Pumpkin Spice Old Fashioned

It's a little hard to believe it's already Thanksgiving. Wasn't Halloween like last week? And to top it off, my extended family is celebrating Christmas on Thanksgiving day this year because most of us will be out of town in December. Definitely a condensed holiday season.

Thanksgiving is a perfect cocktail holiday. It already centers around sharing food and drink with friends and family. And there are so many fantastic flavors that we associate with autumn and Thanksgiving: cranberry, cinnamon, pecan, sweet potato, maple... and of course pumpkin! I've never put pumpkin in a cocktail before, but I did have a guest post on pumpkin cocktails a couple of years ago. I've been meaning to make one myself ever since. And since the pumpkin spice trend doesn't seem to be going anywhere anytime soon, it's high time to hop on the bandwagon.

This is a very simple Old Fashioned recipe made special by a pumpkin spice syrup. I tried a couple of recipes I found online and didn't think any of them had enough pumpkin in them, so this one is my own creation. You're going to want to whip up a big batch, because it is good in everything - try it in coffee or on ice cream! A jar of it would make a great gift for your host this Thanksgiving.

Pumpkin Spice Syrup

1/2 cup water
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
3/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ginger
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. cloves
1 dash cardamom
OR 2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice - I used Trader Joe's

Combine water and sugar in a saucepan and bring to a simmer, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Lower heat and add pumpkin and spices, whisking to combine. Let barely simmer for five minutes, whisking frequently. Then cover and let cool. Once the mixture has cooled, strain it through cheesecloth to remove the pumpkin solids. Store in the fridge.

Pumpkin Spice Old Fashioned

2.5 oz. bourbon
2 barspoons pumpkin spice syrup
1 dash Angostura bitters
1 dash pecan or walnut bitters (or another dash of Ango if you don't have this)

Build the drink in a rocks glass. Combine bitters and syrup, and then add bourbon and stir. Add a large piece of ice and stir briefly. Twist an orange peel over the drink and discard. Garnish with a cinnamon stick.

Bottle Buy: Luxardo Bitter Bianco

Hello again! I haven't posted in a couple of weeks, though I've been quite active on Instagram - if I want to just snap a single photo of a drink it often ends up there instead of on here.  I've also had the opportunity to partner with some additional brands like The Elan Collective and Coco Sky on recent (and upcoming!) recipes. So be sure to check it out if you want some additional drinks and pictures!

Today I want to introduce one of my new favorite bottles: Luxardo Bitter Bianco. This herbal liqueur is a bitter like Campari, Aperol, or Suze. In fact, the popularity of swapping Suze for Campari to make White Negronis seems to have been one factor that influenced Luxardo's creation of the colorless Bitter Bianco. It's made with a number of different botanicals, including wormwood, quinine, rhubarb, cardamom, bitter orange, and three mystery herbs. While it is definitely a bitter liqueur, it has notes of bright citrus and a good bit of sweetness to it.

Versatility is usually one of my main criteria when I add a new bottle to my bar, but with this one I had a single drink in mind. I absolutely love a Negroni made with Luxardo Bitter Bianco. Called a Negroni Bianco, it's usually made with blanc or dry vermouth to keep it entirely colorless (while one made with Suze is called a White Negroni, even though it's actually yellow). I've got recipes for both of these in the Negroni Round-Up I posted not long ago. I honestly prefer the Negroni Bianco to a traditional Negroni, and if you're a Negroni newbie I think it's a perfect gateway cocktail. It's definitely less polarizing than the classic, while still keeping with the spirit of the drink.

But my love for the Negroni Bianco doesn't mean that Bitter Bianco isn't versatile. It's similar enough to Campari in spirit that you can safely try substituting it anywhere its bright red friend is called for. It's more approachable and less bitter than Campari, which might even make it more versatile. I haven't played with mine nearly enough because I can't stop making the same few delicious recipes with it.

Luxardo Bitter Bianco

Price: $25-30
Alcohol Content: 30%
Popular Cocktails: Negroni Bianco

Since I love the Negroni Bianco, I wanted to use the Luxardo in another riff on the Negroni, the Negroni Sbagliato. Translating roughly to "mistaken Negroni," this drink was supposedly invented when a bartender poured prosecco into a Negroni instead of gin. It doesn't exactly seem like an easy mistake to make, but we can suspend belief in favor of a good story.

The Negroni Sbagliato is usually made with equal parts sweet vermouth, Campari, and prosecco. Before I looked up the recipe, however, I had it in my head that it must be equal parts gin, Campari, and prosecco, and I was excited to take advantage of the Luxardo's lack of color to let the gorgeous purple of Empress Gin shine through. When I realized my mistake I decided to go ahead with my recipe anyway. And it's quite good - a lovely, bitter, sparkling aperitif. You can substitute a non-purple gin, or go with a more classic Sbagliato using dry or blanc vermouth instead.

Sbagliato Errato

1 oz. gin (Empress)
1 oz. Luxardo Bitter Bianco
2 oz. prosecco

Combine gin and Luxardo in a mixing glass with ice and stir until chilled. Strain into a champagne flute and top with prosecco. I garnished mine with dried orchid petals.