TAKE THE CHILL OFF
Rainstorms and a time change mean one thing — we’re deep into fall. And while we can argue whether or not California actually experiences an autumn, we know that whatever we are experiencing ain’t summertime. Sure, there are still blackberries in the grocery stores (and they are delicious) and leaves on the trees (evergreens be damned), but evening patio sitters will tell you, it’s getting cold out there.
And cold weather requires more robust drinks. The switch from clear cocktails to brown cocktails happens in bars every year (martinis to Manhattans), but the switch from the lighter refreshing drinks of summer to the richer, more complex cocktails of fall often goes unheralded — until now.
With that thought in mind, I present four autumnal offerings designed to warm the soul and fortify the spirit, and localized for your consumption.
Autumn doesn’t have to mean just pumpkin or pumpkin spice all the time.
California gray whales begin their annual migration down the coast of California each fall. They escape the cold their way, and we escape it ours.
Jeff Burkhart is the author of “Twenty Years Behind Bars: The Spirited Adventures of a Real Bartender, Vol. I and II,” the host of the Barfly Podcast on iTunes and an award-winning bartender at a local restaurant. Follow him at jeffburkhart.net and contact him at jeffbarflyIJ@outlook.com.
Macadamia Rum Sour
2 ounces Sammy’s Beach Bar Rum “Red Head” macadamia nut rum
1 ounce fresh-squeezed lemon juice
1⁄8 ounce simple syrup
1 egg white
1⁄8 ounce carbonated water
3 crushed roasted macadamia nuts Combine first five ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake until foamy and then strain into a chilled coupe glass. Dust foam with crushed macadamia nuts.
Note: A little bit of soda water will help the egg white foam retain its shape longer. Aquafaba (the water canned garbanzo beans are stored in) can be substituted for egg whites as well, but in this drink the extra richness of the egg adds some necessary structure.