Now that I've picked apples and procured some fresh cider, it's the right time of year to trot out my own cocktail recipe that I call the Orchard Warmer.
Get this stuff:
- 2 oz bourbon
- 1 oz fresh cider
- 0.75 oz fresh lemon juice (seriously, must be fresh)
- 0.5 oz grade B maple syrup (grade B is darker, more viscous, more complexly flavored)
- 1 dash/dropper of Angostura or similar bitters
- Put all of that in a shaker, add ice, shake the everliving crap out of it until the sides of the shaker start to frost, and then double strain into a cocktail glass. We don't want any ice chips floating around in this thing.
If you wanna get REALLY fancy, take a slicing tool like a mandoline or one of those incredible Japanese jobbies and make a paper-thin circular slice of fresh apple to float in the drink as a garnish.
Be careful, these are dangerous.