Great Pumpkin, the cocktail and the story

Evelyn wasn’t sure how she ended up bartending at The Hollow Hearth on Halloween night—especially after a disastrous Tinder date earlier that day. But there she was, wiping down counters, when she spotted the dusty bottle. The Great Pumpkin, the faded label read.

She had heard the legend: it was the fall cocktail, but only the worthy could taste its magic. Most thought it was an old tavern myth, but Evelyn? She was in a mood.

"Why not?" she muttered, grabbing a glass and pouring the glowing amber liquid. The first sip was like drinking autumn: cinnamon, nutmeg, a touch of maple. Then everything around her shifted. The room dimmed, and a man in an old-fashioned coat strolled in, looking like something out of a Jane Austen novel...

No, that's now how this happened. I just made all that up. The Great Pumpkin cocktail was created by Jim Meehan and served at New York City’s PDT, combines several autumnal elements into one rich cocktail that epitomizes the best of fall flavors.

INGREDIENTS

2 ounces pumpkin ale (such as Southampton)

1 ounce Laird's bonded apple brandy (or any apple brandy)

1 ounce Rittenhouse bonded rye (or any rye)

1/2 ounce grade B maple syrup

1 whole egg

DIRECTIONS

Add the pumpkin ale, apple brandy, rye, maple syrup and whole egg into a shaker and dry-shake (without ice) vigorously.

Add ice and shake again until well-chilled

Strain into a chilled Fizz glass.

GARNISH

nutmeg, freshly grated