As the days draw shorter and the crisp autumn air settles in, drinking preferences shift from bright, citrus-heavy summer refreshers toward rich, warming, and aromatic concoctions. Autumn brings a vibrant tapestry of flavours to the bar, making seasonal cocktails an extraordinary way to bring the warmth of fall into your glass—whether hosting a fireside gathering, celebrating the harvest, or unwinding after a cool walk.
Classic and Fruity Autumn Cocktails
Żubrówka Apple Zu: 40ml Bison Grass Vodka, apple juice, pinch of cinnamon. Fill a chilled glass with ice, pour vodka over ice, top with apple juice, sprinkle cinnamon, and stir gently.
The Spicy Bonny: 40ml Anne Bonny Spiced Rum, fresh lime juice (or wedges), fiery ginger beer. Fill a glass with ice, pour in rum and lime, top with ginger beer, and stir well.
Hot Spiced Sangria: 1 bottle The Straw Hat Soft & Juicy Red, 3 shots dark rum, 2 tbsp demerara sugar (to taste), 1 orange (sliced), 1 apple (thinly sliced), peel from ½ a lemon, 2 cinnamon sticks, 4 cloves, 1 star anise, 4 whole allspice berries, small slice fresh ginger. Add wine to a pot on very low heat (do not boil), add fruit and spices, warm gently for 25–35 minutes, stir in sugar, add rum at the end, serve warm.
HPNO-Tini: 2oz Hpnotiq, 1oz Deep Eddy Vodka, splash of lemon. Shake with ice and strain into a chilled martini glass; garnish with a glow stick.
Salford Rhubarb Negroni: 25ml Salford Rhubarb Gin, 25ml Sweet White Vermouth, 25ml Campari. Build and stir in a tumbler with cubed ice; garnish with grapefruit slice.
Modern Twists on Favourites
Apple Pulp Martini (makes 2): 100ml Hernö Old Tom Gin, 40ml White Vermouth, leftover pulp from 4 JAZZ Apples, apple slice. Add gin, vermouth, and ice to a shaker, stir vigorously until frosted, strain into chilled martini glasses, garnish with apple slice.
Royal Negroni: 45ml Nouaison Gin, 45ml La Quintinye Vermouth Royal Rouge, 2 dashes orange bitters. Pour into an Old Fashioned glass with ice, stir, garnish with orange twist.
Negroni Sour: 30ml London Dry Gin, 30ml Red Vermouth, 30ml Campari, 30ml lemon juice, 20ml simple syrup, 20ml egg white, Mixologist’s Garden lemon slices. Shake all ingredients (except lemon slices) without ice for 30 seconds, add ice and shake for 30–45 seconds, strain into a tumbler half-filled with ice, garnish with lemon slices.
Bison Mary: 50ml Zubrowka Bison Grass Vodka, 120ml tomato juice, 10ml lemon juice, 2–3 dashes Worcestershire sauce, 2–3 dashes Tabasco, pinch celery salt, pinch black pepper, 1 tsp mixed fresh herbs (basil, dill & parsley), celery stick, rosemary sprig, lemon slice (optional). Fill highball glass with ice, add ingredients, roll gently or stir, garnish with celery, rosemary, and lemon.
Dark ‘n’ Spicy Rum: 60ml Goslings Black Seal Rum, 30ml Chilli & Ginger Syrup (simmer 1 cup sliced ginger, 1 jalapeno chilli, 1 cup dark brown sugar, 1 cup water for 30 mins, strain and cool), 15ml lime juice, 15ml soda, lime wheel and ginger slice garnish. Add ice to rocks glass, pour rum, syrup, and lime juice, top with soda, stir.
Fruity and Herbal Creations
Red Mojito: 10g Mixologist’s Garden freeze-dried strawberry slices, 100g white sugar, 100ml water, ½ tsp lemon juice, 50ml white rum, 30ml strawberry syrup, 20ml lime juice, 50ml soda water, 12 mint leaves, garnishes. Make strawberry syrup by heating sugar, water, lemon juice, and strawberries until sugar dissolves; infuse at least 2 hours, strain. Muddle mint and lime in highball glass, layer ice and strawberry slices, add rum and syrup, top with soda, garnish.
