Notable Potables

Transitional cocktails taking us from late summer into fall

Bloody Blue

A loaded Bloody Mary sipped by the water is the perfect beginning to a late summer day. Add a soft-shell crab and it’s extra special.

Ingredients:

• 4 oz tomato juice • 2 tsp prepared horseradish • 2 dashes Tabasco sauce • 2 dashes celery salt • 2 dashes Worcestershire sauce • 1 pinch ground black pepper • 1 pinch smoked paprika (plus extra for glass rim) • 2 oz vodka (Cirrus) • 1 lemon wedge • 1 lime wedge • 1 tempura soft-shell crab Preparation: Mix together first seven ingredients and chill. Rim edge of the glass with a slice of lime; dip glass into paprika on a saucer or small plate and twist glass to coat rim. Fill about half the glass with ice then top it off with tomato juice mixture. Add vodka, and slightly stir. Served: On the rocks Garnish: Cream cheese-stuffed green olives (pits showing) skewered with toothpicks and then stabbed into a tempura soft shell crab with a lemon wedge “mouth.” Place crab on top of glass. Drinkware: Tall highball or hurricane glass (approximately 12 oz)

JULIE FANNING

Bourbon-spiked Cider

The grown-up version of apple cider that isn’t too “fruit punchy.” This herbal cocktail has a touch of sweet followed by a touch of bitter, and it’s perfect for a still-warm, fall evening.

Ingredients:

• 1 oz bourbon (A. Smith Bowman Small Batch bourbon) • 2 oz apple cider • 0.4 oz sweet vermouth • 0.5 oz thyme-infused simple syrup+ • 3 dashes of orange bitters Preparation: A few hours beforehand, pour apple cider into large ice ball mold or large square mold and freeze. Fill a cocktail shaker with several cubes of ice. Add bourbon, cider, vermouth, simple syrup and bitters. Cover and shake vigorously. Served: On the rocks; strain into glass over large cider ice ball/cube Garnish: Thin apple slice and fresh thyme sprig Drinkware: Old fashioned glass (about 6 oz) +THYME-INFUSED SIMPLE SYRUP Heat 1 cup of water (do not boil) over medium heat, then add 1 cup of sugar and stir until fully dissolved. Remove from heat and add 4–5 sprigs of fresh thyme (more or less depending upon desired strength). Cover, let steep, then strain into glass container. Cover with a lid and keep in refrigerator up to three weeks.

RICK BLANTON

Casper’s Malibu Sunset

While the coconut rum provides a tropical element, the dry ice and layered pour adds the spooky Halloween visual. It’s like a better version of candy corn—in a glass.

Ingredients:

• 4 oz pineapple juice • 1 oz grenadine • 2 oz coconut rum (Malibu) • maraschino cherries • pineapple chunks Preparation: Place four or five ice cubes into a rocks glass. Pour grenadine on top of the ice. Using a spoon (to layer the juice over the grenadine), slowly pour pineapple juice into the glass. Pour coconut rum into a separate glass. Add about 1/4-inch chip of dry ice. Gently pour rum/dry ice mixture into the rocks glass with juice. Garnish: Layer cherry, pineapple chunk, and cherry onto cocktail skewer or toothpick. Drinkware: Rocks glass (about 8 oz)