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Fall cocktails bring warmth to the Contigo drink menu
While sipping a cool cocktail on a chilly patio might not be the first thing that pops into your mind as a way to celebrate the dropping temperatures this fall, the new autumn cocktails at Contigo are sure to leave you percolating a warm glow (if the newly installed space heaters don’t get the job done first).
Bar Manager Houston Eaves has added three new cocktails to the fall menu last week, with a fourth to follow in the near future.
Whereas most bartenders go straight for brown, bitter and boozy cocktails to celebrate the season, Eaves took a different approach to match the patio-friendly restaurant, favoring combinations that resemble many of the summer cocktails the bar offers, but with decidedly warmer seasonal flavors like apple, ginger, pear and allspice. Each of the cocktails are on the lighter, citrus-forward side, with hints of spice and herbs weaving amongst the spirits and fruit.
Check out the recipes below.
The Mexican Monk, which is currently a special but will likely be added to the menu soon, Eaves reports, is a hot cocktail that tastes like a mix between a bright summery margarita and a warm winter spiced toddy. This drink could easily stay on the menu year-round, served over ice in the summer and heated in the cooler months.
The Mexican Monk
1 oz. Dulce Vida Añejo tequila
.5 oz. Green Chartreuse
.5 oz Agave syrup
.5 oz Lemon
2 dashes house ginger bitters
Approximately 3 oz. hot water
Combine ingredients in a glass, add hot water and stir until ingredients are blended. Garnish with a lemon peel with cloves.
The Fall Harvest might be the closest thing you’ll find to authentic homemade apple pie in cocktail form. The artichoke-based Amaro Cynar ensures that the sugar from the apple brandy and ginger liqueur don’t overpower the drink with sweetness, and the baked apple bitters counteract the tart lemon juice, creating a crisp comfort drink perfect for pairing with the darker gamey meats Contigo offers. Or perhaps, as dessert.
Fall Harvest
1.5 oz Apple brandy
.75 oz. Domaine de Canton
.5 oz. Cynar
.5 oz. Lemon
2 dashes baked apple bitters
Apple garnish
Combine ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake until chilled. Double strain into an Old Fashioned glass with fresh ice. Garnish with an apple slice.
The Texecutioner is my favorite of the bunch, thanks to allure of the smouldering smoky mezcal. The Cocchi Americano mellows the boldness of the Oaxacan spirit that otherwise typically dominates cocktails, and the grapefruit brightens and binds every flavor together in a melodic harmony that made me feel like curling up by one of those space heaters with a good book to draw out the experience.
Texecutioner
.75 oz. Del Maguey Mezcal Vida
.75 oz. D’Aristi Xtabentun (anisette)
.75 oz. Cocchi Americano
.75 oz. Grapefruit
Combine ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake until chilled. Double strain into an Old Fashioned glass with fresh ice. Garnish with a grapefruit twist.
A riff on the classic Dark and Stormy, the After the Storm injects the traditional mix with an extra hit of spice with the Allspice Dram, and the additional Paula’s Texas Orange contributes a radiant perk amidst all of the darker flavors. Cloves embedded in orange create a vivid aroma that for me, triggers memories of Christmastime. Well, maybe Christmastime in Bermuda. Now, there’s an idea I can get behind.
After the Storm
1.5 oz. Zaya Rum
.5 oz. Paula’s Texas Orange
.5 oz. Lime
.25 oz St. Elizabeth’s Allspice Dram
Ginger beer
Combine the rum, Paula’s Texas Orange, lime and Allspice Dram in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake until chilled. Strain over fresh ice into a collins glass. Top with ginger beer. Garnish with an orange peel with cloves.
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