Snickerdoodle

It's fall time, and that means time for fall cocktails! I've been playing around with Becherovka cocktails, and this one is great for a crisp autumn evening. There's a lot of cinnamon, but enough cookie and ginger that it tastes more like a snickerdoodle than a cinnamon stick. It's not sweet, mind you, but somehow it still tastes like a cookie. This is a golden ratio recipe; it might have been too boozy, but there are enough spices in the Becherovka that you don't notice the alcohol. Recipe after the jump.

Czech Friend

I tried this drink twice, first as part of my spurt of becherovka cocktails, and then later with a few changes. It's basically a twist on the Old Pal, with the ingredients lightened up to allow the Becherovka to shine through. The first version was good, if a little simple. There was lots of cinnamon, enough that I thought it needed something to cut the cinnamon, maybe something sour. So the second time, I added a couple dashes of lemon bitters. The lemon bitters definitely help make this cocktail. There are definite cinnamon flavors still, but they don't overwhelm the rest of the drink. It's not robust enough to be a winter warmer, but it's a nice drink for a summer night. Recipe after the jump.

Tasha's Uncontrollable Laughter

I bought some Becherovka lately, and I've been experimenting with it a bit. So if there's a surfeit of posts involving it, you know why. Becherovka is a Czech herbal liqueur, invented by a shopkeeper named Josef Vitus Becher, who had 16 children. Like most liqueurs, it's complex, but there's a strong cinnamon flavor and an undercurrent of anise. It's a bit more mixing friendly than most liqueurs, and so the experimenting hasn't been too hard on me.


My first concoction is a saucy little thing. It's very tasty and complex. I used bourbon to give it a decent backbone without overpowering it with the spiciness of a rye. A strong gin might be a good base spirit as well. I added some burlesque bitters balances out cinnamon. This resulted in a flavor mildly reminiscent of an Atomic Fireball, though the complexity of the Becherovka prevented it from becoming too candy-like. Recipe after the jump.