James Davis / Cocktails / Pumpkin Spiced Old Fashioned

Pumpkin Spiced Old Fashioned

Pepita Bourbon · Apple Brandy · PSL Syrup · Angostura

Recipe by Miles Macquarrie / @lois_must_die — Kimball House, Atlanta

Every autumn Kimball House had run a pecan old fashioned. When Macquarrie finally retired it, he did so with intention — pivoting to the inevitable, unavoidable pumpkin spice, but on his own terms. This is not a flavored-vodka gesture. This is a sous vide pepita-infused bourbon, a hand-built PSL syrup from whole spices, and a pumpkin spice black tea extract that goes on as three sprays over the finished glass. The result is the platonic ideal of the drink the coffee shop menu is trying to describe.

Pumpkin Spiced Old Fashioned in a diamond-cut crystal rocks glass with deep amber bourbon over ice

Freezer-Door Batch (1L)

The three-component house build (pepita bourbon, PSL syrup, tea extract) seems like a lot of prep. It isn't — the bourbon infusion takes 2 hours active plus a day in the freezer to clarify, and the syrup keeps for months. Once the components are built, this is the simplest drink in the batch program.

12 oz
Pepita-Infused Bourbon
150g toasted pepitas sous vide into 1L bourbon, 140°F/2 hrs — see recipe below
5 oz
Laird's Applejack
Apple brandy, 40% — orchard warmth, dried fruit
2 oz
Cream Sherry
Amontillado or cream style — nutty, oxidative
2 oz
PSL Syrup
House-made from whole cinnamon, ginger, allspice, clove — see below
4 oz
Filtered Water
Pre-dilution
20 drops
Citric Acid Solution
10% solution — brightens without adding citrus flavor
32 dashes
Angostura Bitters
Classic aromatic bitters — the backbone
Pumpkin Spice Tea Extract
As needed for service
3 sprays per glass at service — see recipe below
Combine pepita bourbon, Laird's, cream sherry, PSL syrup, water, citric acid, and Angostura in a 1L swing-top bottle.
Seal and refrigerate overnight. Keeps up to 3 weeks.
To serve: pour approximately 3.5 oz over a large cube in a diamond-cut rocks glass.
Spray pumpkin spice black tea extract 3 times over the surface of the finished drink.
No garnish beyond the spray. The aroma is the experience.

Pepita-Infused Bourbon

Sous vide fat-wash technique. Use a mid-shelf bourbon — something with enough backbone to hold the infusion (Buffalo Trace, Elijah Craig). Yield: approximately 750ml.

Toast 150g raw pepitas (pumpkin seeds) in a dry skillet over medium heat until golden and fragrant, about 5 minutes. Cool.
Combine toasted pepitas and 1L bourbon in a vacuum-seal bag or zip-lock with air pressed out.
Sous vide at 140°F (60°C) for 2 hours.
Transfer to a container and place in the freezer overnight — the fats will solidify on the surface.
Strain through cheesecloth, removing all solidified fat.
Bottle and refrigerate. Keeps 3–4 weeks. Should be clear with a warm amber color and a roasted, earthy aroma.

PSL Syrup

Whole spice simple syrup. No extracts, no shortcuts. The flavor is noticeably more complex than commercial pumpkin spice syrups. Yield: approximately 500ml.

Combine 60g cinnamon sticks (broken), 30g fresh ginger (sliced), 5g allspice berries, and 5g whole cloves in a saucepan.
Add 2 cups sugar and 1.5 cups water. Bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat.
Stir until sugar dissolves. Reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes.
Remove from heat and cool completely — at least 1 hour. The spices continue to infuse as it cools.
Strain through fine mesh sieve. Bottle and refrigerate. Keeps 3 months.

Pumpkin Spice Black Tea Extract

A concentrated aromatic spray — not meant to be tasted on its own. 3 sprays per glass at service. Requires a small atomizer spray bottle. Yield: approximately 100ml.

Combine 20g Tazo Pumpkin Spice black tea with 100g bourbon in a vacuum-seal bag.
Sous vide at 140°F (60°C) for 2 hours.
Strain through fine mesh, then cheesecloth until clear.
Transfer to a small atomizer spray bottle.
Refrigerate. Keeps 2 months. Use 3 sprays directly over the surface of the finished drink at service.

Single Serve

1.25 oz
Pepita-Infused Bourbon
Sous vide toasted pepitas, 140°F/2 hrs
0.75 oz
Laird's Applejack
Apple brandy
0.25 oz
Cream Sherry
Nutty and oxidative
0.25 oz
PSL Syrup
House-made whole spice syrup
5 drops
Citric Acid Solution
10% solution
4 dashes
Angostura Bitters
3 sprays
Pumpkin Spice Tea Extract
At service — see below
Combine all liquid ingredients in a mixing glass over ice.
Stir 30–35 rotations until well-chilled.
Strain over a large cube in a heavy rocks glass.
Spray pumpkin spice black tea extract 3 times over the surface.
Serve immediately.

Why This Drink Exists

The pecan old fashioned had been a Kimball House autumn institution. Swapping it out meant replacing a beloved drink with something equally serious. Macquarrie chose pumpkin spice because he could: not as a capitulation to seasonal coffee culture, but as a demonstration that the flavor profile — warm spice, gourd earthiness, dried fruit — is genuinely sophisticated when built from real ingredients.

Pepitas (pumpkin seeds) sous vide into bourbon bring a roasted, earthy, slightly sweet note that's adjacent to the spirit's grain character rather than fighting it. The PSL syrup is built from whole spices — bark cinnamon, fresh ginger, allspice berries, clove — not a spice extract or flavoring. The black tea extract carries the aroma into the drink without adding liquid volume, which would dilute the spirit-forward structure.

Macquarrie noted plainly: "It's just a winter spiced old fashioned. But it's my drink and I call it what I want." That's the right energy. The name is a provocation. The drink earns it.

The Flavor Arc

First sip: Bourbon, slightly earthier than expected — the pepita infusion rounds the grain notes and adds a faint roasted nuttiness. Angostura bitters arrive immediately.
Mid-palate: The apple brandy opens up the dried fruit register. The PSL syrup reads as warmth and spice rather than sweetness — cinnamon and ginger, not sugar.
Finish: The pumpkin spice tea extract is what you smell, not taste, but it shapes the finish. Long, warm, slightly tannic from the tea. The cream sherry leaves a quiet nuttiness at the end.

What Each Ingredient Brings

Pepita-Infused Bourbon

Toasted pumpkin seeds sous vide in bourbon at 140°F for 2 hours, then frozen to crash the fats and strained. The fat-wash process extracts roasted, earthy flavor compounds while the freeze-and-strain removes the oils that would cloud the liquid.

The pivot ingredient. Without the pepita infusion, this is a spiced old fashioned. With it, the drink has a textural and aromatic grounding that connects to the gourd theme without using gourd.

Laird's Applejack

American apple brandy, a blend of apple distillate and neutral grain spirits. Historic category — Laird's has been producing it since the 1700s in New Jersey. 40% ABV.

The apple brandy bridges the bourbon to the spice syrup. It contributes dried fruit warmth without adding sweetness, and its lighter body balances the pepita bourbon's earthiness.

PSL Syrup

House-made from whole spices — cinnamon sticks, sliced fresh ginger, allspice berries, and whole cloves — simmered into a rich simple syrup. See recipe below.

The spice architecture of the drink. Built from whole spices rather than extracts, the syrup has natural complexity — each spice is distinct rather than blended into a generic 'pumpkin spice' note.

Pumpkin Spice Black Tea Extract

Tazo Pumpkin Spice black tea sous vide infused into bourbon at 140°F for 2 hours (20g tea per 100g bourbon). Used as an aromatic spray only — 3 sprays per glass.

Aroma delivery. The brain interprets smell as taste, so spraying the extract over the glass changes the perceived flavor of the drink without altering its composition. The tea's spice notes prime you for what you're about to drink.

Variations to Explore

Rye Substitution

Replace pepita bourbon with a high-rye whiskey (Rittenhouse, Pikesville). Sharper, spicier — the pepita earthiness is gone but the spice backbone gets louder.

More confrontational. Better for rye lovers who find bourbon too soft.

Mezcal Version

Replace Laird's with a reposado mezcal. The smoke adds a barbecue-pumpkin dimension that's genuinely interesting.

Polarizing. Either the best thing you've had or a mistake. Worth trying once.

No Tea Spray

Skip the pumpkin spice extract if you don't have it. The drink loses the aroma layer but still works as a well-spiced old fashioned.

Simpler. Still very good. The spray is the performance element, not the foundation.

Macquarrie was right: this is exactly what pumpkin spice is supposed to be. The coffee shop gets it wrong because they're working with flavoring. He built it from the ground up.

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