October brings falling leaves, Halloween plans and, of course, pumpkin spice latte everything. The Lazy Snitch takes this ubiquitous fall treat that comes from generations of traditional meals with family and friends and makes it your own again.
This cocktail hails from the espresso martini by Dick Bradsell – the famed British “cocktail king” — in 1983 and straddles the line between a sidecar and a daquiri. Today we take that elegant, popular tipple and bend it to our tastes with bitters, an infusion, and your choice of espresso.
For the infusion, I selected a high quality but inexpensive vodka. The infusion ingredients include a pie pumpkin, which I washed and halved before scooping out the innards — keep the seeds for a roasted snack – while dicing half the pumpkin and pureeing the rest to make a pie. A small handful of whole cloves, four or five cinnamon sticks, two vanilla beans split and scraped, and three whole nutmegs cut in half round out the mix. I used a sous vide and heated the infusion at 145 degrees for 10 hours before straining the mixture back into the original vodka bottles. If you do not have a sous vide, a large mason jar will suffice but the mixture needs to be in a cool, dark place for up to two weeks before straining. Now you have pumpkin spice vodka.
On to the cocktail!
The Lazy Snitch
The Tools
- A shot of espresso or cold brew
- Cocktail shaker
- Measuring jigger
- Hawthorne strainer
- Champagne coupe
- Chill the glass in the freezer ahead of time.
To a cocktail shaker
- 1 shot of espresso or 1.5 oz. of cold brew
- 1 dash cherry bark vanilla bitters
- 1 dash cardamom bitters
- 3 drops Crude Big Bear bitters
- 3 drops Crude Attanwanhood No. 37 bitters
- .5 oz. rich demerara syrup
- .5 oz. Buffalo Trace Bourbon Cream
- .5 oz. St. George NOLA Coffee Liqueur
- 1.5 oz. Pumpkin Spice Infused Vodka
The Process
Fill your shaker with ice and shake hard! The espresso has a crema component that becomes quite frothy.
Strain your cocktail into your chilled glass, leaving some room at the top, and you’ll notice it cascades and separates into a liquid portion and a foamy portion.
Rinse your shaker and pour a couple ounces of heavy whipping cream and half an ounce of simple syrup into it.
Take the spring off your hawthorne strainer, toss it into the shaker, and shake to whip the cream to your desired consistency.
Remove the spring and pour on top of your cocktail.
Garnish with fresh ground nutmeg and cinnamon.
Enjoy!
The Tools
