Fall is my favorite season, I think. Maybe because it’s so cosy. My favorite way to end a long day is to curl up on a chilly, crisp, fall evening with a finely-crafted fall cocktail.
I love fall cocktails because they are all about fall-ish flavors. Fall-ish to me is warm and cosy.
The basic flavors of fall should be present here, I think: apple cider, pumpkin, cinnamon and nutmeg marrying for a good liquorish mix of spicy, sugary liquid.
One of my favorites is the Apple Cider Margarita: a brilliant way to take those fall liquid flavors of tarty, sweet and then spicy.
My other choice is the Spiked Pumpkin Latte. This is one of my faves for its silky-smooth, rich texture. It’s also pretty decadent.
Mix coffee – espresso brewed from three shots – and milk, pumpkin puree and a shot of bourbon, top with whipped cream and a sprinkling of nutmeg and you have the experience of curling up with a cosy mug.
Finally, we have the Hot Toddy – hot water, a squeeze of lemon and a spoonful of honey all spiked with whiskey.
Not only will this keep you warm, but it’s a good way to ward off those autumn coughs and sniffles.
These fantastical fall mixed drinks have me pumped for the changing of the leaves, the autumn chill and those fall parties!
The 13 Best Fall Cocktails and recipes
1. Autumn Spice Cocktail
When the leaves turn red and gold, I feel a slight sadness at the end of summer, which can only be filled with something warm and comforting that reminds me fall brings beautiful colors, ski season and the holidays.
 The subtle and sweet scent of bourbon liquor, bathed in cinnamon and nutmeg and a dash of cloves, always reminds me of fall.
If you’re going to find ways to enjoy the season, why not do it with a cocktail?
Autumn Spice Cocktail
Ingredients
2 oz bourbon
1 oz apple cider
1/2 oz lemon juice
1/2 oz maple syrup
Dash of ground cinnamon
Cinnamon stick and apple slice for garnish
Instructions
Pour the bourbon, apple cider, lemon juice and maple syrup into a cocktail shaker with ice cubes.
Add a dash of ground cinnamon to the shaker.
Shake vigorously until well-chilled.
Strain the mixture into a glass filled with ice.
Garnish with a cinnamon stick and an apple slice.
Serve immediately and enjoy the autumnal flavors.
2. Apple Cider Fall Cocktail
When the crisp cold autumn air arrives, I instantly start wanting the spices and the warmth of the seasonal beverages that come with it. A drink of choice of mine during the autumn season is a cider cocktail.
 I feel everything about this cocktail sums up what the autumn season is about.
I make this simmering drink to serve at my guests at a gathering or even just to have alone on a quiet day at home.
Apple Cider Fall Cocktail
Ingredients
1 cup apple cider
2 oz dark rum
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Cinnamon stick (for garnish)
Apple slices (for garnish)
Instructions
Pour apple cider into a cocktail shaker.
Add dark rum, maple syrup, and ground cinnamon to the shaker.
Fill the shaker with ice and shake well until chilled.
Strain the mixture into a glass filled with ice.
Garnish with a cinnamon stick and apple slices.
Serve immediately and enjoy your Apple Cider Fall Cocktail!
3. Maple Bourbon Fall Cocktail
The air growing cool as fall makes its way in, and I’m suddenly craving darker, deeper flavors to go with it. When I mix maple syrup with bourbon, and then swirl it around my cocktail glass for a thick-looking coat of woodsy, caramel-y goodness, I’m filling my friends’ glasses with the epitome of the season.
Whether I’m coaxing them indoors for a mid-November potluck dinner or winding down with a good book at the end of a long day, this drink is the perfect anchor.
Maple Bourbon Fall Cocktail
Ingredients
2 oz bourbon
1 oz maple syrup
1 oz fresh lemon juice
1/2 oz apple cider
Ice
Lemon twist or cinnamon stick (for garnish)
Instructions
Fill a cocktail shaker with ice.
Add bourbon, maple syrup, fresh lemon juice, and apple cider to the shaker.
Shake well until the mixture is chilled.
Strain into a rocks glass filled with ice.
Garnish with a lemon twist or a cinnamon stick.
Serve immediately and enjoy.
4. Pumpkin Spice Fall Cocktail
This tasty treat is a pumpkin spice cocktail that combines my favorite fall flavors into a perfect collection of pumpkin spice, blended together with the heat of my favorite liquor, creating a perfect little taste of fall in every sip.
This is my absolute favorite fall drink for socializing with friends or snuggling up by the fire to a good book because it captures all the tastes of fall in one sip!
