Pumpkin Pie Cocktail

Hiram Walker's seasonal Pumpkin Spice liqueur begs to be made into a Pumpkin Pie drink. Yet all of the pumpkin pie drink recipes I have thus far found online left me unimpressed. This inspired me to recall a drink I had created in the Fall of 2008 and publish it for the betterment of all pumpkin pie lovers and sweet freaks.

Back then, before I knew better, I served this drink in a v-shaped cocktail glass and called it a Pumpkin Pie Martini. But it is not a martini. A martini is not just any drink served in a v-shaped cocktail glass. It is gin, vermouth, and bitters--and please let's not get started on the whole "vodka martini" issue. Rather, let's get on with this recipe, shall we?

Pumpkin Pie Cocktail
1 oz Hiram Walker Pumpkin Pie Spice liqueur
1/2 oz Smirnoff Vanilla vodka
1/4 oz Licor 43
3 drops Fee Bros Old Fashioned Bitters
1 oz milk
Shake over ice vigorously to chill quickly and strain into a cocktail glass of your choosing. Garnish with a dash of pumpkin pie spice. You can also hit this with a bit of whipped cream if you have it handy.

The drink is very rich, quite sweet, and quite reminiscent of pumpkin pie in a liquid form. It makes a great dessert drink and puts the HW Pumpkin Pie Spice to good use.

Cheers! ~Dr. Cocktation

2 Cocktails in Honor of My Doggy--Chablis

Hello and welcome to Cocktations--my effort at documenting all of the cocktails, the good, the bad, and the ugly, that I make up on weekends after the 5pm whistle blows on Fridays. I'll also be documenting the creations of others that I try, tweak (or just leave as is), and enjoy (or not). I'm not a bartender, or a professional mixologist. I am a psychologist (no, I'm not interested in analyzing you), a wine dork, a foodie, a home do-it-yourself-er, and many other things. I am also a cocktail enthusiast who loves to experiment at home in the hopes of coming up with that perfect cocktail that is so much more than the sum of its parts--the holy grail of cocktails [insert angels singing and bright ethereal lights here].

To start things off, I though I would post the recipe for 2 cocktails that I made in August of 2009 (08.08.09 to be exact), in honor of my puppy, a 13-year-old Maltese named Chablis.

The Chablis
3 oz Lillet blanc
1 oz limoncello
squeeze of lemon
3 dashes Fee Bros cherry bitters
3 oz sparkling water
Build in a highball glass over ice.

The Collapsing Trachea
[So named for my doggy's condition. I figure when life gives you "lemons" make "lemonade."]
3 oz Lillet blanc
1 oz limoncello
1/2 oz kirschwasser
3 oz cream soda
squeeze of lemon
Build in a tall glass over ice. Garnish with lemon slice.

These two drinks are obviously variations on the same theme, with the use of Lillet (obviously a tip-of-the-hat to my puppy's French name), the limoncello, and a cherry element in each (due to my doggy's sweetness). Both were quite enjoyable in their own ways, and I hope if you try them you enjoy them as well.

Cheers!
~Dr. Cocktation