Fall has fallen and with it comes the familiar flavors of things like cider donuts, candy corn, and of course — caramel apples. Apples and fall go together like cinnamon and nutmeg, so I thought it would be a fun challenge to make a caramel apple-inspired cocktail. The result is sweet, nutty, and unlike any cocktail I’ve personally had before (and I’ve had a lot…).

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CARAMEL APPLE-INSPIRED COCKTAIL

INGREDIENTS

1 ½ ounces of apple schnapps (No, not the neon green pucker kind — I recommend Siegburg Apfel from Germany.)

½ ounce of butterscotch schnapps

½ ounce of bourbon

½ ounce of amaretto

1 teaspoon caramel dip

1 tablespoon October or fall-themed sprinkles of your choice

1 king ice cube

DIRECTIONS

First, you’re going to want to rim your glass. Here’s how:

On a small plate, pour out your sprinkles

Using a silicon spatula or something similar, coat the rim of your glass with the caramel dip to make it sticky for the sprinkles

Dip your rim in the sprinkles and rotate to make them stick

Place the king cube in glass

In a mixing glass with ice add:

1 ½ ounces apple schnapps

½ ounce butterscotch schnapps

½ ounce bourbon

½ ounce amaretto

Stir and strain over king cube in your festive glass

This is a soft, sweet drink. The apple schnapps on its own has a nose like regular apple juice and a straight-forward palate of apple as well, so that really brings a lot of the fruit’s flavors on the first sip, then you taste the butterscotch, bringing the necessary caramel notes of this flavor-profile endeavor. The bourbon offers a dry stiffness, keeping the drink from being overly sweet — it mellows the sugars and brings woody and toffee characteristics without demanding centerstage. Finally, taking the place of nuts and sprinkles comes the nutty amaretto at the end of each sip and of course your sprinkled, caramel-coated rim.

So, if you have a special place for caramel apples in your heart, but no time for a chipped tooth, try mixing this instead.