Pumpkin Beer Cocktail

We can’t think of thing that divides people more than pumpkin beer. I mean, there’s religion, politics and whether Ross and Rachel were on a break, but we swear people have stronger feelings about pumpkin beer. You either love it or hate it. All three of us are big fans (don’t @ us if you’re not) so much so that we actually did a blind pumpkin beer tasting for Thanksgiving last year. This year we wanted to do something equally fun, so we created a pumpkin beer cocktail to crush while we carved our zombie baby pumpkins.

We love this cocktail because we swear it actually converts people who are not fans of pumpkin beer. Some of these pumpkin beers are quite decadent so people are hesitant to commit to a full one, especially the porters and stouts. We get it, you just wanna mix it with a little whisky, apple cider and cinnamon simple syrup. We can honestly say this tastes like Thanksgiving weekend feels. It’s also the perfect pumpkin carving cocktail because it’s easy to make and goes down easy.

For the cocktail:

• 1 oz of rye or whisky
• 1/2 oz of cinnamon simple syrup (recipe below), or to taste
• 2 oz of apple cider
• 1 pumpkin beer. You can use any kind, we used Great Lakes Brewery’s Pumpkin Ale which is pretty accessible if you live in Toronto
• Cinnamon sugar (optional, for the rim)

For the cinnamon simple syrup:

• 4 cinnamon sticks
• 1/2 cup of white sugar
• 1/2 cup of water

1. Add the rye, cinnamon simple syrup and apple cider to a cocktail shaker with ice and shake vigorously for 10 seconds.
2. If you choose to put a cinnamon sugar rim on your glass, then take a lemon wedge and glide it around the edge of your glass or fill a bowl with enough water that you can dip the rim of the glass in it. Then dip the wetted rim of the glass into a pile cinnamon sugar and turn the glass lightly around, so that the entire rim is covered.
3. Add the contents of the cocktail shaker to a glass (we used a mason jar, but a rock glass will work too). Top with pumpkin beer.
4. Cheers!