Pepper and Pie Thanksgiving Cocktail

If you’re searching for a warm way to welcome your Thanksgiving guests on Thursday, look no further than an autumnal Pepper and Pie Cocktail from Watershed Distillery. On a recent culinary tour of Columbus, Ohio, I had the chance to sample the local spirit-maker’s small-batch bourbon, gin and vodka, as well as cocktails from Alex Chien, bar manager of the soon-to-open Watershed Kitchen & Bar. Everyone raved about Alex’s refreshing cocktail made with tomato water, grapefruit, tarragon and Watershed’s Four Peel Gin (which, in addition to the usual juniper, is made with four citrus peels: orange, grapefruit, lemon and lime).

I’ve been craving Chien’s creative craft cocktails ever since, so I asked him to share a drink recipe with Healthy Eats especially for Thanksgiving entertaining. His Pepper and Pie Cocktail harnesses fall’s best flavors — warming bourbon, apple cider, pumpkin puree, fresh apples and rosemary — in a single glass that drinks splendidly alongside holiday fare. It’s the perfect drink to greet guests with when they arrive for your Thanksgiving feast, or to make for yourself when you finally start the dishwasher and kick up your feet at the end of the night.

Pepper and Pie Cocktail
Yield: 1 serving
Recipe courtesy of Watershed Distillery

1 1/2 ounces Watershed Distillery Bourbon
1 ounce apple cider
3/4 ounce lemon juice
1/2 ounce honey simple syrup*
2 pinches rosemary, plus 1 sprig for garnish
1 barspoon pumpkin puree
Cracked black pepper, to taste
Soda water
1 apple, sliced, for garnish

Add bourbon, apple cider, lemon juice, honey simple syrup, rosemary, pumpkin puree and black pepper to a cocktail shaker and shake.

Fill a Collins glass with ice and strain cocktail into glass. Top with soda and stir.

Garnish with a rosemary sprig and an “apple fan” with cracked black pepper.

*Make honey simple syrup by combining two parts honey and one part water in a saucepan and heating until honey has dissolved.

Photo courtesy of Watershed Distillery

Per serving: Calories 141; Fat 0 grams (Saturated 0 grams); Cholesterol 0 milligrams; Sodium 1 milligram; Carbohydrate 12 grams; Fiber 0 grams; Sugars 10 grams; Protein 0 grams

from Healthy Eats – Food Network Healthy Living Blog http://ift.tt/2gGvYD7