8 Fall Signature Cocktails to Serve at Your Next Party

Monday was the first day of fall, regardless of how long you’ve been ordering and iced PSL from Starbucks. It’s officially here, the most wonderful season of the year! Colorful leaves, outfit changes, the idea that things can start anew. Also, it’s time to pack up the bikinis cause hot girl summer is OVER and sweater season is here (FINALLY!) To celebrate, why not try out a brand new signature cocktail for fall, calories be damned. Because honestly nothing screams “I have my life together” more than having a signature cocktail you can whip up at a gathering or party. Here’s what recipes we’re eyeing for this weekend:

1.) Apple Cider Moscow Mule

Want a refreshingly seasonal signature cocktail? How about a Moscow mule with a fall twist! The traditional ingredients of ginger beer and vodka combine perfectly with apple cider—and look positively festive in a copper mug. Add an apple slice garnish and cinnamon stick stirrer, and your guests will get a taste of fall with each frosty sip. – Jenna Miller, Creative Director, Here Comes the Guide

INGREDIENTS

• 4 oz. hard apple cider
• 4 oz. ginger beer
• 1.5 oz. absolut citron vodka
• juice of half a lime
• dash of ground cinnamon

INSTRUCTIONS

1. In a cocktail shaker, add ice cubes, hard apple cider, ginger beer, citron vodka, lime juice, and cinnamon. Shake.
2. Pour mixture over a cooper cup filled with crushed ice.
3. (optional) Garnish with apple slices, lime wedge and cinnamon stick

2.) Pumpkin Spice Martini

Move over PSL – we’re all about the PSM! A pumpkin spice martini is the most basic fall cocktail of them all. It starts with 1 part vanilla vodka and 1 part irish cream, but the star of the show is the third part: pumpkin liqueur (yes, it does exist!). Shake with ice and top with ground cinnamon and nutmeg for a cocktail that tastes like fall in a glass. – Jenna Miller, Creative Director, Here Comes the Guide

INGREDIENTS

• Pumpkin Pie cream liqueur
• Vanilla vodka
• Light cream

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Fill cocktail shaker halfway with ice and gather a few martini glasses.  After measuring the ingredients, add them to the to the cocktail shaker.
2. Measure 4 ounces pumpkin spice cream liqueur
3. Measure 3 ounces vanilla vodka
4. Measure 3 ounces light cream
5. Wet the rims of the glass with some apple cider, place glass rims in cinnamon sugar mixture.  Shake off excess and set glasses aside
6. Cap the shaker and shake the pumpkin spice martini for 20 seconds.  Strain the contents of the shaker equally between the two martini glasses

3.) Apple Butter Bourbon Fizz

If we’re not putting apple butter in our cocktail, are we even October-ing? This apple butter cocktail is perfect for the fall season and incredible delicious! It’s super simple too: you need apple butter, bourbon and ginger ale or ginger beer. A cinnamon sugar rim and a fig garnish make it super pretty. YUM! –How Sweet Eats

4.) Seasonal Sangria 

The best thing about sangria is that it can take on the flavor of any season. While summer sangrias are best made with white wine and strawberries or peaches, fall sangrias get cozy with red wine, autumnal fruits, and fragrant spices! Fill a large pitcher with cut-up apples, pears, pomegranate seeds, and a few cinnamon sticks. Then add your fave bottle of fruity-yet-dry red wine and put it into the refrigerator for several hours to let the flavors develop. It’s one of the easiest drinks to make a big batch of in advance of your event—so you can sit back, sip and enjoy with your guests. – Jenna Miller, Creative Director, Here Comes the Guide

INGREDIENTS

• Apple and Pear White Sangria
• 1 bottle Moscato wine
• 1/2 cup lemon liqueur (I used Caravella)
• Zest of 2 lemons
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (from two lemons)
• 1 Granny Smith apple, cored, halved, and thinly sliced
• 1 Bartlett pear, cored, halved, and thinly sliced
• 1 can (12 ounces) seltzer

