Drink: Fall Fruit Old Fashioned

I find myself doing a lot more nesting as fall approaches. Picking ripe apples from our tree, enjoying the peach jam I made a few weeks back and finding my favorite kind of pear for a crisp — these activities ground me, especially during these uncertain times. 

A classic Old Fashioned is so casually delicious, and it only requires three ingredients: whiskey, simple syrup and bitters. I enjoy swapping the basic simple syrup for various fruit syrups, enhanced with fall baking spices, to create complex, cozy riffs on the cocktail. 

For the spiced fruit syrups, simply combine equal parts sugar and fruit juice, preferably freshly juiced. Warm and stir the mixture over medium-low heat, adding your choice of complementary spices. Remove from heat after reaching a low simmer and let cool, straining the solids afterwards. For the cocktail recipe featured here, I made pear-ginger, apple-star anise and peach-cardamom syrups. 

Each of these syrups brings a unique flavor profile to the cocktail and can be used in various other recipes. For added depth, try out different aromatic bitters, like toasted pecan, spiced orange or black walnut.

FALL FRUIT OLD FASHIONED

2 ounces whiskey

1/2 ounce spiced fruit syrup

3 dashes aromatic bitters

Dehydrated slices of fruit, for garnish

1. In a mixing glass, combine the whiskey, spiced fruit syrup and aromatic bitters.

2. Add ice and stir until mixture is chilled.

3. Strain into a cocktail glass and serve over a large ice cube.

4. Garnish with dehydrated fall fruit.

Originally published in the Fall 2020 issue of SPOKE+BLOSSOM