Fabulous Fall Cocktails

Check out these top-shelf season concoctions from all corners of the county.

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Hudson Anchor’s 222-Pumpkin-tini

After a beautiful and balmy beginning to fall it’s finally sweater weather. Time to cozy up by a fire, under a blanket, or — even better — to a bar.

It’s nice to have renewed reasons to imbibe, isn’t it?  In our estimation, a good cocktail bar is a perfect place to get “toasty.” So, take the edge off the chill with an autumn-centric drink as evocative of the season as the steady flow of leaves raining down into your gutters.  

No matter your geographical location in this beautiful county of ours, there’s a bounty of fragrant fall-flavored libations nearby. So, whether you’re craving pumpkin spice and crisp apple cider or some other autumnal amplifier like ginger, pear, fig, cinnamon, maple, and cranberry, there’s no shortage of comforting concoctions that deliver a dose of seasonal spirits.

The River Towns

Hudson Anchor, Sleepy Hollow

The Headless Horseman

We couldn’t do a fall drinks roundup without including, as Washington Irving put it, the village of the “galloping Hessian,” now, could we? Hudson Anchor invites you to cozy up to their bar where “a great hometown story is always being told”. No doubt the spun tales become increasingly colorful as the night progresses over cocktails like the (inevitable) ‘Headless Horseman’, a Chambord-Champagne martini with pineapple-raspberry “blood” oozing from the rim. Too scary? Try the ‘222- Pumpkin-tini’ made with pumpkin vodka, pumpkin liqueur, pumpkin spice Irish cream, and cinnamon sugar spices, or the ‘Campfire Old Fashioned’ made with Rye Whiskey, maple syrup, chocolate bitters, and toasted orange peel. Bonus fact: the moonlighting co-owner/mixologist is a pharmaceutical scientist by day. Beat that.
Hudsonanchorseafood.com

Hudson Anchor’s Campired Old-Fashioned

Northern Westchester

3 Westerly Bar and Grill, Ossining

Apple pie moonshine

This gastropub is housed in a free-standing lighthouse (aren’t they usually haunted?) with insane views of the Hudson River Waterfront and all its autumnal splendor. Pair your drunken baby back ribs, glazed with ginger beer and apple cider, with an ‘Apple Pie Sangria’ made with apple pie moonshine, apple and pear brandy, and local apple cider, and skip your trip to one of our county’s overcrowded orchards. That leads us to ‘Common Sense,’ made with Bulleit Bourbon, Vermont maple syrup, El Professor sweet vermouth, Scrappy’s Cardamon & lavender bitters, and fresh lemon juice. Cider more your speed? Doc’s Pear Cider or Crabbies Ginger Beer will do the trick.
3westerly.com

Central Westchester

The Blind Pig of Westchester, White Plains

Espresso martini flight (Photo: Facebook/The Blind Pig of Westchester)

This ultra-cool “speakeasy” is a throwback to the prohibition era of the 1930s, with the most creative cocktail list in the county. Their fall lineup includes concoctions like “Fallin For You” made with Mr. Black, espresso, pepita orgeat (an alt-orgeat syrup) and pumpkin cream; a “Seasonal Mule” made with Horchata, Reposado Tequila, Bourbon and maple cinnamon; espresso martini flights, including classic, orange brûlée, and salted caramel; “Granny Lover” made with Hampden, Redemption Bourbon, Aperol, apple cider, citrus, maple, and cinnamon or celebrate the second season of the fig with “Get Figgy with It” made with bourbon, fig and citrus oils.
theblindpigofwestchester.com

Southern Westchester

Saints & Scholars, Yonkers

Bourbon Moscow Mule (Photo: Facebook/Saints and Scholars)

The trendy interior (purple backlights, disco balls, chandeliers…need we say more?) and elevated menu at this Irish bar and kitchen on McLean Avenue, stand out amid fellow pubs lining what’s known as the Emerald Mile. With a menu chock-full of creative fall cocktails, it needs to be on your list. You might want to try the ‘Apple and Gin Scholar’. Imbibers say the taste is “literally apple pie.” There’s a ‘Spiced Pear and Ginger Martini’ and a ‘Witches Heart Sangria’. Thirsty for beer? Try Sam Adams Octoberfest with maple syrup and cinnamon sugar rim or ring in the holidays with their ‘Bourbon Moscow Mule’ made with bourbon, apple cider, Jamaican ginger beer, cranberry, cinnamon simple syrup, and apple puree. The liquid courage may even inspire a trip down the road and around the bend to Woodlawn Cemetery where you can channel spirits of Jazz greats like Miles Davis and Duke Ellington.
No website. Visit them on Facebook here.

Jena A. Butterfield is a lifestyle writer specializing in food, drink, travel, and interior design. Whether she’s traveling or not, she can usually be found washing down a hunk of cheese with a glass of Nebbiolo. A native of the land of Quahogs and chowdah, she lives with her husband and son in New York. 

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