Autumn: as the leaves turn brown, so should your cocktails

A Rapple Cocktail will prepare you for autumn.

The first day of autumn, September 22, is fast approaching.  Are you ready with your fall cocktail menu?  Your friends will need something other than a light jacket to warm them on these chilly autumn nights.    Autumn, of course, is the season for fresh apples.  Why not try a Rye-based Rapple Cocktail. It’s a great mixture of spicy Rye, apple, and maple flavors, and will remind you of autumn in the country.  If you prefer Rum in your autumn cocktails, you might like the Bob for Apples.  What’s not to like about Rum, cinnamon, and apples?  It will remind you of Mom’s homemade apple pie, but with a kick.

Don’t forget to consider some Whiskey cocktails.  The venerable Old Fashioned gets its name because it is perhaps the first cocktail (we won’t consider Punches to be cocktails).  It’s a not well-kept secret that you can make an Old Fashioned with almost any liquor you like (within reason), just check out the recipe.  Another classic that is certain to set off an autumn evening is the Manhattan, I prescribe one nightly at bedtime just because you deserve to go to bed happy.

The Old Fashioned and Manhattan are good with many types of Whiskey, including Rye, but how about some great cocktails that were designed specifically for Rye?  The first of these is the pre-eminent Classic Sazerac; this New Orleans native is sure to please anyone who likes to sip some well-chilled Rye in the evening.  Its (much) younger sister is the newly minted Dale DeGroff Sazerac; these are so good it’s hard to stop after just one.

Even though it’s only autumn, and winter is still three months away, it’s not too early to start planning for those really cold nights.  What better way to beat the winter weather than with a Hot Rum Toddy?  Let’s hope you have some good Caribbean Rum on hand.