Here, cocktails inspired by the many comforting tastes of the season.

 

Tis the season! Autumn is soon upon us and it’s time to up our cocktail game, considering the holidays are right around the corner! And, although we mix a mean Gin & Tonic – if we do say so ourselves – we defer to the true mixologists for some fresh inspiration. So we asked the bartenders at the InterContinental Toronto Centre, one of the city’s favourite watering holes to give us their secret recipes.

Featuring the warm colours and flavourful tastes of the season including fruits such as pomegranates and pears, and spices like ginger, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg, the Azure Restaurant & Bar (inside the International), has brewed three cocktails that taste as good as the feeling of wearing a sweater on a crisp autumn day. Cheers!

Scroll through these recipes to recreate these tipples from the comfort of your own home.

 

Recipe: Pear Smash

Ingredients

2 oz. Dillons Pear Eau Vie

1 can of pear

1 oz. of lemon juice

1 oz. Ginger/Thyme infusion

 

Directions

First prepare the Ginger/Thyme infusion.

Ingredients:

4 half-an-inch-thick ginger slices

5 roasted cardamom pods

2 thyme sprigs

8 oz. of sugar

8 oz. of water

Directions: Bring water and sugar to a boil, add spices, simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from heat and cool down. Keep in the fridge for up to two weeks.

Muddle ingredients and shake. Pour over ice cubes into a rock glass. Garnish with a slice of pear and thyme sprig.

 

Recipe: Pom & Port Martini

Ingredients

1 oz. Taylor Fladgate Port

1½ oz. Absolute Mandarin Vodka

1½ oz. Pomegranate Juice

½ oz. Simple Syrup

1 bar spoon of Lemon Juice

Directions

Add Taylor Fladgate Port, Absolute Mandarin Vodka, Pomegranate Juice, Simple Syrup and Lemon Juice in a cocktail shaker. Shake over ice and strain into a Martini Glass. Garnish with Pomegranate seeds and lemon wheel.

 

Recipe: Blood Orange Sparkler

Ingredients

2 oz. Tanqueray Gin

1 oz. Cinnamon, Clove and Nutmeg Syrup

1 oz. Lemon Juice

2 oz. Blood Orange puree

2 oz. Sparking water

Directions

First prepare the Cinnamon, Nutmeg and Clove Syrup.

Ingredients:

1 four-inch-long cinnamon stick broken in small pieces

1 bar spoon of nutmeg

5 cloves

8 oz. sugar

8 oz. of water

Directions

Bring water and sugar to a boil. Then add in cinnamon sticks, nutmeg and cloves, and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from heat and cool down. Keep up to 2 weeks in the fridge.

In a cocktail shaker, add all ingredients. Shake and strain. Pour over ice in a highball glass. Garnish with lemon/orange slices and star aniseed.

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