Drink Recipe: Pumpkin Spice Mai Tai
Gaby Mlynarczyk, the beverage director and general manager at Birch in L.A., blends her love of Chinese five-spice with classic pumpkin spice mix for her absinthe-spiked version of a mai tai.
The result is a warming, slightly spicy and licorice-sweet drink that makes you feel like you're wearing a big fuzzy sweater, thanks to the addition of mouth-numbing Sichuan peppercorns.
To learn more, read "The Great Pumpkin Spice."
Recipe adapted from Gaby Mlynarczyk, Birch, Los Angeles
Pumpkin Spice Mai Tai
Upgrade your pumpkin spice with a little heat and funk, then mix it into this herbal, earthy mai tai.
Prep Time
10
minutes
Cook Time
0
minutes
Servings
1
cocktail
Total time: 10 minutes
Ingredients
- For the Pumpkin Spice Mix
- 4 teaspoons cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon ground dried Sichuan pepper
- ½ teaspoon ground star anise
- For the Cocktail
- 1½ ounces white rum (such as Cruzan)
- 1 ounce fresh-squeezed lime juice
- ¾ ounce Pierre Ferrand dry orange curaçao
- ½ ounce orgeat syrup
- ¼ ounce absinthe or Herbsaint
- ½ teaspoon pumpkin spice (above), plus extra pinch for garnish
- Mint sprig, for garnish
- Ice
Directions
- Make the pumpkin spice mix: In a small container, combine all of the ingredients.
- Make the cocktail: In a cocktail shaker, combine all of the ingredients and fill with ice. Shake until chilled and fine-strain into a crushed-ice-filled double old-fashioned glass. Sprinkle a pinch of pumpkin spice on top, garnish with a mint sprig and serve.