Pumpkin Spice Fall Cocktail
Ingredients
2 oz vodka
1 oz pumpkin puree
1 oz maple syrup
1/2 oz lemon juice
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
Ice cubes
Instructions
Shake well 1 part vodka 1 part pureed pumpkin 1 part maple syrup ½ part lemon juice 1 dash pumpkin pie spice Rim the glass with sugar and serve with ice.
Add ice cubes to the shaker.
Shake well until the mixture is chilled.
Strain the cocktail into a glass filled with ice.
Optionally, garnish with a cinnamon stick or a sprinkle of pumpkin pie spice.
Serve immediately and enjoy!
5. Cranberry Fall Cocktail
 Cranberries temper the warmth of fall spices with their tartness.
As an autumn cocktail, a splash of cranberry restores the right balance between refreshment and comfort. The crimson jewel tone of cranberry marries well with cinnamon and nutmeg, and the tantalizing suggestion of a twist of orange.
We can emulate the season on the rocks. With friends or in front of the fire, cranberry cocktails are my automatic fall celebration.
 Cranberry Fall Cocktail Recipe:
Ingredients
2 oz vodka
1 oz orange liqueur (such as Cointreau or Triple Sec)
2 oz cranberry juice
1 oz fresh lime juice
1 teaspoon simple syrup (optional, to taste)
Fresh cranberries and lime wedges for garnish
Instructions
Blend: In a cocktail shaker filled with ice, pour vodka, orange liqueur, cranberry juice, lime juice and simple syrup.
Shake: Fill the shaker with ice and shake vigorously until well-chilled.
Strain: Strain the mixture into a glass filled with ice.
Garnish: Garnish with fresh cranberries and a lime wedge.
Serve: Serve immediately and enjoy the refreshing Fall flavors.
Adjust: Adjust the sweetness with additional simple syrup if desired.
Enjoy your Cranberry Fall Cocktail!
6. Harvest Punch Fall Cocktail
A concoction infusing the best of the season with ripe fruit, spice and just a hint of sweetness.
Here’s a recipe for a Harvest Punch Fall Cocktail:
Ingredients
1 cup apple cider
1/2 cup cranberry juice
1/4 cup bourbon
1/4 cup ginger beer
1 apple, thinly sliced
Cinnamon sticks, for garnish
Instructions
Combine apple cider, cranberry juice, bourbon, and ginger beer in a large pitcher.
Stir the mixture thoroughly until well combined.
Add the apple slices to the pitcher.
Refrigerate the punch for at least 1 hour to allow the flavours to meld.
Pour the punch into glasses filled with ice.
Garnish with a cinnamon stick in each glass before serving. Enjoy your refreshing Harvest Punch!
7. Pear Ginger Fall Cocktail
There aren’t many ingredients that embody the season for me as well as pear and ginger.
Their harmony of sweetness and spice is akin to a cashmere jumper and so easy to enjoy either on a chilly evening or during a party. This is undoubtedly my favorite festive cocktail to make for friends, as the babel of discussion means that I barely have to do anything, and when crowds start to gather, everything just slips into place.
 Pear Ginger Fall Cocktail Recipe
Ingredients
2 oz pear vodka
1 oz ginger liqueur
2 oz pear nectar
1 oz fresh lemon juice
1/2 oz simple syrup
Ice cubes
Instructions
Fill a cocktail shaker with ice cubes.
Pour pear vodka, ginger liqueur, pear nectar, fresh lemon juice and simple syrup into the shaker.
Shake well until the mixture is chilled.
Strain the mixture into a chilled cocktail glass.
Garnish with a thin slice of pear.
Serve immediately and enjoy!
8. Cinnamon Apple Fall Cocktail
This cocktail is fall in a glass. And it’s great when friends come over for drinks as well as just the end of a long week.
So give it a try and enjoy, it’s a great way to celebrate the harvest.Â
A delightful Cinnamon Apple Fall Cocktail:
Ingredients
2 oz apple cider
1.5 oz bourbon
0.5 oz cinnamon syrup
0.25 oz fresh lemon juice
Apple slices (for garnish)
Cinnamon stick (for garnish)
Instructions
Combine apple cider, bourbon, cinnamon syrup, and lemon juice in a shaker with ice.
Shake well until the mixture is chilled.
Strain the mixture into a glass filled with ice.
Garnish with apple slices and a cinnamon stick.
Stir gently to combine the flavors.
Serve and enjoy your Cinnamon Apple Fall Cocktail!
9. Fig Bourbon Fall Cocktail
 Figs, with their long, lazy growing season, are an autumnal ingredient for when the days get shorter and the weather turns cooler.
Who says bourbon has to be a summer thing? Is there anything better than the deep, smoky flavor of bourbon, distilled in copper stills, and the sweet, floral depth of fresh figs?
