Drink with the Season: It’s Sweater Weather ~ A Fall Cocktail Recipe to Warm Your Happy Hour

It’s Sweater Weather season in these parts. 

It’s really such a fabulous, fashionable season.  Mother Nature’s tableau is a blaze of color ~ 🍂:🍁 She’s waved her magic wand, turning leaves into stunning shades of fiery red, spirited, happy orange and all shades of brown: taupe to mocha to tawny and cinnamon. 

So too, our cocktail confections should celebrate the cozy season. 

Whether enjoying a fireside cocktail hour or a leaf-peeping picnic, here’s a terrific drink to shake up ~ a “gift” from my cocktail book, Art of the Garnish. 

By the way, that sweet, Sweater Weather art portrait was created for me by the artist in residence at the Knappogue tasting in New York City (in the before- times.)  

What fun! 

From my book, The Art of the Garnish, is a terrific drink, as submitted by my fabulous niece Jessica Wohlers, who is a fine artist, a stellar mixologist, and was the savvy manager who by and large navigated the success of Brooklyn’s Leyenda cocktail bar. 

Jess’ Sweater Weather cocktail is a delicious mix of heady rum, spicy rye, orange liqueur and ginger.  

I’ve featured it at any number of book party events and everyone loves its nuanced, rich taste.

I added the fun garnishes ~ using knitting needles as the toothpicks or spears to hold and showcase the lemon twist with cloves.  

You can use your creativity to create an autumn, Sweater Weather cocktail composition for your barscape or bar cart.  

It’s often said that there’s no doggie bag for cocktails. 

I adore that in-the-moment cocktail experience that cries out for family, friends, community – and conversation; glamour, and style.  And you get to do it over again the next evening.  

Don’t overlook the fun of Halloween’s spooky bar accessories, including a skull ice cube. 

Here is the page as seen in the Art of the Garnish book for the Sweater Weather cocktail.

And here are the easy-to-follow instructions (in the off chance that you don’t have the book ^:^).  And you can of course, substitute your favorite branded spirits for those in the recipe. 

Sweater Weather cocktail: 

Ingredients:

• 1.5 ounces El Dorado 12 year old Rum

• ¾ ounces Rittenhouse Straight Rye Whiskey

• ½ ounce Cointreau

• ¾ ounces ginger simple syrup ** I used a cinnamon simple syrup last night. mmm!

• ½ ounce fresh lemon juice

Method:

Place all of the ingredients in a cocktail shaker filled with ice and shake vigorously.

Strain over ice into a double Old-Fashioned glass.

Garnish:

A twist of lemon and a whole clove.  

Add those fun, interesting yarn and sweater accessories to your drink and cocktail composition!

To make the ginger syrup:  Add a peeled 1-inch piece of ginger to a standard simple syrup recipe (2:1 water to sugar) after the sugar has dissolved.  Let cool, strain, and store in an airtight container.

If making the cinnamon simply syrup, shake in the powder to the blended, dissolved sugar or add in a few sticks while the sugar dissolves.