Paradis Cocktail and Autumn Wassail Recipes

While the kids may have their fun-size treats, the grown-ups can raise a glass to ghouls and zombies with cocktails that mix in the flavors of the season.

While the kids may have their fun-size treats, the grown-ups can raise a glass to ghouls and zombies with cocktails that mix in the flavors of the season.

The apple-and-spice-flavored Paradis cocktail highlights the rich and oaky complexity of Cognac. And the Wassail, the early American cocktail precursor originally made with mead and honey, offers its imbiber a comforting experience, whether served cold for those bright days of early autumn or hot for the latter part of the season.

And grown-ups can have it all, really—Now what fun-size treat from the pile of candy would pair with these…?

Recipes by Ryan Magarian with Chad Solomon and Christy Pope appeared in Drinks magazine.

Paradis

Makes 1 cocktail

1 1/2 oz. Hennessy Cognac
1/2 oz. Velvet Falernum
1/2 oz. fresh lime juice
1/4 oz. simple syrup*
1 oz. unfiltered apple cider
Garnish: fresh grated nutmeg, dried apple ring

Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake vigorously, then strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with fresh grated nutmeg and an apple slice on the rim.

*To make simple syrup, combine equal parts water and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat and stir until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and let cool, store in sealed container, and refrigerate.

Hot and Cold Autumn Wassail

Makes 1 cocktail

1 1/2 oz. rum, bourbon, or applejack
3 or 4 oz. wassail mix (see recipe below)
Garnish for Hot Autumn Wassail: clove-studded orange wedge
Garnish for Cold Autumn Wassail: granny Smith apple slice

To make a Hot Autumn Wassail, add spirit of your choice to a large mug and top with 4 ounces of wassail mix. Garnish with clove-studded orange wedge.

To make a Cold Autumn Wassail, add spirit of your choice and 3 ounces of wassail mix to a cocktail shaker, then fill it with ice. Shake vigorously, then strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with the apple slice.

Wassail Mix

1 quart apple cider
1 pint unsweetened pomegranate juice
1/2 c. sugar
1 c. freshly squeezed orange juice
3/4 c. freshly squeezed lemon juice
3 cinnamon sticks
1 tsp. whole cloves
1 tsp. whole allspice

Combine all ingredients in a pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for at least 1 hour or until all ingredients are well incorporated.

In her role as Senior Editor on Greenspring’s Custom Publications team, Mary leads Real Food magazine, the nationally syndicated publication distributed through our retail partner grocery stores. She also leads editorial on the nationally syndicated Drinks magazine and writes a weekly blog post focusing on food and drinks for MinnesotaMonthly.com. She rarely meets a chicken she doesn’t like, and hopes that her son, who used to eat beets and Indian food as a preschooler, will one day again think of real food as more than something you need to eat before dessert and be inspired by his younger brother, who is now into trying new foods.