Spiced Pumpkin Flip

Pumpkins aren’t just for carving into jack-o’-lanterns and baking into pies. The orange gourd is also a great candidate for drinking. You’ve got your typical Pumpkin Spice Lattes, popularized at a certain coffee chain and reconfigured into cocktails. You’ve also got Pumpkin Spice Old Fashioneds and other recipes. At their worst, pumpkin drinks can be cloying and unbalanced, but at their best, they are delicious seasonal treats. The Spiced Pumpkin Flip lands squarely in the latter category.

This recipe from veteran bartender Naren Young features all the flavors of fall: bourbon, amaretto, and pumpkin in two forms—ale and butter—plus agave nectar and a whole egg, all topped with grated nutmeg. He says that he was inspired to create the cocktail after trying bartender Jim Meehan’s Great Pumpkin (rye, applejack, maple syrup, pumpkin ale and a whole egg) at PDT, the acclaimed New York bar.

Young changed the whiskey, scrapped the applejack and accented his version with amaretto’s trademark notes of almonds and stone fruit. The result is a rich, silky, effervescent cocktail loaded with pumpkin flavor, perfect for holiday parties or chilly evenings by the fire.