MORRIS AMERICAN BAR: COCKTAILS

We recently spent an afternoon with the team at Morris American Bar (Washington, D.C.). Like many establishments, in recent months they’ve made a seasonal shift toward featuring more autumn/winter flavors. Their fall drink menu artfully bridges the gap between the end of this wild year and snowplows a path right into winter.

Helmed by Beverage Manager Doug Fisher, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a more nimble crew of mixologists in the District. They lean hard into innovation, often producing some of the most creative concoctions West of the Potomac River.

Here’s a few of their favorites to cozy up to at home in front of a fire or an episode of Schitt’s Creek (yea, we’re fans).

Ingredients:

• 2 oz Laird’s Applejack Brandy
• Sugar Cube (Preference for Domino Dots, which are cut to precision, unlike other brands that can produce clumpy iterations).
• Bitters
• Soda Water
• Orange Peel (Optional)

The Deets:

1. Drop the sugar cube into a mixing glass and saturate the cube with bitters (Hack: Add a bar spoon of club soda can loosen up the sugar)
2. Use the back of a muddling spoon (or any flat bar tool) to mix into a solution. The solution will be a bit grainy, which is expected
3. Add brandy (Hack: Fill to the top edge of the measurer), stir and strain into a collins glass
4. Lower a large block of ice, followed by 5 or 6 stirs
5. Peel and twist a slice of orange for the finish. The proper technique calls for squeezing the peel between your fingers over the glass before rubbing around the rim

Ingredients:

• 1 oz Apple Cider
• ¾ oz Lemon Juice
• ¾ oz Cinnamon Simple Syrup (Hack: Buy cinnamon flavored apple cider. And, if you go this direction, you’ll need to double the measurement)
• ½ oz Pear Brandy
• Club Soda

The Deets:

1. Make cinnamon syrup: boil a quart of water and drop in 5 sticks of cinnamon for taste, leaving them to steep for 8 minutes. Add an equal weight of granulated sugar. As a rule, it’s always better to go light than heavy on the sugar
2. Add syrup, ice, lemon juice, apple cider, pear brandy, and blended scotch, to a mixing glass, shake, and strain into a collins glass
3. Add a bit of club soda for the finish

Ingredients:

• 1.5 oz Bourbon
• 1 oz Apple Cider
• ¾ oz Ginger Syrup (Hack: Ginger Beer)
• ½ oz Lemon
• ½ Amaro
• Dash of Bitters
• Club Soda

The Deets:

1. Add bourbon, apple cider, ginger syrup, lemon, amaro, and bitters a mixing glass and strain into a collins glass
2. Add a block of ice and a pour of club soda

Ingredients:

• 1.5 oz Cognac (Mixers Choice)
• ¾ oz Lemon Juice
• ¾ oz Orgeat
• ½ oz Spiced Pear Liqueur
• Egg White

The Deets:

1. Separate egg white from yolk and add to a mixing tin
2. Add lemon juice, orgeat, spiced pear liqueur, and cognac
3. Dry shake (a shake without ice) ingredients. Make sure to give it a long shake to facilitate emulsification and aeration
4. Add ice to mixing tin and give it a second long shake, then drain into a glass