5.) New Fashioned

Image via Recipe Runner

You know we love a Don Draper moment. Nothing makes us feel cooler than ordering an old fashioned and slowly sipping it like the couldn’t-care-less-cool chicks we are, am I right? This fall twist on a classic adds a little something extra:

INGREDIENTS

• 1 oz. Bourbon Whiskey
• 0.5 oz. Amaretto
• 0.25 oz Simple Syrup
• 3 Dashes of Bitters
• Orange Peel

INSTRUCTIONS

Stir ingredients in a shaker (do not shake), served neat or over large ice orb or cube, garnish with the orange peel. – Sarah Kuhlberg, Creative Director of Colette’s Catering

6.) Cinnamon Tequila Sour

“A tequila sour is just like a whiskey sour, but with tequila. It’s a cocktail made with lemon juice, sugar, egg whites, and alcohol (in this case, tequila). For this recipe, I opted to add cinnamon into the mix as well. See the thing is, I had a similar drink at Ace Hotel a few weeks ago. It’s one of my favorite cocktails because, as much as I love margaritas (and I DO love them), sometimes I like to switch it up. This cinnamon tequila sour is so, so perfect for those times when you want tequila, but something different than your average marg.” -Erin from the The Almond Eater

INGREDIENTS:

• Tequila
• Simple Syrup
• Lemon juice
• Egg white
• Cinnamon

INSTRUCTIONS

“Truthfully, this cocktail couldn’t be simpler. You’ll simply add all of the ingredients into your cocktail shaker, shake it up, and then strain the drink into your glass. The flavor will leave your tastebuds wanting another (and another, and another).”

7.) The P.O.G.

For the beginning of fall when the temps are still sweltering but you couldn’t wait to break out the turtlenecks, might we suggest this super refreshing and spritzy cocktail to cool you down?

INGREDIENTS

• 2.5 oz. Vodka
• 2.5 Passionfruit, Orange and Guava Housemade Agua Fresca
• Splash of Soda Water

INSTRUCTIONS

“Shake vodka and agua fresca, serve neat and top with sparkling water, garnish with edible flowers.” – Sarah Kuhlberg, Creative Director of Colette’s Catering

8.) Bourbon Salted Caramel Milkshake

We might have saved the best for last – you had us at milkshake.  This cocktail doubles are dessert and a delish drink, but you should definitely still have dessert #sweaterseason. Via Love and Olive Oil:

INGREDIENTS

For Caramel:

• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon corn syrup
• pinch cream of tartar
• 1/4 cup water
• 2/3 cup heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1 1/2 tablespoons bourbon
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

For Milkshakes:

• 16 ounces vanilla ice cream
• 1/3 cup bourbon caramel sauce, plus more for garnish
• 1/3 cup milk, more or less as needed
• 2 tablespoons bourbon
• Whipped cream, for serving (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS

Prepare caramel sauce: combine sugar, corn syrup, cream of tartar, and water in a medium saucepan. Gently stir over medium-high heat until sugar is dissolved, brushing down any stray sugar crystals on the sides of the pan with a wet pastry brush. Bring to a boil and cook, without stirring, until sugar turns a light amber brown, swirling the pan as needed to ensure even coloring. This should take about 10 minutes. Watch it carefully, as the caramel can go from perfectly brown to burnt in a matter of seconds. Remove from heat and add cream and butter, whisking vigorously until smooth. Whisk in bourbon, vanilla, and sea salt. Let cool to room temperature, then transfer to a jar or storage container and refrigerate until ready to use. Caramel will keep in the refrigerator for up to 1 month.

To prepare milkshakes: scoop ice cream into the canister of a blender (I find it easiest to put the canister right on the scale, zero it out, and then I can measure the precise amount of ice cream). Add caramel sauce, milk, and bourbon. Blend on medium-low speed until smooth. Add more milk as needed to acheive desired consistency.

To serve: gently warm some of the remaining caramel sauce. If you have a plastic squeeze bottle that will work best. Using a quick wrist-flicking motion, drizzle the caramel in an abstract pattern on the inside of chilled glasses. Divide milkshake among glasses. Top with a dollop of whipped cream and more caramel, as desired.