Fall Cocktail Ingredients

Apples. You simply can't have a discussion about the fruits of fall without mention of apples. The peak season for the fruit is from September to November. Muddled, infused, puréed–the possible applications of this fruit in cocktails is a wide-ranging as the many different varieties.

Fall in Apple at Volt

Captain Morgan rum, fresh apple juice, and Fever Tree ginger beer. Serve chilled in a martini glass, and garnish with butternut squash powder and allspice rim.

Pears

The pear season begins as early as late summer with Bartlett pears, and continues through the fall to winter when Bosc, Comice, and Anjou pears are in season.

Agripolitan

A trailblazer in the urban gardening movement, Uncommon Ground in Chicago serves up a drink called The Agripolitan. What they call "a greener take on the metropolitan," it features Rain Organic Vodka infused with moonglow pear, with fresh apple and pear purée shaken and served martini-style with a sliced pear crisp.

Cranberries

In season from September through December, there are many better, more interesting uses for this tart berry than the standard vodka with cranberry juice.

Cran Conception and Cranberry Fizz

At farm-to-table spot Nora in Washington, D.C., are the Cranberry Fizz (Cranberry, Lemon, Rosé Brut) and Cran Conception (Cranberry, Lemon, Ginger, Vodka).

Cinnamon

This spice, obtained from the bark of the cinnamon trees, is an ingredient that easily evokes the flavors of the cooler fall months. In cocktails, you'll often see cinnamon steeped or infused in a liquor, or presented as a garnish in ground or whole stick form.

The Farmer's Daughter

The Farmer's Daughter, at New York hipster bistro, Five Leaves, has all the right ingredients for the makings of a superior fall cocktail. Served warm, it combines housemade vanilla-infused bourbon, muddled apples, fresh-squeezed lime juice, and brown sugar. The cinnamon stick garnish adds to its "tastes just like apple pie" flavor.