Feel that chill in the air?  The Gentlemen of Elegant Leisure certainly do.  Must have something to do with the apple harvest!  Darned apples are everywhere!  What can you do with them?  You can’t eat ‘em.  What are you, are horse?  A worm?  Come on.  There’s only one option I’m afraid, and that’s to drink ‘em.  Ready?  Let’s go.

First up is a tasty little number called Autumn Rye.  It was found in the Sept/Oct issue of Imbibe Magazine and is credited to Jason Renner at Bar Marco in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Autumn Rye
-Jason Renner, Bar Marco - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

1 1/2 ounces rye whiskey
3/4 ounce fresh apple juice or unfiltered cider
1/2 ounce Allspice liqueur
2 dashes Peychaud’s bitters

Cinnamon stick for garnish.

Stir all the ingredients together with ice, then strain into a ice-filled rocks glass
Garnish with the cinnamon stick.

Fresh apple juice!  That’s the kicker.  What a lovely drink.  American Thanksgiving is just around the corner.  Maybe this is just the sort of thing to take the edge of the presence of your horrible family.  Or my horrible family for that matter!

But what about dessert you say?  Look no further than this delicious drink from the brand new (Sept 2017) book, New York Cocktails by Amanda Schuster.  We also found this drink all over the web just by Googling it’s name, Mr. October.

Mr. October
-Timothy Miner, the JakeWalk in Brooklyn (now at Long Island Bar in Boerum Hill)

1 1/2 ounces Laird’s bonded applejack
3/4 ounce cinnamon syrup
3/4 ounce fresh lemon juice
1/2 ounce Galliano L’Authentico
2 dashes St. Elizabeths allspice dram

grated fresh nutmeg

Combine all ingredients with ice in a cocktail shaker.  Shake and double strain into a chilled cocktail glass.  Grate fresh nutmeg on the top.

Oh sweet Thanksgiving turkey this drink is good.  It’s like apple pie in a glass.  Really.  The vanilla notes from the Galliano, the spice from the Allspice liqueur, the play between the lemon juice and the cinnamon syrup; not to mention the applejack, all combine to make this taste like apple pie with ice cream.  In a glass.  To drink.

We'd suggest you do it right now.


Oh!  And as promised, here’s a picture of Jason in the bathroom at Dear Irving in New York.

Happy Mixin’!

We’ve got deux, count ‘em, deux cocktails from France for you today!  Well, maybe one of them isn’t from France but it’s certainly got a French connection.

First up is a classic from the Savoy Cocktail Book from 1930.  It actually appeared 3 years earlier in a book called “Here’s How” but it was the Savoy Cocktail Book that popularized it.  It is called the French 75 and is named after an artillery gun that the French used way back in World War 1. 

The version we did in today’s episode is from Ted Haigh’s  “Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails” but it could have actually come from dozen’s of sources.  Let’s try it out!

The French 75
- circa 1930

2 ounces gin
1 ounce lemon juice
2 teaspoons sugar or 1 teaspoon simple syrup
Champagne

Shake all ingredients (except champagne) in an iced cocktail shaker and pour into a collins glass or a champagne flute.  Top with champagne and garnish with a lemon twist.


The beauty of this drink is that you can adjust the champagne content to your liking.  Dave actually found this drink a little “winey” but that might have been due to Fred’s champagne pouring abilities.  We recommend adding just a little bit of Champagne for the fizz, then tasting the drink to see if you’d like a little more.

The second drink is a neat little spin on the French 75 that Freddy found on the internet. 
It’s called “La Tour” and was created by Jennifer LeNecht from Cafe Moderne in Paris, France.  It’s got raspberries in it folks, so you know it has to be good!

La Tour
by Jennifer LeNecht, Cafe Moderne, Paris, France, 2016.

1 ounce gin
1/2 ounce lemon juice
1/4 ounce raspberry syrup
3 fresh raspberries
Absinthe spray
Champagne

Put gin, lemon juice, raspberry syrup and berries in a shaker and add ice cubes.  Shake vigourously (you’re mashing up raspberries after all).  Spray the inside of a chilled glass with two or three sprays of Absinthe. and then fine strain the drink into the glass.  Top with champagne and garnish with a twist of lemon.

La Tour was the big winner of the night!  Let us know what you think and we’ll see you next time!