Fall Cocktails You Can Make with Fresh Seasonal Fruits

Nov 14

The fall harvest gives us delicious fruits like apples, pears, cranberries, and pomegranates. Each one offers a unique taste and flavor profile that can help you create special once-in-a-season cocktails.

Here are some easy and delicious recipes you can put together before the first frost takes the simmer out of the season. And see our glassware recommendations at the end of this article.

Honeycrisp Crush

SOURCE: How Sweet Eats

This cocktail will soon be the apple of your eye for fall and beyond. Honeycrisp apple crush is made with honeycrisp juice, vodka and ginger beer. This drink is so refreshing because it’s so icy and cold and full of apple flavor without tasting like apple cider. It tastes like a spiked honeycrisp apple.

Honeycrisp Crush

Ingredients

3 ounces honeycrisp juice
1 to 2 ounces honey crisp syrup (see recipe below)
2 ounces vodka
3 ounces ginger beer or ginger ale
Apple slices for garnish
A sprinkle of cinnamon on top

Instructions

Note: of course you can use regular old apple juice for this. Or apple cider! If you use either, you may need to adjust the amount of honeycrisp syrup. Go based on your own taste preference.

Fill a glass with crushed ice. Pour the honeycrisp juice, syrup and vodka in to the glass. Give it a gentle stir. Top it off with the ginger beer or ginger ale, an apple slice and a sprinkle of cinnamon. Serve.

Honeycrisp Juice and Syrup

Ingredients

2 large honeycrisp apples peeled and diced
1/4 cup water
Sugar

Instructions

You can make all of this ahead of time.

Place the apples and water in a saucepan and heat over medium heat. Cook until the mixture is simmering and the apple is tender and begins to break down. Transfer the mixture to a blender or food processor and puree until smooth and blended. Strain over a fine mesh sieve into a measuring cup. This gives you the honeycrisp "juice." Reserve a few ounces (about 3 ounces for 1 drink) and set it aside.

The remaining amount of honeycrisp juice you have is how much sugar you need. If you have 1/2 cup of juice left, use 1/2 cup sugar. Equal parts. Place both the honeycrisp juice and the sugar in a saucepan over medium heat. Whisk constantly until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is simmering. Remove from the heat and let cool completely. Store this in a sealed container in the fridge and it will last great!

See the full recipe

Pear Cocktail

SOURCE: Allianna’s Kitchen

This Pear Cocktail Recipe is super easy to make and oh so delicious. It is perfect for Fall and Wintertime! The fresh pears combined with honey make the best pear syrup. This delicious drink will have you coming back for more!

Pear Cocktail Recipe

Ingredients

1/3 cup pear simple syrup (see recipe below)
1/3 cup club soda
1/4 cup bourbon (can also be made as a mocktail without bourbon)
Optional garnishes: Cinnamon Sticks or Anise Stars

Instructions

Once the syrup is cool/ room temp, add the simple syrup, bourbon and club soda to a glass and mix. If you are making it a mocktail, skip the alcohol. Garnish on top with an optional cinnamon stick or anise star.

Pear Simple Syrup Recipe

Ingredients

1.5 cup honey
4 whole pears Washed and sliced.
2 cups water
Optional simple syrup add ins:
2 sticks cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg

Instructions

Place all ingredients in a large pan/ stock pot and bring to a boil. Once it boils, simmer for 15 minutes. Then turn the stove off and allow the syrup to sit for 30 minutes or until it is cool.

See the full recipe

Spiced Cranberry Cocktail

SOURCE: Rabbit Hole Distillery

Perfectly crisp and refreshing like a snow-covered winter holiday morning. Tastes of cranberries, rosemary, cherries, warm baking spices and citrus entice memories of traditional holiday flavors - but with a modern and dynamic twist. be sure to make this one-of-a-kind cocktail at your next holiday party! It is sure to impress and delight.

