Last fall, I was all about apples. This October, I’m much more excited about pumpkins. Now, I’ve made pumpkin cocktails before – a Pumpkin Juice margarita for my Harry Potter party and an apple pumpkin sangria for this fall. Those recipes involved me making my own syrup using canned pumpkin pie filling. While this process can yield delicious results, it also takes a lot of time and might not be practical for your autumn cocktail party.
Enter Fee Brothers’ Pumpkin Spice Cordial Syrup. I’m a big fan of pumpkin flavored hot beverages – Pumpkin Spice Lattes from Starbucks, to be exact. With that in mind, Alissa gave me a bottle of the cordial syrup last year so I could make fall themed drinks in Florida. Due to lack of room in my suitcase, I left the bottle at home and didn’t start experimenting with it till this year.
I love using the pumpkin spice cordial in my morning coffee. (I add one teaspoon for every 4 ounces of coffee, then stir in half and half.) But I’ve also started adding it to cocktails, just in time for Halloween, with some pleasing results. The cordial syrup is extremely sweet, so I usually only add ½ – ¾ oz for just the right amount of pumpkin flavor.
Pumpkin Planter’s Punch
This is my take on a classic rum punch recipe originating in colonial Jamaica.
2 oz dark rum
1 oz fresh lime juice
1 oz orange juice
½ oz grenadine
½ oz Fee Brothers' Pumpkin Spice Cordial Syrup
Dash Angostura bitters
3 oz chilled lemonade
Squeeze lime and orange juice and combine them in a mixing glass with ice. Add rum, pumpkin spice syrup and grenadine and stir well for about 30 seconds. Fill a tall glass with fresh ice and add a dash of Angostura bitters. Strain rum mixture into glass and top with chilled lemonade. Add a straw and stir. Garnish with a peach slice and a cherry.
The Pumpkin King
This is a variation of a hot chocolate and cognac drink called an Alhambra Royale. Mine is named after The Nightmare Before Christmas character Jack Skellington, a.k.a. the Pumpkin King.
5 oz rich hot chocolate
1 ½ oz cognac
½ oz Fee Brothers' Pumpkin Spice Cordial Syrup
1 small piece orange rind
Whipped cream
Cocoa powder
Prepare hot chocolate and pour into an Irish coffee mug. Drop in orange rind and stir in pumpkin spice syrup. Briefly heat cognac by holding it in a metal ladle over boiling water, then light it on fire. Pour flaming cognac into hot chocolate, stir in, and top off with whipped cream and a sprinkling of cocoa powder.
The Headless Horseman
During the fall at Brown, the Marcus Aurelius statue would occasionally be dressed as the Headless Horseman while pumpkin pie and hot apple cider were served to the students. This is the perfect cold weather beverage.
4 oz hot apple cider
1 ½ oz Pinnacle Whipped vodka
¾ oz Fee Brothers' Pumpkin Spice Cordial Syrup
Whipped cream
Fill a mug with hot apple cider. Stir in vodka and cordial syrup. Top with and then stir in whipped cream till you create a frothy, creamy pumpkin/apple concoction.
Religion, Politics, and the Great Pumpkin
In the Peanuts TV special, Linus says, “There are three things I have learned never to discuss with people: religion, politics, and the Great Pumpkin.”
1 oz Grey Goose L’Orange vodka
1 oz Grand Marnier
1 tsp Fee Brothers' Pumpkin Spice Cordial Syrup
Dash lime juice
Dry sparkling wine to fill
Shake first four ingredients with ice and strain into a champagne flute. Top with chilled sparkling wine.
Cinderella’s Carriage
Probably my favorite fictional pumpkin. And my favorite combination of flavors.
1 ½ oz Grey Goose La Poire
½ oz Fee Brothers' Pumpkin Spice Cordial Syrup
4 oz ginger ale
Splash of orange juice
Fresh cranberries
Combine vodka and pumpkin spice syrup in a shake with ice. Shake and strain into a highball glass over fresh ice. Top with chilled ginger ale and a splash of fresh orange juice. Drop in a few fresh cranberries for garnish.
Pumpkin Smash
The name seemed fitting since this is a combination of Old and New World alcohol (Italian vermouth and Peruvian pisco) with the addition of pumpkin flavoring.
1 ½ oz Don César Pisco
¾ oz Martini & Rossi Rosso Sweet Vermouth
½ oz Fee Brothers' Pumpkin Spice Cordial Syrup
4 oz pineapple juice
Fill a stemless wine glass with ice and a few small pineapple chunks. Build liquid ingredients in a mixing glass over more ice. Stir well and strain mixture into wine glass. Garnish with a cinnamon stick.
Pumpkin Piñata
A sweet treat for Halloween.
1 ½ oz gold tequila
1 oz crème de banane
1 oz lime juice
½ oz Fee Brothers' Pumpkin Spice Cordial Syrup
Bit of apricot jam
3 oz pineapple juice
Combine liquid ingredients in a shaker with ice, and add a bit of apricot jam. Shake and strain into a stemless martini glass. Garnish with a twist of lime.
Happy Halloween!
