Southport Magazine

The Chocolate-Covered Pretzel martini. Photo by Bethany Turner

Lately I’ve been living with the windows wide open. I don’t mean that as some grand metaphor for living life to the fullest. Rather, who can resist the cool fall breeze?

What’s especially lovely during this time of year is sipping a nightcap brimming with autumn spices. As fun as it is to shake a pineapple-laden cocktail in the summer, it’s equally as inviting to relax with a warmer, heavier libation in the fall. These are a few of my favorite recipes for October (please drink responsibly!):

Fire and Cream
Shooter, or sip on the rocks
1.25 oz. RumChata Cream Liqueur
.75 oz. Fireball Cinnamon Whisky

Combine ingredients in a shaker with ice; shake and strain into a rocks glass.

Chocolate-Covered Pretzel Martini
1.5 oz. Van Gogh Vanilla Vodka
.5 oz. Frangelico Hazelnut Liqueur
.5 oz. Godiva Chocolate Liqueur
Milk Chocolate (melted)
Sea Salt

Glide the rim of your martini glass through the melted chocolate, and then dip it in the sea salt for a glistening, tasty, textured rim.

Combine vodka, Frangelico and Godiva in a shaker with ice; shake and strain into the martini glass. Voila!

Garden of Good and Evil
Shooter, or drink on the rocks
4 oz. Angry Orchard Hard Cider
1.25 oz. Fireball Cinnamon Whisky

There are a few ways to go about this cocktail:

1. Bomb: Pour the Angry Orchard Hard Cider (you’ll find this in the beer section of the grocery store) into a pint glass. Put the Fireball into a shot glass. Drop the shot glass into the pint glass; as the liquids mix, drink!

2. Shooter: Go ahead and combine all the ingredients into the pint glass. Feel free to shake the Fireball with ice, so it’s chilled, prior to combining with the Angry Orchard. Sip away!

3. On the rocks: Beer cocktails are becoming ever more popular. Though hard cider technically isn’t a beer, we’ll let this one slide. You can still use a pint glass, combining all ingredients over ice. Insert a straw and enjoy.