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Fall is a favorite season of many, for good reason. There is something expectant and hopeful that drifts in with the cool, crisp air this time of year. The temporal markers of autumn include the many flavors and aromas we associate with the cooler season: heady spices, baked apples, maple syrup, and cranberries, among others.
Cocktails also shift with the change of seasons. As the leaves transform from bright green to burnt umber, so do the drinks in our glass. Darker, richer spirits and more robust flavors move into the spotlight. Digestifs are ready to be savored next to a blazing fire. Harvest has reached the hearth and the cup.
We’ve gathered our favorite cocktails with flavors of ginger and banana bread, and roasted coffee that convert variations of Whiskey Sours and Carajillos, and Old Fashioneds into sweater weather in a glass. These are the fall cocktails we’ll be making all season.
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Pomegranate Mule
MORGAN HUNT WARD / FOOD STYLING by EMILY NABORS HALL / PROP STYLING by JULIA BAYLESS
Created by bartender Kaitlyn Stewart, this riff on a Buck cocktail is zesty, easy to make, and has a gingery kick. With a base of gin, this highball combines muddled fresh pomegranate arils and mint with lime juice and ginger beer. The puckery blend of lime and fresh pomegranate juice with warming ginger beer and botanical-forward gin is a flavor-rich combination perfect for pregaming on Thanksgiving Day.
Banana Bread Carajillo
Food & Wine / Photo by Jen Causey / Food Styling by Julian Hensarling / Prop Stylist by Julia Bayless
The classic Mexican-style Carajillo is a two-ingredient coffee cocktail that combines Licor 43, a vanilla-forward, herbal liqueur from Spain, with freshly brewed espresso. This version keeps the bold coffee backbone and warms it further with the addition of banana liqueur. It adds rich, ripe, and fruity notes that take some of the edge off the bitterness from the espresso. Vodka and coffee liqueur fortify the cocktail even more, providing complex, boozy layers, and a dusting of cinnamon adds warmth.
Penicillin
Food & Wine / Photo by Jason Donnelly / Food Styling by Annie Probst and Shannon Goforth / Prop Styling by Lexi Juhl
Honey-ginger spice and smoky Scotch whisky may just be the perfect autumnal flavor combination. This Whiskey Sour variation, created in 2005 by bartender Sam Ross while at New York City’s pioneering cocktail bar Milk & Honey, is recognized as one of the most popular cocktails to come out of the modern craft cocktail movement. The Penicillin is a rich and spicy mix of blended scotch, fresh lemon juice, honey-ginger syrup, and heavily peated scotch floated on top, with a candied ginger garnish.
Matcha Martini
Food & Wine / Photo by Greg DuPree / Food Styling by Emily Hall / Prop Styling by Julia Bayless
This coffee shop favorite has jumped behind the bar for the fall season. Vegetal and earthy with slight nutty characteristics, matcha flavors transform this bright and sour cocktail into a surprisingly rich and layered drink. The Matcha Martini is a simple build of Japanese vodka with equal parts fresh lime juice and an easy-to-make matcha syrup. The umami profile is savory and bright with a slight bitter bite.
Benton’s Old Fashioned
Photo by Jason Donnelly / Food Styling by Annie Probst and Shannon Goforth / Prop Styling by Lexi Juhl
An Old Fashioned is always seasonally appropriate once cooler weather rolls around. This variation, considered one of the most famous riffs on the classic whiskey cocktail, leans into the season with smoky and savory bacon and maple syrup flavors. Created in 2007 by bartender Don Lee at New York City’s PDT bar, this is the cocktail that introduced fat-washing to the cocktail world. The whiskey base goes through an infusion of rendered bacon fat and is balanced with rich maple syrup and Angostura bitters.
Cider 75
Food & Wine / Photo by Greg Dupree / Prop Stylist by Thome Driver / Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer
A classic French 75 is made up of gin (or Cognac), fresh lemon juice, simple syrup, and topped with sparkling wine. This autumnal riff replaces the traditional Champagne or Prosecco with a dry sparkling hard cider. The result is herbaceous and bright with orchard-fruit aromas. Top this elegant sparkler with a lemon peel twist or apple slice, to lean into the season.
Mr. Brown
Food & Wine / Photo by Jason Donnelly / Food Styling by Annie Probst and Shannon Goforth / Prop Styling by Lexi Juhl
Another Old Fashioned riff, this modern classic from bartender Ms. Franky Marshall has a bourbon base that is sweetened by coffee liqueur and a teaspoon of vanilla syrup. Orange and Angostura bitters add spice and lift, while an orange twist sharpens the citrus contrast for a clean, fragrant finish. This makes for a perfect, cozy nightcap and tastes like a vanilla-kissed Coffee Old Fashioned.
Apple-Ginger Highball
GREG DUPREE / FOOD STYLING by CHELSEA ZIMMER / PROP STYLING by THOM DRIVER
This simple fall highball combines warming ginger and nutty aromas with sweet-tart flavors and orchard-fruit notes. The Apple-Ginger Highball uses a split base of bourbon and manzanilla sherry and spicy-sweet ginger syrup adds richness and a gingery kick. Topped with dry sparkling cider, this highball is effervescent, complex, and autumn in a tall glass.
Scofflaw
Food & Wine / Tim Nusog
There may not be a more perfect cocktail for fall than a Whiskey Sour. Boozy and spirit-forward yet bright and crisp, just like the season. This variation made with rye whiskey, dry vermouth, lemon juice and grenadine, debuted in Paris during Prohibition, the result of American bartenders who crossed the Atlantic to practice their trade legally.
Si‑Güey
Food & Wine / Photo by Jason Donnelly / Food Styling by Annie Probst and Shannon Goforth / Prop Styling by Lexi Juhl
Created at Milk & Honey, the influential New York City bar, this modern classic cocktail is essentially a variation on a tequila Old Fashioned and tastes like an aromatic campfire with a touch of smoke. Reposado tequila, dry curaçao, orange bitters, and a float of peated Scotch whisky, make up this potent mix.
Prairie Rose
2025-10-22 15:00:00