My favorite season… a season of leaves changing colors, cooler temperatures, pumpkins, corn mazes, football, Halloween, Thanksgiving, my birthday… I love Fall!
But you know what is one of my favorite things about Fall? The seasonal drinks.
There is a deep joy that comes from Starbucks’ Pumpkin Spice Latte. It’s like your favorite blanket. Your favorite pair of fluffy socks. Your favorite book to read over and over again. It’s like the trumpet that plays announcing the arrival of the new season.
Around the same time that the Pumpkin Spice Latte comes back to the world, the seasonal beers return to taps. The Fall seasonals are by far my favorites. Sam Adams Octoberfest has been a long-time favorite. This year, I’ve been introduced to ShockTop Pumpkin Wheat, which just might trump my love of the Octoberfest.
As temperatures cool, I find myself reaching for a late night cup of coffee or a cup of hot chocolate. Both usually with a pinch of cinnamon. And might or might not stock up on pumpkin spice coffee creamer for a quick at-home fix.
Its no wonder I gain weight in the Fall with all these awesome drinks tempting me! What are your favorite fall drinks??
You may or may not know, I bartend on the side. I’m a back-up bartender at my favorite bar here in Nashville, and boy some of the stories I could tell from behind the bar!
For Friday, though, I thought I’d bring you three drink recipes to possibly use in any weekend “partying” you may do this weekend.
The first is a shot that you can also have as a drink. (Just make more and serve over ice.) It’s something of a go-to for me when I don’t know what else to have or when someone comes to me and says, “What do you suggest?”
Washington Apple
1/3 Crown Royal
1/3 Apple Pucker
1/3 Cranberry Juice
Pour all four into a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a shooter glass.
Or, as I said, make it into a drink by shaking and straining over ice.
Baby Guinness
My next drink choice is definitely my favorite shot at this time. A friends introduced me to it, and I haven’t looked back since. If you like coffee, trust me on this one and try it. (There are various variations on this shot, but this one is by far my favorite.)
Baby Guinness
2/3 Patron Cafe
1/3 Baileys
Pour the Patron Cafe into a shot glass, then float the Baileys on top. It’ll look like a tiny glass of Guinness!
My final drink comes with a story. Every so often you’ll get “those” customers… the ones you feel you’re never going to make happy.
My night with a couple ladies started with margaritas. We only serve them over the rocks (which, by the way, we don’t use a mix… they’re made from scratch and are, IMO, 1000x better than any margarita mix or any frozen margarita out of a machine!) and that wasn’t what they really wanted. So their next order was Sex on the Beach. No problem. I made them the drinks only to have them later come back and ask for grenadine. I arched an eyebrow. Later they ordered a Malibu Sunrise and made a big show of, “Oh THIS time to you remembered the grenadine.”
There is no grenadine in Sex on the Beach…
Sex on the Beach
1 1/2 oz vodka
1/2 oz peach schnapps
2 oz cranberry juice
2 oz orange juice
 Add vodka and peach schnapps to a highball glass over ice. Fill with equal measures of cranberry juice and orange juice, and stir.(I admit, I usually shake and strain over ice myself.)
I repeat. There is NO GRENADINE in Sex on the Beach. And if anyone reading this asks a bartender for Sex on the Beach and ask for grenadine and gets a weird look… you can’t say I didn’t tell ya…
Welcome to Fall!
