With the changing weather and all the busy things going on in our lives during the fall, we wanted to share with you a few cocktails to settle down with when your day is finally done. We’ve also included a punch recipe for when you have friends over, and to finish it up, check out a barbecue ribs recipe — because ribs aren’t just for summertime cookouts.

Thunder Struck
courtesy of SOCIAL Costa Mesa, CA
1 oz. Novo Fogo Silver Cachaça
½ oz. Atlantico Reserve rum
1 ½ oz. smoked butternut squash purée
1 oz. Thunderking Chai cold brew
½ oz. cinnamon syrup
2 dashes Scrappy’s Bitters
1 egg white

Hard shake all ingredients, and double fine strain into large snifter over a big ice rock. Garnish with grated fresh cinnamon and one fresh sage leaf.

The Bold and Smokey
by Gabriel Rieben, Dullboy Bar
1 oz. Paul John Bold Whisky
1 oz. Stolen Smoked Rum
½ oz. Gran Classico bitter liqueur
½ oz. St. George Spiced Pear Liqueur

Stir all ingredients in a mixing glass with ice. Strain into a Nick and Nora glass, then serve.

Autumn Alexander
created by April Wachtel, CEO/Founder, Swig and Swallow
1 part Amarula
1 part bourbon
coffee dust
orange zest

Build ingredients in a mixing glass. Add ice, stir 20-30 seconds and strain over crushed ice. Grate coffee dust and orange zest over the cocktail as a garnish.

Cruzan Hot Buttered Rum
1 part Cruzan Single Barrel Rum
2 heaping spoonfuls batter
steaming hot water

Fill coffee mug 1/2 full with hot water. Stir in batter until dissolved. Add rum and top with steaming hot water. Serve with a cinnamon stick as a stir stick.

To make the batter:
1 lb. brown sugar
1/2 lb. salted butter
4 tsp. pumpkin spice seasoning
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Mix together in a pan and heat on medium, stirring until all the sugar is dissolved and you have a syrup consistency. Keep unused portions in the refrigerator for other cocktails or more of this one.

Orchard Hour
created by Allan Roth, Glenfiddich Ambassador
2 parts Glenfiddich 15 Year Solera Reserve
½ part Montenegro
¼ part Calvados
¼ part Amontillado Sherry
lemon twist, to garnish

Stir all ingredients except the lemon twist over ice. Strain into a coup glass or over one large ice cube in a rocks glass. Express a lemon twist over the drink and discard before serving.

Golden Pineapple
by Miguel Aranda of The Black Lodge
2 oz. BenRiach 10 Year Old Peated Curiositas
3/4 oz. lime juice
1/2 oz. walnut liqueur
1/2 oz. orgeat
1 oz. pineapple juice

Mix all ingredients and serve over crushed ice in a copper cup. Garnish with mint and a lemon peel.

Mai Tai Saga
by Chris Zulueta of Sylvain, New Orleans
2 oz. Mizu Shochu
1/4 oz. Orgeat
1/4 oz. Maraschino Liqueur
1/2 oz. Rothman and Winter Pear Liqueur
1 oz. lime juice
1 dash Bittermen’s Tiki Bitters
1 sprig of fresh mint for garnish

Combine all ingredients into a shaker with ice. Shake and strain over ice in a rocks glass. Garnish with the mint sprig and enjoy.

Solera Sidecar
by Joaquín Simó of Pouring Ribbons, New York
1 1/2 oz. cognac V.S.O.P.
1/2 oz. Lustau East India Solera Sherry
1/2 oz. fresh lemon juice
1/4 oz. Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao
1/4 oz. Lazzaronni Amaretto
1/4 oz. simple syrup

Combine all ingredients into a shaker with ice. Strain into a coupe glass. No garnish is needed.

