English author and satirist Samuel Butler once commented that “autumn is the mellower season, and what we lose in flowers we more than gain in fruits.”
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Fall is the season for pears, apples and Meyer lemons. Pears and apples contain mostly malic acid, which is why naturally they’re more tart than sweet — but pleasantly tart, the kind of tart that makes your mouth water. Ironically, winter’s the season for some of the citrus fruits that we crave in spring and summer: oranges and grapefruits.
Cocktails are typically about balance: sweet and tart, bitter and sweet, strong and weak, etc. But nature will often do that for you already if you use the ripe fruit in its own season. I question this newest bartender trend where fruit is “acid corrected” by adding artificially derived citric acid. I say, let nature run its course.
However, there are some times when nature needs a hand, and we do have to do it more mechanically. And that’s where quality seasonal liqueurs come in. Made from fresh fruit in season but often released the next year, many local producers have excellent examples of these products.
I’ve taken the liberty of assembling four of these concoctions, all localized for your consumption and all utilizing fall fruits. Enjoy the fruit the way nature intended.
Jeff Burkhart is the author of “Twenty Years Behind Bars: The Spirited Adventures of a Real Bartender, Vol. I and II,” the host of the Barfly Podcast on iTunes (as seen in the NY Times) and an award-winning bartender at a local restaurant. Follow him at jeffburkhart.net and contact him at jeffbarflyIJ@outlook.com
Recipes
Apple Sidecar
1 ½ ounces Barber Lee Spirits’ Apple Brandy
¾ ounce good-quality triple sec (like Cointreau, Combier or Naranja)
¾ ounce fresh-squeezed Meyer lemon juice
Slice of fresh apple
Cinnamon sugar
Wet the rim of the glass with citrus juice and then dip it in cinnamon sugar. Shake off the excess and set aside. In a shaker glass, combine the first three ingredients with ice, shake until ice cold and strain into the rimmed glass. Garnish with an apple slice.
Note: Cinnamon sugar can be purchased, or you can make it by adding 1 scant teaspoon of ground cinnamon to 1 heaping tablespoon of turbinado sugar and then mixing thoroughly.
Smoked Rosemary Pear
¾ ounce Alamere Spirits’ French-Wheat Vodka
¾ ounce St. George Spirits’ Spiced Pear Liqueur
¾ ounce St. Elder Elderflower Liqueur
¾ ounce fresh-squeezed Meyer lemon juice
1 sprig fresh rosemary
Combine the first three ingredients in a shaker glass with ice. Shake until ice cold and then strain into a chilled serving coupe. Away from the cocktail and any alcohol bottle, flame the rosemary sprig by using either a lighter or a brûlée torch, taking care not to burn yourself. Drop the smoking rosemary sprig into the drink and serve.
Note: Distilled alcohol burns very hot and quickly. (Ten percent of the gas you put in your car is distilled ethanol.) Always keep open flames away from any distilled alcohol and never light a drink on fire.
Cranberry Rosemary Gin and Tonic
1 ½ ounces Sausalito Liquor Co.’s Marin Coastal Gin
2 ounces good-quality dry tonic (Fever-Tree, Q, etc.)
1 Meyer lemon wedge (about a quarter of a lemon)
5 fresh cranberries
3 dried juniper berries
Place the cranberries in the bottom of serving glass and muddle lightly with a muddler or a large wooden spoon. Add ice to fill and then add gin and tonic. Squeeze the lemon wedge’s juice into the mixture, dropping the lemon in after. Stir and then garnish with juniper berries.
Note: This is a riff on a Spanish-style gin and tonic but served in a typical highball glass. If so desired, it can be served in a large snifter typical of the Spanish-style gin and tonic, but in that case, only fill the glass halfway with ice, leaving plenty of room to savor the aromatics.
Boysenberry Cosmopolitan
1 ½ ounces Hanson of Sonoma’s Boysenberry Vodka
¾ ounce good-quality triple sec (like Cointreau, Combier or Naranja)
¾ ounce fresh-squeezed Meyer lemon juice
¼ ounce sweetened pomegranate juice
3 fresh pomegranate seeds
1 dehydrated Meyer lemon wheel
Combine the vodka, triple sec, lemon juice and pomegranate juice in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake until ice cold and strain into a chilled serving glass. Garnish with the lemon wheel and pomegranate seeds.
Note: Boysenberry season is summer, and while Hanson’s annual Boysenberry Vodka is made in the summer, it’s always released in the fall. When combined with sweetened pomegranate juice (straight pomegranate juice, like straight cranberry juice, is very tart), it creates a delightful fall flavor and color.