktails to share with our readers. We included drinks that feature our favorite liquors: bourbon, tequila, and gin and we dressed them in simple fall attire. We had so much fun creating these - and hope you enjoy them as much as we did!
Bourbon Brûlé
My spin on the NY Times cocktail that inspired this post - you can find it here. Note: this drink is SWEET! I would say eliminate the simple syrup if you want more of a balanced cocktail.
1 Medium Navel Orange
1 tsp Sugar
3 oz Bourbon
1 oz Sweet Vermouth
*1/2 oz Homemade Ginger Simple Syrup
Directions: Slice the orange horizontally, no more than 1/8 inch thick. Sprinkle each side of the orange with sugar and heat in an iron skillet over medium/high heat. Remove orange when it’s slightly caramelized, about 2 minutes per side. (I actually burned mine a bit - which gave the cocktail a little bit of a smoky flavor…happy oops!) Combine the rest of your ingredients, and serve over ice. Top your cocktail with the caramelized orange.
*For the simple syrup, I used 1 cup water and 1 cup sugar. Add 4-6 thin slices of peeled ginger root. Bring everything to a boil, let cool, then refrigerate for up to one week.
Orange Maria
A fun and refreshing brunch cocktail. I’m not a huge fan of the tomato juice part of a Bloody Mary - so this drink really won me over with it’s light and refreshing taste - not to mention the stunning shade of orange it turned out to be. It was so much fun to photograph!
1/4 Cup Carrot Juice
1/4 Cup orange juice
1.5 oz Tequila
Juice of 1/2 Lime
Chili Powder
Sea Salt
Combine chili powder and salt on a plate. Moisten rim of glass with lime juice then dip the rim into the chili powder and salt mix. Combine the first 4 ingredients, mix, and serve over crushed ice.
Sage Gin + Tonic
1/4 Lime
1.5 oz Gin
TopoChico
Fresh Sage
*1 Tbsp Sage & Honey Simple Syrup
Mix first 2 ingredients together, fill glass with Top Chico, and garnish with lime and fresh sage. Easy breezy! Light and refreshing for those not-so-cool Southern fall evenings.
*For the simple syrup combine 1 cup water, 1 half cup of honey, and 10 sage leaves. Bring to a boil and let simmer for 5 minutes. Stays good in the fridge for up to a week!