Check Out These Cocktails & Seasonal Sips For Fall 2025

The fall season is upon us, and that usually means that some of our favorite beverages we reached for over the summer are going back on the shelf until next year. For this year, we’ve got a collection of seasonal sips to help usher in the fall season.   Autumn is my absolute favorite time of the year, followed very closely by winter, and I’m willing to admit that I probably like all things pumpkin spice a little too much. I did enjoy sipping on citrusy drinks over ice this summer, and I do love the crispness of beers geared towards the warmer temps. That said, I find myself drawn to cocktails that feature warming spices, as well as darker notes, which also applies to my beer preferences. Fall always feels like the time we’re supposed to take our time with our sips of choice, instead of quaffing them down rapidly. It’s also a time for rich, spirit-forward drinks that call for a big rock or to be served up in a chilled glass by the fire.

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In this roundup, you’ll find brands familiar to the Spirit.Ed audience, along with some new entrants. As always. I appreciate our agency partners who have brought many of these brands to our attention. If we missed any of your brands, please reach out to D.L. Chandler at dchandler@bhmdigital.com for consideration. If it fits the theme and, with respect to my time, I’ll be sure to add the cocktail, beer, wine, or RTD. For now, enjoy this year’s fall roundup of seasonal sips.. — Photo: Getty

1. Apple Manarita

2 oz Teremana Reposado
0.75 oz Fresh Lime Juice
1 oz Fresh Apple Juice
0.5 oz Agave Nectar
Glassware: Rocks
Garnish: Cinnamon sticks

Method: Shake all ingredients with ice in a cocktail shaker. 

2. Autumn Whiskey Sour

3. Bourbon Bacon Barrel

4. Brandy Boulevardier

INGREDIENTS
1 oz. Argonaut Speculator Brandy
1 oz. Lo-Fi Gentian Amaro
1 oz. Lo-Fi Sweet Vermouth
Argonaut Brandied Cherry 
Garnish: Orange Twist
Glass: Rock Glass

DIRECTIONS
​Stir all ingredients over ice in a mixing vessel until chilled and strain over fresh ice in a rocks glass. Garnish with an orange twist.

5. Carpano Spritz

6. Casa Apple Crisp Punch Bowl (Large Format)

7. Castello Monaci Primitivo Salento IGT Pilùna

8. Cat's Meow

9. Chocolate Pumpkin

Ingredients:
25 ml Bols Pumpkin Spice
25 ml Bols Cacao White
30 ml Cream

Directions: Add ingredients to a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake and strain into martini glass. 

10. Crème Brûlée Iced Latte

11. Dark Rum Horchata

Ingredients:
2 oz Dos Maderas 5+3 Rum
4 oz Chilled Horchata (homemade or high-quality bottled)
0.25 oz Cinnamon Syrup (optional, for extra spice and richness)
Garnish: Cinnamon stick or a dusting of ground cinnamon

Directions: Fill a rocks glass or tumbler with ice. Pour in the chilled horchata and Dos Maderas 5+3 rum. Add cinnamon syrup if you like it spiced up. Stir gently to combine. Garnish with a cinnamon stick or a light sprinkle of ground cinnamon.

12. Falling Leaves

13. Fall Spice Negroni

Ingredients:
1 oz Drumshanbo Gunpowder Irish Gin
1 oz Campari
1 oz Sweet Vermouth (spiced if possible – e.g. infused with clove & orange peel)
Dash of chocolate bitters
Garnish: Flamed orange zest + star anise

Method: Stir over ice and strain into a rocks glass over a big cube. Garnish with a flamed orange zest and star anise. 

14. Fluère Dubai Coffee

Ingredients:
1.75 oz Fluère Spiced Cane
Double Espresso
1.75 oz Sweetened Whipped Cream
Garnish: Cacao Powder and Cinnamon Stick

Directions: Add Fluere spiced cane and double espresso to a milk can. Warm up, don’t let it boil. Pour into glass and pour whipped cream on top. Garnish with cacao powder and cinnamon stick.

15. Krakaccino

Ingredients:
2 oz Kraken® Gold Spiced Rum
.5 oz Irish Cream
1 oz Espresso
Whipped Cream
Garnish: Cinnamon Stencil of The Beast

Directions: Combine all ingredients in a glass rimmed with chocolate sauce. Top with whipped cream and garnish with a cinnamon stencil of The Beast.