This cocktail has seasonal punch but doesn’t overpower the flavors. I can sit by the fire and sip slowly, or use it to add a little extra flavor to a party.
Fig Bourbon Fall Cocktail
Ingredients
2 oz bourbon
1 oz fig syrup (store-bought or homemade)
1/2 oz fresh lemon juice
2 dashes Angostura bitters
Fresh figs, for garnish
Ice
Instructions
Fill a cocktail shaker with ice.
Add bourbon, fig syrup, lemon juice, and bitters to the shaker.
Shake vigorously for about 15 seconds until well-chilled.
Strain the mixture into a rocks glass over fresh ice.
Garnish with a fresh fig, either sliced or whole.
Serve immediately and enjoy!
10. Caramel Apple Fall Cocktail
This cocktail is perfect for the fall! It’s the perfect mixture of caramel and apple flavors.
The mix of sweet and sour with a hint of spice is everything I love about fall! It’s perfect sitting by the fire or at a nice fall party.
 Caramel Apple Fall Cocktail recipe:
Ingredients
2 oz apple cider
1 oz caramel vodka
1 oz bourbon
1/2 oz lemon juice
Apple slices (for garnish)
Caramel syrup (for glass rim)
Instructions
Rim the glass with caramel syrup and let it set.
In a shaker, combine apple cider, caramel vodka, bourbon, and lemon juice with ice.
Shake well until chilled.
Strain the mixture into the prepared glass.
Garnish with apple slices.
Serve immediately and enjoy!
11. Spiced Pear Fall Cocktail
This is what I love about the autumnal season—it gives me the opportunity to play with flavors of the season, when earthy tones abound in the trees and the air.
Me playing always involve spices and fruits, and this drink is no exception; it’s got the wonderful spice flavors of fall warmed by mellow pear flavors. It tastes like a piece of fall that I can bottle up and enjoy.
Spiced Pear Fall Cocktail
Ingredients
2 ounces pear vodka
1 ounce spiced pear liqueur
1 ounce lemon juice, freshly squeezed
1/2 ounce simple syrup
2 dashes of Angostura bitters
Cinnamon stick and pear slice, for garnish
Instructions
Fill a cocktail shaker with ice.
Add pear vodka, spiced pear liqueur, lemon juice, simple syrup, and Angostura bitters.
Shake well until the mixture is chilled.
Strain the cocktail into a chilled glass.
Garnish with a cinnamon stick and a pear slice.
Serve immediately and enjoy!
12. Nutmeg Fall Cocktail
There is no other form of spice that pairs so well with the earthiness and subtly sweet hints that nutmeg has.
I believe that it adds a joie de vivre to any beverage that grants it some extra warmth that only it can provide.
This blend tastes like fall to me, and I can think of nothing better, regardless of the event – be it a gathering with friends or a night with nothing but my thoughts and the fireplace.
Nutmeg Fall Cocktail
Ingredients
2 oz bourbon
1 oz apple cider
0.5 oz fresh lemon juice
0.5 oz simple syrup
A pinch of ground nutmeg
Ice cubes
Instructions
Shake it up: Pour bourbon, apple cider, fresh lemon juice and simple syrup into a cocktail shaker filled with ice.
Add ice: Fill the shaker with ice cubes.
Shake well: Shake the mixture vigorously until well-chilled.
Strain: Strain the mixture into a chilled glass.
Garnish: Sprinkle a pinch of ground nutmeg on top.
Serve immediately: Enjoy your Nutmeg Fall Cocktail while it’s cold!
13. Honey Thyme Fall Cocktail
When cooler weather sets in, I crave tastes that offer a sense of heartiness and home. My signature drink for fall plays on the best flavors of this season, and it’s surprisingly refreshing.
Imagine taking the flavors of honey, pungent thyme and citrus and blending them together in a way that soothes and revitalizes. This drink celebrates the flavors of harvest season for me; it’s a taste of autumn in a glass.
Not only does it add a touch of rustic glam to a fall affair, but it’s also a wonderful way to warm up on a cold night at home.
Ingredients:
2 oz bourbon
1 oz honey syrup (mix equal parts honey and hot water)
1/2 oz fresh lemon juice
1/2 oz apple cider
2-3 sprigs of fresh thyme
Ice cubes
Lemon twist and thyme sprig for garnish
Instructions:
In a cocktail shaker, muddle 2-3 sprigs of fresh thyme with the honey syrup.
Add the bourbon, fresh lemon juice, and apple cider to the shaker.
Fill the shaker with ice and shake well until chilled.
Strain the mixture into a glass filled with ice cubes.
Garnish with a lemon twist and a sprig of thyme.
Serve immediately and enjoy your Honey Thyme Fall Cocktail!
