Why You’ll Love This Recipe
This big batch cocktail is easy to make for a crowd and captures the flavor of fall in a glass! Apple cider takes the lead, but its sweetness is balanced out with spicy ginger beer and whiskey barrel finished gin.
Happy Cocktail Friday! The first Friday of fall most definitely calls for this Harvest Apple Gin-ger big batch cocktail. This one is a great option for bringing to parties and entertaining friends all the way from Labor Day to Thanksgiving (and Christmas too if we’re being honest!). The liquor choice here may come as a surprise to some for a fall cocktail, but trust me on this one, y’all. And read on to see why!
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Booze Options!
I tested this recipe out on my friends with a whole slew of liquors like bourbon, rum, rye, and vodka (not all at the same time!). We eventually settled on gin as the clear winner! Riddle me surprised.
Something about the botanicals in gin really worked here, and I think the Rabbit Hole Distillery Bespoke Gin I used was an absolute perfect fit since it’s finished in rye whiskey barrels. That finishing process mellows out the gin and adds a little bit of whiskey-like depth that is just right for this cocktail without overpowering the other ingredients.
Here are a couple other great options:
- Barr Hill Tom Cat Barrel Aged Gin – Another gin finished in bourbon barrels that brings the best of both worlds – perfectly complex and delicious for this fall cocktail.
- Maker’s Mark Bourbon – Made with wheat instead of rye, this bourbon tends to be mellower and sweeter than ones that use rye. This makes it great for drinks like this one since it’s less likely to overpower the other flavors.
Ingredients and Substitutions
Here are the key ingredients you’ll need to recreate this Harvest Apple Gin-ger Cocktail:
- Apple cider – I recommend the fresh apple cider that you find in the produce section of the market, not the shelf stable stuff you find in the “inner aisles” with the shelf stable juices.
- Ginger beer – I love the light version made by Fever Tree. It still has a lot of spice to it but with less sugar and calories.
- Gin – This might seem like a strange choice for a fall cocktail, but this was my favorite booze for this cocktail after lots of testing. See above for more details and recommendations!
- Thyme & cinnamon simple syrup – Okay, so not a single ingredient, but still an easy one that takes just a few minutes to make and about 10 minutes to rest and steep. All you need is water, sugar, fresh thyme, and cinnamon sticks. Save some extra thyme and cinnamon sticks for garnishing the pitcher and glasses.
- Blood orange – I love the color of blood orange to go into the pitcher and glasses for garnish, but they also help impart extra flavor as the cocktail sits, kind of like sangria. Regular oranges will work too.
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Big Batch Cocktails: Harvest Apple Gin-ger
Ingredients
- 32 oz apple cider
- 18 oz Fever Tree Refreshingly Light Ginger Beer
- 15 oz Rabbit Hole Bespoke Gin, (see notes)
- 5 oz fresh lemon juice
- 4 oz thyme and cinnamon infused simple syrup, (recipe in notes)
- 1 small blood orange, sliced
- 4 cinnamon sticks, (plus more for simple syrup)
- 4-6 sprigs fresh thyme, for serving, (plus more for simple syrup)
Instructions
- Add all ingredients except ginger beer and thyme to a tall pitcher. Refrigerate overnight to help develop the best flavor.
- Just before serving, add ginger beer and stir well. Serve over ice, garnished with fresh thyme sprigs, cinnamon sticks, and apple and blood orange slices.
Tips & Tricks
- Thyme and cinnamon infused simple syrup: Add 1/2 cup granulated sugar and 1/2 cup water to a small pot. Bring to a boil and stir to dissolve sugar. Remove from heat and add 2 cinnamon sticks and 2-3 thyme sprigs. Cover and steep for 10-15 minutes, then set aside to cool.
Nutrition Information
For my macro trackers out there, I wasn’t able to create a My Fitness Pal barcode for this recipe since I would have had to decide for you whether to put the alcohol calories in as carbs or fats – that’s up to you! The 20 grams of carbs listed here are just for the carbs/sugar in the apple cider, simple syrup, lemon juice, and ginger beer. For my non-macro trackers, here’s more info on what I’m talking about.
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