Ingredients

3 oz spiced cranberry juice (See recipe below)
3 oz. Ginger Beer
Nutmeg, grated fresh is best if possible!
1 sprig of rosemary (garnish)
2.5 oz Bourbon
3-4 fresh cranberries (garnish)

Instructions

Make the Spiced Cranberry Juice (recipe below) and allow it time to cool completely.
Add spiced cranberry juice and Dareringer Bourbon to a cocktail shaker.
Add ice and shake well.
Strain into a rocks glass with ice.
Top with 3 oz. of ginger beer and stir.
Grate fresh nutmeg on top of each cocktail.
Garnish with rosemary sprig and loose cranberries.

Spiced Cranberry Juice (for cocktails or to drink alone)

Ingredients

1 64 oz. Cranberry Juice
2- inch piece of fresh ginger peeled and cut into chunks
3 cinnamon sticks cracked
¾ teaspoon fresh nutmeg

Instructions

Add cranberry juice, ginger, cinnamon sticks and nutmeg to a saucepan.
Simmer low, on the stove for approximately 45 minutes.
Allow to cool completely.
Use cheesecloth in a funnel to strain into an air-tight container.
Store in the refrigerator.

See the full recipe

Pomegranates are a bright and colorful fall fruit, packed with antioxidants and bursting with flavor. Try this recipe for a pom cosmo that is sure to please:

Pomegranate Cosmopolitan Cocktail

SOURCE: Martha Stewart

Ingredients

Ice cubes
3 ounces vodka
2 ounces (¼ cup) unsweetened pomegranate juice
1 ounce (2 tablespoons) fresh lime juice, plus lime wheel for garnish
1 ounce orange-flavored liqueur, such as Cointreau
Lime wheel, for garnish

Instructions

Fill a cocktail shaker with ice cubes. Add vodka, pomegranate juice, lime juice, and orange liqueur; shake until well chilled, about 30 seconds. Strain into a martini glass and garnish with lime wheel.

See the full recipe

Health benefits of fall fruits, even in a cocktail!

Fall fruits are full of nutrients that can help with digestion, weight management, and heart health. And they’re yummy when mixed with alcohol! Some fall fruits that are high in nutrients include:

Apples

Contain fiber, vitamin C, and antioxidants, which can help boost your immune system

Pears

Contain pectin, a complex carbohydrate that can help with digestion, lower cholesterol, and regulate blood sugar. Pears are also high in fiber, with each pear containing 20% of the daily value.

Pomegranates

They have powerful antioxidants that can help protect the health of your heart, kidneys, and gut microbiome. Pomegranates may also help protect you from Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and some cancers. Add pomegranate to your diet by sprinkling its seeds onto your salads, oatmeal, hummus, or other dishes.

Pumpkins

Contain beta-carotene, which the body uses to make vitamin A, which is important for vision and skin health. Pumpkins are also a good source of potassium, calcium, iron, and magnesium.

Guess what, you can even make a cocktail with fresh pumpkin:

Pumpkin Spice Old Fashioned

SOURCE: Liquor.com

You don’t need a calendar or changing temperatures to tell you when fall has arrived. You just need to look around and note the pumpkin spice lattes on coffee shop menus and firmly clutched in the hands of everyone around you. At its worst, the unofficial drink of fall is a sickly sweet approximation of something resembling that orange gourd. At its best, it contains bourbon.

Ingredients

1/2 ounce pumpkin syrup*
2 dashes orange bitters
1 orange wedge
2 ounces Breckenridge bourbon
1 splash club soda (optional)
Garnish: cinnamon stick

Instructions

Add the pumpkin syrup, orange bitters and orange wedge into an Old Fashioned glass and muddle.

Add the bourbon, a large ice cube and a splash of club soda (optional), and stir gently with the cinnamon stick to combine.

*Pumpkin syrup: Add 1 cup water and 3/4 cup light brown sugar to a saucepan and simmer until the sugar dissolves. Turn the heat to low and whisk in 3 teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice and 1/3 cup pumpkin puree. Simmer on low for 8 minutes, remove from heat, and allow to cool. Strain through a fine-mesh strainer, add 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, and store the syrup in the refrigerator in a container with a tightly fitting lid for up to 1 month.

See the full recipe