FSR October 2022

L IQUID INTELL IGENCE

doesn’t go the extra mile with the latter drink. In fact, his favorite fall drink at Midnight Rambler is a duck fat–washed hot toddy. For restaurants lacking the man power or budget to source fresh fruits or international ciders, Marshall Minaya, beverage director at Valerie restaurant in

Other fortified wines and distilled spirits can also imbue beverages with orchard fruit flavors. Both Minaya and Joly name brandy, especially calvados (an apple brandy fromNormandy), as an ideal building block in fall drinks. “ ere’s a whole movement of really high-quality brandies being made in

iting nine cities across the U.S. and Can ada. Hayes, who’s an alum of Chicago’s once-beloved, now-shuttered tiki bar, Lost Lake, says island flavors appear on the menu, but they don’t overpower it. “I spent many years running tropical bars, so it’s part of my DNA,” she says. “A lagoon kind of lends itself to the idea of tropical, but we didn’t want to go over the top. It’s not a tropical pop-up; it’s a pop-up that has some tropical-leaning drinks. It’s a spooky lagoon.” While Hayes and Ramage have a new lineup of drinks this time around, a few of last year’s best-sellers are back, includ ing Hexes for Your Exes—Teeling Whis key, melon, pineapple, and fizz—and Lilith’s Cup, which features Mount Gay Black Barrel rum, aperol, dry vermouth, passionfruit syrup, and glitter. At Black Lagoon, what brings the seasonal vibe is more about the pre

“Dig a layer deeper on some of those fall spices. Instead of just nutmeg, clove, and cinnamon, maybe reach for something a littlemore unexpected.”

CRAFTHOUSE COCKTAILS / BLACK LAGOON

sentation than the f lavors. Not only are the host bars decked out in coffins and other macabre decor, the drinks are also served in themed glassware (think: skull-shaped tiki tumblers) with vibrant colors like pumpkin oranges, blood reds, and charcoal blacks. “Nutmeg and cinnamon are always going to make an appearance on fall menus because they’re a little bit warm ing, but we approach this from a color standpoint. So our drinks are very bright and playful. We’ve got one that’s bright orange and then one that comes out like CHARLES JOLY (LEFT) USES FRUIT TO CAPTURE THE SEASON, WHILE THE BLACK LAGOON OPTS FOR BOLD COLORS, LIKE THE CANDY CORN ORANGE IN LILITH’S CUP (ABOVE).

New York, has a pro tip. “Some ingredients that are not in your typical canon of fall are the likes of per simmons, figs, raisins, and ginger. If you want to skip a step, utilizing some [Pedro Ximénez] sherry in a cocktail in the fall season is a great start,” he says. is particular sherry is derived from an overripe white grape grown in Southern Spain. “ e sherry is going to provide the warm fig-raisin flavor with a rich, heavy mouthfeel. Also, Gonzalez Byass makes a sherry vermouth that is distilled with heavy, warming spice notes,” he adds.

the U.S. as well, which would be great to reach for,” Joly says.

e dark side of the tropics For as much as autumn F&B focuses on flavor, it’s not the only path toward capturing the season in a glass. Black Lagoon, a multi-city, Halloween-themed pop-upmarries the chilly, darker days of fall with the bright flavors of the tropics. The pop-up was first conceived by mixologists Erin Hayes and Kelsey Ram age in 2019 and kicked off as an event series last year. is time around it’s vis

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OCTOBER 2022