16. METAXA Apple Toddy

17. Middle West Manhattan

Ingredients:
2 oz Middle West Spirits Straight Rye Whiskey
.5 oz OYO Stone Fruit Vodka
.5 oz Sweet Vermouth
5 dashes of Angostura Bitters
Garnish: 1 Luxardo Maraschino Cherry

Directions: Add ingredients into a mixing glass with ice. Stir and strain into a rocks glass with ice. Garnish with a Luxardo cherry.

18. Pumpkin Spice Espresso Martini

Recipe courtesy of Pamela Wiznitzer
Ingredients:
1.5 Ketel One Vodka
.5 Coffee Liqueur
.75 Pumpkin Allspice Syrup*
 1 oz Coffee Concentrate**
Garnish: Pumpkin Spice and Espresso Powder

Method:
Combine ingredients into a shaker with ice and shake vigorously for 7 -1 0 seconds.
Strain up into a chilled martini glass and garnish half of the cocktail with pumpkin spice and espresso powder.
 
Sub-Recipes:

*Pumpkin Allspice Syrup:
Boil 2 cups of water with 1 tbsp pumpkin spice on high for 5 – 7 minutes. Watch for any boil-up or overflow and stir while boiling. Reduce to a simmer for 5 minutes and remove from the stovetop.

In a jar or bowl, measure out the reduced liquid, it will be less than 2 cups because of evaporation during the boiling process, then measure out the same quantity in sugar for a 1:1 ratio and add the sugar to the pumpkin spice liquid. Mix until dissolved and keep in the fridge for up to 3 weeks.

**Coffee concentrate:
For best “at-home” version: Mix 1 cup of cold brew or store purchased iced coffee and mix with 1 tbsp instant espresso powder.

19. Riunite Negroni

Ingredients:
2 oz of Riunite Lambrusco
1 oz Campari
1 oz of Sweet Vermouth
Garnish: Orange Slice

Directions: Add all ingredients into mixing glass with ice. Stir and strain into a rocks glass with ice. Garnish with an orange slice.

20. Sagamore Cider

21. Salted Caramel Sour

INGREDIENTS
2 oz. Four Roses Small Batch
¾ oz. Salted caramel syrup*
¾ oz. Fresh lemon juice
Garnish Cinnamon sugar, lemon twist or wheel
Optional garnish Caramel dipped apple slice

DIRECTIONS
Rim glassware with cinnamon sugar mixture. Combine all ingredients into a mixing tin. Add ice. Shake for fifteen seconds or until the cocktail is well chilled and properly diluted. Strain over ice into rimmed glasses. Garnish.

*Salted Caramel Syrup

Directions
Combine two-parts light brown sugar to one-part hot water. Stir until sugar is diluted. Add a pinch of salt.

22. St-Rémy French Alexander

23. The Cocktail Collection

The Cocktail Collection is one of the best RTD (ready-to-drink) options available, featuring some notable brands in the whiskey, vodka, and gin world. 

Learn more here.

24. Tenuta Rapitalà Syrah Sicilia DOC Nadir

Description from the brand:
 With its intense ruby-red hue and damask-violet tints, Nadir offers a generous bouquet of ripe fruit and signature Syrah spices, lifted by hints of vanilla. On the palate, it’s full yet delicate, with soft and elegant tannins. This versatile red pairs beautifully with meats, game, roasts, aged cheeses, and traditional Sicilian fare.

25. The French Mule

Ingredients:
2 oz Rémy Martin VSOP
0.50 oz lime juice
4 oz ginger beer
Lime wheel

How-To:
Pour 2 oz of Rémy Martin VSOP and 1/2 oz of lime juice into a copper mug. Add ice cubes and 4 oz of ginger beer. Stir to combine. To garnish, drop a lime wedge into the mug.

26. The Tennessee Stroll

27. The Pear-Fect Spritz

Ingredients:
1.5 oz Belle de Brillet
2 oz Soda Water
3 oz Dry Prosecco
1 Squeeze of a Lemon Wedge

Directions:
Pour all ingredients into a glass full of ice and stir gently 

28. The Vintage Car

Ingredients:
2 oz Jeptha Creed Four Grain Bourbon
2 dashes Ne Oublie Black Walnut Bitters
0.75 oz Dry Orange Liqueur
0.5 oz Spiced Simple Syrup
0.5 oz Lemon Juice
Cinnamon Sugar (for rimming)

Directions: Half-rim a coupe glass with cinnamon sugar. Add all liquid ingredients to a shaker tin. Add ice and shake well. Double strain into the prepared coupe glass.