Birds, Books and Bourbon

Cooler temperatures, colorful foliage, festivals, holiday decorating and celebrations. While I don’t love the shorter days nor the back-to-school traffic, Autumn is my favorite time of year. The hummingbirds will soon be making their long trip south to be replaced by pine siskins and warblers at my feeders. At every coffee shop and fast-food restaurant, pumpkin spiced drinks are back in rotation and although I am not usually a pumpkin spice afficionado, this inspiration for my new cocktail turned out to be a surprising success. It has taken some strong self-control not to make one every day this week, it is that yummy.

Before the fall birds arrive, I wanted to revisit one of my favorite birds, the brown thrasher. Thrashers are sexually monomorphic, with the males and females having a physical appearance not easily distinguishable from each other. They have a reddish-brown dorsum with a speckled belly, long curved bill, and a yellow eye. They are related to the Northern mockingbird and have a similar extensive repertoire of unique and imitated bird songs. They eat mainly insects, fruits and nuts though may grab an occasional lizard, snake, or tree frog.

Some cool facts about the brown thrasher: They will fiercely defend their nests, even attacking humans and dogs strong enough to draw blood. They are the largest hosts of the parasitic cowbird though will often recognize the usurper eggs and knock them out of their nests. They are often secretive and shy birds, though they seem relatively comfortable with our back deck set up and are common visitors here.

I believe this one to be a juvenile who has not developed the yellow eye color yet.

My bourbon pumpkin spice cocktail went through several iterations – I wanted to combine some fall flavors and not make an overly sweet dessert drink, but rather one I could enjoy in the afternoon with my bird time. My first attempt included an apple brandy from Catoctin Creek, VA – a lovely addition but my husband forbade me to use up any more of his precious apple brandy so I had to try another ingredient for my follow-ups 🙂 I think any brandy or cognac could work or you leave it out altogether, but I think I found a winner in B&B (Benedictine and Brandy). I have not seen this blend be used in any other cocktails before in my searches online, but it really works here and adds a warm note.

Gather your ingredients: Bourbon (I used PiggyBack), B&B, maple syrup, half-and-half, canned pumpkin puree, cocktail shaker with ice, kitchen scale (not shown) or jigger/measuring spoons.

For the rim and garnish, I made a delicious concoction using the ingredients above: Maple syrup, crumbled graham cracker, cinnamon sugar, pumpkin spice, nutmeg, and cinnamon stick. You can use a martini or coupe glass, but my cinnamon stick kept disappearing in those deeper glasses, so I ended up using the sour glass pictured above.

I accompanied my delicious treat with a light romcom about a woman whose family owns a pumpkin patch, her crush on an Orlando Bloom pirate look-a-like in high school, and the real life romance they develop fifteen years after the fantastic story she writes about the “Rogue Pirate” defines her life thereafter. It’s cute and fun, though she does objectify poor Reese in an embarrassingly non-PC way that makes me cringe a bit. Overall, A Pumpkin and a Patch by Jennifer Peel is still worth a read. Enjoy, and remember to please drink responsibly 🙂