Caipirinha: 60ml Abelha Cachaca, 1 tbsp caster sugar, 1 lime. Place lime pieces skin down, add sugar, muddle gently, add ice and cachaça, stir.
Grey Goose Classic Dry Vodka Martini: 50ml Grey Goose Vodka, 25ml Martini Extra Dry Vermouth, 1 dash Orange Bitters. Stir with ice, strain into chilled martini glass, garnish with lemon twist.
Mexican Mule: 40ml Tequila, 10ml Triple Sec, 15ml lime juice, 90ml ginger beer, jalapeño chilli (optional), Mixologist’s Garden lime slices, jalapeño slices, cinnamon stick. Fill copper mug with ice, layer jalapeño and lime slices, pour tequila, Triple sec, and lime juice, add ginger beer, stir with cinnamon stick, garnish.
Bold and Sophisticated Sips
Amarga: 50ml Abelha Cachaça Silver, bitter lemonade to top. Fill highball glass with ice, add cachaça, top with bitter lemonade, stir, garnish with lemon wedge.
Hernö Old Tom Beetroot Martini: 50ml Hernö Old Tom Gin, 50ml beetroot juice, 25ml lemon juice, 1 tbsp ginger syrup (or simple syrup), 2 cocktail onions, 1cm dice kielbasa, black pepper. For ginger syrup: boil 250ml water, 200g sugar, 200g sliced ginger, steep 15 mins, strain. Shake gin, beetroot juice, syrup, and lemon juice with ice, strain into coupe, garnish with pepper and cocktail stick with onions and kielbasa.
Smooth Criminal: 1.5 oz Ilegal Mezcal Joven, .50 oz lime juice, 1 oz lemon simple syrup, 1 oz peach puree. Shake vigorously with ice, strain over fresh ice, garnish with dehydrated lime wheel or lemon zest.
Grey Goose Espresso Martini: 50ml Grey Goose Vodka, 30ml Single Origin Espresso, 20ml Premium Coffee Liqueur, pinch of salt, 3 coffee beans. Shake briskly, strain into martini glass, garnish with beans.
The Brazilian Bee: 60ml Abelha Cachaca, 45ml pineapple juice, 45ml pink grapefruit juice, 15ml honey syrup, 2 dashes Angostura Bitters, fresh thyme. Muddle thyme with honey syrup, add remaining ingredients, shake over ice, double-strain into highball with ice, garnish with thyme, pineapple, grapefruit.
Espresso Martini: 25ml Disaronno Velvet, 25ml Tia Maria Cold Brew Liqueur, 50ml espresso. Chill martini glass, shake ingredients with ice, strain, finish with three coffee beans.
Grey Goose Appletini: 50ml Grey Goose La Poire Vodka, 10ml St Germain Elderflower Liqueur, 15ml Calvados, 15ml fresh lime juice, 30ml fresh apple juice. Shake with ice, double-strain into cocktail glass, garnish with apple Goose feather.
Abelha Latin Old Fashioned: 50ml Abelha Cachaca Gold, 2 dashes The Bitter Truth Aromatic Bitters, 1 sugar cube, few dashes water. Muddle sugar cube with bitters and water, add ice and cachaça, garnish with orange slice and cocktail cherry.
Salford Rumtini: 50ml Salford Coffee Rum, 40ml fresh espresso, 20ml sugar syrup. Hard shake, fine strain into coupe or martini glass, garnish with 3 coffee beans.
Yes Chef Martini: 2 oz Glendalough Wild Botanical Irish Gin, ½ oz cinnamon syrup, ½ oz maple syrup, 1 oz fresh lemon juice, 2 oz egg whites, dehydrated persimmon wheel, star anise, lavender seed. Dry shake without ice, add ice and shake until chilled, strain into coupe, garnish, spray with gin to finish.
