Mixing Up Cocktails You Can’t Resist This Fall

October 31, 2023
Spicy hot pumpkin punch or sangria in a glass with apple, cinnamon, anise. Halloween and Thanksgiving. Traditional autumn, winter drinks and cocktails - fall cocktails

If you’re looking to savor the flavors of autumn, the Metro Detroit area has quite a few spots to choose from when it comes to fall cocktails. With the perfect combination of warmer flavors and cooling temperatures, you can fully embrace the seasonal changes with a drink or two. Whether you’re a fan of bourbon-infused cocktails or prefer something sweet with a hint of maple syrup, you’re in for a treat. From classics with a twist to innovative cocktails, there’s a drink to suit every palate. Find out which places are celebrating the Michigan seasons in style…

THE UPRIGHT

2921 East Grand Boulevard, Detroit

With fall well underway, The Upright is celebrating its first anniversary with a new menu to toast to. “Bar Manager Jacob Feitler maintains an extensive menu, featuring sippers under four categories: Familiar Faces (cocktails everyone knows), Historic Treasures (obscure classics), Island Escapes (beachy drinks), and Originals to the bar. In honor of their anniversary, The Upright is dropping a new cocktail menu, which dazzles and delights. Standouts include the Rahjah, a clarified milk punch with jasmine flower infused botanist gin, Cointreau, Cocchi rosa, and lemon juice, the Choco Flip with Remy Martin 1738, house creme de cacao, Averna, Grand Marnier, and whole egg and the seasonal Fall of Eden with buffalo trace bourbon, watershed apple brandy, honey syrup and bitters. For those taking part in Sober October, Feitler added four cheeky mocktails to try – like the Na-rgarita, Placebo, and Strawberry Faux-jito.”

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seasonal cocktail from the uprights new menu with fall cocktails
Photo courtesy of The Upright

FEAST 

30400 23 Mile Road, Chesterfield

This modern American restaurant located in Chesterfield has over a dozen seasonal cocktails that range from light and refreshing to rich and bold. Feast’s highlights for fall flavors include the Cousin Eddie, which features brown sugar bourbon, hazelnut liquor, and cinnamon, Sweater Weather with ginger whiskey and Blake’s apple cider, and Bah Humbug with gingerbread syrup, Templeton 4yr rye whiskey, and angostura and orange bitters. 

THE SKIP

1234 The Belt, Detroit

The Skip, located in The Belt Alley, is a great Al Fresco Bar option when you’re downtown. Seasonal offerings include Frequently Obtuse, which has chai-spiced rum and apple brandy, Unsolicited Advice, with bourbon, lime, and herbal cranberry syrup, and the Spiced Maple Old Fashion, which features rye whiskey, spiced maple and angostura bitters, topped with a cinnamon sugar donut. 

MESA TACOS AND TEQUILA

312 South Main Street, Royal Oak

Mesa Tacos and Tequila is known for its margarita flights, freak shakes, and tacos, of course. This season’s available cocktails certainly live up to their reputation. The margarita flight includes Pumpkin Spice frozen, Caramel Apple Butter frozen, Black Cherry on the Rocks, and Blackberry on the Rocks. Other drinks include the Vanilla Cream Soda, with Captain Morgan, vanilla spice, cola, and cream, the Key Lime Martini, which has Bubbas Burnt Sugar Whiskey, Rum Chata, and a graham cracker rim, or the Seasonal White Russian, with choices from pumpkin spice, salted caramel, and regular.  

SUPERGEIL

2442 Michigan Avenue, Detroit 

Supergeil’s cocktail menu is extensive and seasonally inspired. They have more than a dozen original creations that range from light and refreshing to rich and bold. Highlights for fall flavors include Sweater Weather, a charred eggplant Canadian rye with Spanish vermouth, fig, black pepper tincture, angostura, shawarma tincture, and brandied fig, and Dawn of Eternal Night, which is Mezcal, bitter rhubarb, pajarette, coffee liquor, orange liquor, capsaicin, and cinnamon tincture. 

This article has been updated to include new information. The original article was published on October 10, 2022, and was authored by Katie Goncalves.

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