Honey and Smoke
1 part honey simple syrup
2 parts Miel de Tierra mescal
2 parts ginger beer
juice from ½ lime

Combine simple syrup, mescal, and lime juice in tumbler. Shake for 10 seconds. Pour over ice and top off with ginger beer. Garnish with lime slice. Optional glass garnish: salt rim of glass with Jalapeño salt or sea salt.

To make the honey simple syrup:
1 part honey
1 part water

Boil water and pour over honey in a bowl. Whisk to combine.

“PSL” Smirnoff Caramel Punch
12 oz. Smirnoff Caramel Vodka
8 cups cream soda
pumpkin spice syrup
espresso syrup

Combine Caramel Smirnoff and cream soda in a larger pitcher or punch bowl. Add pumpkin spice syrup and espresso syrup to taste. Stir and add ice (if serving immediately). Garnish individual servings with a dash of cinnamon or a cinnamon stick.

If you prefer to make your own syrups:

Espresso Syrup
from Martha Stewart
½ cup brewed espresso coffee
¼ cup sugar
¼ cup water

Boil until the sugar is dissolved and you have a syrup consistency.

Pumpkin Spice Syrup
from OneSweetMess.com
1 1/2 cups water
3/4 cup light or dark brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/4 cup pumpkin puree
1 1/2 Tbsp. vanilla extract

Add water and both sugars in a medium saucepan. Simmer on medium-low heat until the sugar dissolves, about 4 minutes. Turn the heat down to low and whisk in cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and pumpkin puree. Simmer for 8 minutes, stirring occasionally. Do not allow the mixture to come to a boil. Remove from the heat and strain through a mesh strainer lined with cheese cloth or a very thin, clean tea towel.

Allow the syrup to cool to room-temperature before stirring in the vanilla extract. Store in a mason jar or airtight container. The syrup will last for 1 month at room-temperature or 3 months in the refrigerator.

Strongbow Gold Apple Smoked, Sauced and Spiked Ribs

Ribs
1 rack baby back pork ribs, 3 lbs. or less
1/2 cup BBQ spice mix
2 cups Applewood chips

Mop
1 cup apple cider vinegar
6 oz. Strongbow Gold Apple Cider
2 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
1 apple, thinly sliced
red pepper flakes

Strongbow Apple BBQ Sauce
6 oz. Strongbow Gold Apple Cider
5.5 oz. can tomato paste
1/2 sweet onion, finely diced
1/2 apple, finely diced
1/4 cup BBQ spice mix
1/2 cup applesauce
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
Kosher salt to taste

To prepare the ribs, rub them all over with the BBQ seasoning mix (available in the grocery market spice aisle). Wrap the ribs in plastic wrap and let set in the refrigerator for at least an hour, up to overnight.

Make the mop sauce by combining all ingredients in a glass jar. Place by the grill. (You can use the oven for this recipe as well but a grill works best.)

Prepare a charcoal or gas fire. If using charcoal, bank all the charcoal on one side of the grill. Arrange the grates so that you can add more charcoal without removing the cooking grate, if possible. Form a tray out of aluminum foil large enough to hold the wood chips. Sprinkle water over the chips. Place the chips by the coals or over a lit burner if using gas. The ideal temperature is 250 degrees. This is easier to achieve with gas, but with practice and patience can be achieved with charcoal.

When the chips are smoking and the grill has reached around 250 degrees, place the ribs on the coolest part of the grill (farthest from coals or burner), bone side down. Close lid. Monitor the temperature and the smoking chips, and apply the mop sauce every 15 minutes. If the chips get too hot and start burning, sprinkle them with water. Check on doneness after 90 minutes. The rib bones should be sticking out, and if the rack is held by tongs on one end they should bend, but not break. If unsure, smoke for another 30 minutes.

While the ribs are smoking, make the Strongbow Gold Apple BBQ sauce. Mix all the ingredients together in a saucepan and simmer on low for 15-30 minutes, depending on preference of thickness.

Let the ribs rest a minimum of 30 minutes, then cut the bones individually from the rack. Serve with the sauce and enjoy.