Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
Food
6 Festive Cocktails To Usher In Autumn
By
Nell Casey
Published Oct 17, 2014
Modified Oct 17, 2014
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
Melissa Hom
By
Nell Casey
Published Oct 17, 2014
Modified Oct 17, 2014
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
What we lack in spectacular foliage we more than make up for in proximity to and volume of wonderful cocktail bars, many of which note the changing seasons by revamping their menus to fit the weather. With fall, you'll find plenty of brown liquors, apple flavors, spices and other such offerings, though there's not a wrong season to drink any of the spirits. Below, a few offerings befitting an autumn eve out on the town; we promise no decorative gourds.
Chic Upper East Side steakhouse Arlington Club has an eponymous cocktail on offer this season that they call a variation on a Negroni. Instead of gin, Beverage Director Keith Nelson substitutes Woodford Reserve bourbon, mixing it with Carpano Antica, a type of sweet vermouth, and blood-red Italian liqueur Campari. The $15 cocktail is served with one satisfyingly huge ice cube and a twist of orange peel.
Maybe I'm a sucker for anything related to the Greatest Board Game Ever, but Ward III in Tribeca's Colonel Mustard in the Library sounds like the perfect drink to accompany a rousing game of Clue. The brandy-based drink gets a fruit-and-nut infusion courtesy of walnut liqueur and smoked Luxardo Cherries. The sweetness of the drink gets tapered with Punt e Mes, a bitter Italian type of Vermouth. If you embrace sweetness, try their Harvest Moon, made with Highland Scotch, Allspice Dram, pumpkin cordial and ginger.
Elevated Outcrop at Cedar Local
FiDi newcomer Cedar Local is playing around with vodka as well, using Big Cat-saving Snow Leopard vodka to make a complex, off-beat drink called Elevated Outcrop. To the vodka, Bathtub Gin's John McCarthy adds Zirbenz Stone Pine Liqueur (an Austrian spirit that channels the coniferous tree) and Suze Saveur d'Autrefois (a floral French liqueur) with a coriander and green peppercorn syrup and two types of bitters. They further punch up this already heady cocktail, mixologists add a wheel of lemon, an extra lemon peel and more freshly cracked coriander and green peppercorns on top. Not for the faint of heart!
Why settle for one autumnal trope when you can have two? That must be the philosophy behind the Village's Margaux, who've upped the ante with a cocktail featuring both apples and pumpkins. The Harvest Shandy ($14) features Laird's Bonded Branded shaken with bitter Cynar, almondy Velvet Falernum and a dose of seasonal fun with both apple cider and a pumpkin ale.
Over at Grand Central Terminal, stately bar The Campbell Apartment also goes the way of the gourd, using it as a refresher to its classic Pumpkin Old Fashioned. Bartenders use Bulleit Bourbon infused with pumpkin and cinnamon, adding a simple syrup, Angostura bitters and some muddled oranges and cherries to create the updated cocktail, which they'll serve on the rocks. Although it might sound fun, muddling pumpkins would probably be a bit too mushy.
We're fans of anything that'll give you a buzz and fill your tummy, which is why the Midnight Snack from Experimental Cocktail Club has us scheduling plans to visit the Chrystie Street bar ASAP. This drink combines Bittermen's New Orleans Coffee liqueur with both Bulleit Bourbon and Tawny Port, then sweetened with orgeat (read: floral almond) syrup and fortified with a whole egg. But that's not even the snack element! The cocktail is also served with a butter cookie, just as it should be.
Tagged
cocktails
fall cocktails
original
Nell Casey
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE food
Where are the cheapest drinks in NYC? A new report details the city's average prices.
The median price of a cocktail in the city is now $16, and $9 for a draft beer.
By
Hannah Frishberg
Published Oct 19, 2026
North African restaurants are rare in NYC. These 10 are the best.
Egyptian, Moroccan, Algerian and Tunisian food is delicious but underrepresented in the city.
By
Robert Sietsema
Food
North African restaurants are rare in NYC. These 10 are the best.
Egyptian, Moroccan, Algerian and Tunisian food is delicious but underrepresented in the city.
By
Robert Sietsema
10 dishes that demonstrate the delicious diversity of curry in New York City
By
Robert Sietsema
Frozen yogurt is back in New York City. So are the super long lines.
By
Sonia Rao
5 NYC banana puddings as good as Magnolia's
By
Hannah Frishberg
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .