Pumpkin Spice, Apple Pie and Brown Butter: Where to Find the Fall Cocktails New York Is Sipping Right Now

The first cold snap in New York has a way of rearranging your bar order. One minute it’s spritzes on a terrace; the next, you’re looking for something with brown butter in it and a booth to drink it in. This fall, the city’s best bars are ready for you, pouring pumpkin, apple, spiced pear, maple and chai into some of their most seductive seasonal cocktails yet. There’s a clarified pumpkin-and-añejo sipper at Employees Only, a pumpkin spice espresso martini flight at Foxtail in SoHo, a brown butter sidecar 50 floors up at José Andrés’ Nubeluz and a French toast cocktail at Double Chicken Please. All twelve spots serve drinks that taste exactly like the season.

Whiskey, Cognac and aged tequila give autumn its backbone, but there’s plenty of room for indulgence, too. Some of these drinks are limited-time seasonal specials; others are menu mainstays whose ingredients just happen to feel made for sweater weather. Either way, consider this your cocktail itinerary through the end of the year.

Photo Credit: Lizzie Munro

Superbueno

159 First Avenue, East Village

Superbueno’s seasonal specials include the Cafecito Frappecito ($20.50), a mix of reposado tequila, plantain and cardamom cold brew crowned with cascabel marshmallow. Coffee, spice and marshmallow make it one of the most joyful drinks of the fall lineup. For a darker, bittersweet finish, the Mole Negroni ($22.50) blends mole fat-washed mezcal with an amari blend, sweet vermouth and chocolate bitters.

Haute Living take: Start with the Frappecito, end with the Mole Negroni. That’s the whole evening sorted.

Menus and prices change frequently; confirm availability before you go.

Employees Only

510 Hudson Street, West Village

Pumpkin gets the white-glove treatment at Employees Only. The Last Leaf ($24) pairs Patrón añejo tequila with pumpkin, caramel and spiced pear liqueur, then clarifies the whole thing with coconut milk and serves it over a single large cube. It’s silky, crystal clear and nothing like the pumpkin drinks you’re bracing yourself for. With two of autumn’s signature flavors sharing one glass, there’s no better place to kick off the season’s cocktail circuit.

Haute Living take: Pumpkin spice, all grown up and wearing a tailored suit.

Little Ned at The Ned NoMad

1170 Broadway, NoMad

Little Ned makes a very persuasive case for spending an autumn evening in a deep booth with a strong drink. Start with the Seasonal Handshake ($23), which pairs Condesa gin with amazake, ginger, spiced pear and bitters. For something weightier, the Black Watch ($25) layers The Macallan 12 and Brugal 1888 with Pedro Ximénez sherry, brown butter, barley miso and tonka. The Green Line ($23) heads for the orchard with Monkey Shoulder, ice cider, green apple, Neversink aperitif and fennel pollen.

Haute Living take: Order the Black Watch and settle in. You won’t be leaving early.

Nubeluz at The Ritz-Carlton New York, NoMad

25 West 28th Street, NoMad

Brown butter and a skyline view turn out to be an excellent combination. At José Andrés’ Nubeluz, perched 50 floors above NoMad, the Brown Butter Sidecar ($26) pairs Pierre Ferrand Cognac with dry curaçao, apricot, brown butter and lemon. The Second Marriage ($27) is another autumn-ready order, blending Michter’s bourbon and eight-year-old Groult Calvados with Pedro Ximénez and Angostura and orange bitters. Agave loyalists should go for the Viejo Oaxaca ($28), which brings maple into a mix of reposado tequila, mezcal, lemon peel and hellfire bitters.

Haute Living take: Fall cocktails with the whole city at your feet. Go at golden hour.

Ophelia

Beekman Tower, 3 Mitchell Place, Midtown East

Apple and pear find an elegant home on Ophelia’s menu. À La Española ($22) mixes Neversink gin, Cocchi Americano, Stellare Aperitivo, clarified apple juice, spiced pear and elderflower tonic into a lively, carbonated cocktail. The Lower East Side ($22) takes a stronger approach, pairing Fort Hamilton rye with St. Elizabeth allspice dram, passion fruit, lemon and cinnamon. It’s the move when the evening calls for whiskey and warming spice.

Haute Living take: Art Deco glamour and a bubbly orchard cocktail. A very civilized way to welcome fall.

The Portrait Bar at The Fifth Avenue Hotel

1 West 28th Street, NoMad

The Portrait Bar’s travel-inspired menu offers several passports to sweater weather. Marrakesh ($25) blends beach plum gin with Nardini Mandorla, smoked cinnamon, lemon and egg white, making it the order for anyone drawn to aromatic spice. Kochi ($25) moves into whisky territory with Suntory Toki, Cynar, yuzu, star anise and sarsaparilla. Both bring a welcome sense of adventure to the autumn cocktail itinerary, with a gorgeous room to match.

Haute Living take: Travel the world without leaving NoMad. Smoked cinnamon is the souvenir.

Foxtail at Arlo SoHo

231 Hudson Street, SoHo

No bar on this list goes harder on apple season than Foxtail. The Apple Old Fashioned pairs Angel’s Envy with Honeycrisp apple, cinnamon and brown butter, while the Apple Sour features Código reposado, Granny Smith apple pie, marshmallow and lemon. The Apple Gimlet, with Botanist gin, apple cider, thyme and lemon, offers yet another route through the orchard. And for the espresso martini devotees, the Fall Espresso Martini Flight comes in orange, horchata and pumpkin spice, available individually or together as a mini flight.

Haute Living take: The orchard, the pumpkin patch and the coffee shop, all on one menu. Get the flight.

Sirrah

1 Little West 12th Street, Meatpacking District

The Appletini deserves a glamorous second act, and Sirrah is happy to give it one. The modern French steakhouse’s seasonal cocktail, simply called Apple, combines Granny Smith apples, fresh ginger, lemon, vodka and spices, finished with Hudson North Cider Co. sparkling apple cider. Partner Phil Zelonky pitches it as a contemporary revival of the nostalgic favorite, rebuilt with local apples and New York State cider. It’s a playful, very drinkable start to an evening of steak frites.

Haute Living take: The Appletini comeback you didn’t know you needed. Proudly New York–grown.

ATRIO at Conrad New York Downtown

102 North End Avenue, Battery Park City

For anyone whose ideal fall drink starts with rye, ATRIO’s Off the Clock deserves a spot on the list. Angel’s Envy rye meets sweet and ambrato vermouths, Amara Amaro and plum bitters, giving autumn’s dark-fruit and spice notes a sophisticated, spirit-forward expression. It’s exactly the kind of cocktail that tempts a devoted Manhattan drinker to try something new.

Haute Living take: For the Manhattan loyalist ready to stray, just a little.

Manhatta

28 Liberty Street, 60th Floor, Financial District

Sixty floors above the Financial District, Manhatta brings the orchard indoors. The Brooklyn ($22) combines George Dickel rye with Nonino, Dolin Blanc, Madagascar vanilla liqueur and spiced pear cordial. The Manhatta(n) ($22) is another fitting order, blending Wild Turkey 101 rye and bourbon with Cocchi Torino, raspberry, walnut and coffee bitters. Pear, vanilla, walnut and coffee give both drinks plenty of seasonal charm, along with an excellent excuse to make an evening of the bar.

Haute Living take: Sky-high views, seasonal spice and a very good reason to skip dinner reservations elsewhere.

Overstory

70 Pine Street, 64th Floor, Financial District

At Overstory, warming spice takes center stage. The Royal Bombay pairs whiskey with chai vermouth, falernum and tamarind, while the Five Spice Milk Punch blends rum, dry curaçao, peanut, sesame, five spice, lime and clarified milk. Both suit an autumn night beautifully, but start with the Royal Bombay: chai and whiskey are one of the season’s most compelling pairings.

Haute Living take: Chai and whiskey on the 64th floor. Fall, perfected.

Double Chicken Please

115 Allen Street, Lower East Side

Double Chicken Please’s food-inspired cocktails were practically made for autumn. The Waldorf Salad ($20) combines Dewar’s 12 and Laphroaig 10 with apple, celery, kale, soda and walnut bitters. For full indulgence, the French Toast ($22) brings together Grey Goose vodka, roasted barley, brioche, coconut, milk, maple syrup and egg. Apple and walnut, or maple and brioche: either way, you’ll want to linger.

Haute Living take: Brunch and nightcap in a single glass. Order the French Toast and thank me later.

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