Bright, crisp October days have melted into the brisk, gray days of November. As the last leaves drift slowly to the ground, it’s becoming more and more apparent that the end of autumn is nearly here. For many of us celebrating Thanksgiving, the holiday is something of a gateway between seasons and celebrations. We feast with family and friends as we bid farewell to autumn and welcome in a new season of icy winter nights and the joy of Christmas.
With the end of the season looming, there is no better time to take a moment to revel in the majesty of autumn once more.
The Drink
In today’s Liquor Literacy, we will sing the praises of autumn one last time this year, toasting to its splendor with a cider-based drink that is quintessentially autumn—a Hot Apple Pie cocktail.
Related: An Ancient Greek Autumn | Liquor Literacy
A Literary Ode to Autumn
Though our forays into Liquor Literacy typically include a deep dive into the history of drinks, mythology, culture or other most fascinating subject that broadens my knowledge (and hopefully yours) in exciting ways, today we are forgoing such a dive in favor of simply celebrating autumn.
With all its startling beauty and atmosphere, it’s no question that autumn has oft been the subject of artists throughout all of history. Today we celebrate this wonderful season through the lens of writers and poets who captured pieces of its essence and their love for it with eloquent descriptions that mirror my own love of the season.
“Autumn…the year’s last, loveliest smile.”
―William Cullen Bryant
“There is something incredibly nostalgic and significant about the annual cascade of autumn leaves.”
―Joe L. Wheeler
“Is not this a true autumn day? Just the still melancholy that I love – that makes life and nature harmonise. The birds are consulting about their migrations, the trees are putting on the hectic or the pallid hues of decay, and begin to strew the ground, that one’s very footsteps may not disturb the repose of earth and air, while they give us a scent that is a perfect anodyne to the restless spirit. Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns.”
―George Eliot
“I love the autumn—that melancholy season that suits memories so well. When the trees have lost their leaves, when the sky at sunset still preserves the russet hue that fills with gold the withered grass, it is sweet to watch the final fading of the fires that until recently burnt within you.”
―Gustave Flaubert
“There is something in the autumn that is native to my blood—
Touch of manner, hint of mood;
And my heart is like a rhyme,
With the yellow and the purple and the crimson keeping time.”
―Bliss Carman
“At no other time (than autumn) does the earth let itself be inhaled in one smell, the ripe earth; in a smell that is in no way inferior to the smell of the sea, bitter where it borders on taste, and more honey-sweet where you feel it touching the first sounds. Containing depth within itself, darkness, something of the grave almost.”
―Rainer Maria Rilke
“Every leaf speaks bliss to me, fluttering from the autumn tree.”
–Emily Brontë
“If a year was tucked inside of a clock, then autumn would be the magic hour.”
–Victoria Erickson
“Wild is the music of the autumnal winds amongst the faded woods.”
–William Wordsworth
“Notice that autumn is more the season of the soul than of nature.”
–Friedrich Nietzsche
The Recipe
Nothing says autumn quite like a delicious homemade apple pie, especially on Thanksgiving. Mimicking the perfect balance between the warmth—in taste and temperature—of an apple pie and the sweetness of vanilla ice cream melting on top, this Hot Apple Pie cocktail perfectly captures the very best of autumn in a single sip.
This recipe originally appeared on What A Girl Eats
24 ounces of apple cider or juice
4 tablespoons of unsalted butter
6 teaspoons of light brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon of nutmeg
A pinch of ground cloves
4 ounces of Calvados apple brandy (1 shot per person)
Whipped cream
Directions
With all the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, it’s nice when the tipple that we plan to sip on throughout the merrymaking is one that requires very little effort with maximum results.
Soften the butter. Add the brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. Mix well.
Heat the apple cider (or juice) on the stove until very hot.
Add 1 1/2 teaspoons of the butter mixture to the bottom of each mug and pour the hot cider over it. Mix.
Add a shot of Calvados to every mug.
Top with whipped cream and a sprinkle of nutmeg and enjoy!
This recipe is especially fantastic and convenient because you can whip up some extra brown sugar butter and keep it in the fridge ready to pour hot cider over whenever it strikes your fancy. While it may sound off-putting to have a drink that has melted butter directly in it, I assure you it blends well and is delicious.
Pairs Well With
At this time of year, as autumn becomes winter and the world looks a little brighter in the glow of Christmas lights, the familiarity of cozy classics seems to beckon. With this Hot Apple Pie cocktail, nothing could pair better on a cold night.
Northanger Abbey
by Jane Austen
Catherine Morland is a young girl with a very active imagination. Her entry into the fashionable scene in Bath results in an invitation to stay with new friends at Northanger Abbey, but Catherine’s naivety and love of sensational novels lead to embarrassing and entertaining consequences.
Little Women
by Louisa May Alcott
As a New England mother struggles to support her family in the wake of her husband’s service in the Civil War, her four daughters struggle, too – caught between childhood dreams and the realities of burgeoning adulthood. For Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy March, raised in integrity and virtue, negotiating the right path in life means making choices that will either narrow or expand their destinies.
Based on the author’s life, Little Women transcends genre, gender, and class with its examination of personal quests, societal restrictions, family ties, and the end of innocence.
Wuthering Heights
by Emily Brontë
In a house haunted by memories, the past is everywhere … As darkness falls, a man caught in a snowstorm is forced to shelter at the strange, grim house Wuthering Heights. It is a place he will never forget. There he will come to learn the story of Cathy: how she was forced to choose between her well-meaning husband and the dangerous man she had loved since she was young. How her choice led to betrayal and terrible revenge – and continues to torment those in the present. How love can transgress authority, convention, even death.
I Capture the Castle
by Dodie Smith
Through six turbulent months of 1934, 17-year-old Cassandra Mortmain keeps a journal, filling three notebooks with sharply funny yet poignant entries about her home, a ruined Suffolk castle, and her eccentric and penniless family. By the time the last diary shuts, there have been great changes in the Mortmain household, not the least of which is that Cassandra is deeply, hopelessly, in love.
Note: I Capture the Castle isn’t a classic, but it is just as cozy and a perfect book to curl up and get lost in.
Final Thoughts
This Hot Apple Pie cocktail was fantastic and a definite crowd pleaser. The butter, brown sugar, and spices truly do transform the apple cider into something rich and delectable, especially with an added bit of warmth from the Calvados that is all balanced perfectly by the cool sweetness of the whipped cream on top. Simple to make but absolutely delicious, this drink will certainly be making more appearances on my long winter nights.
Happy Thanksgiving!