Seasonal cocktails often bring to mind the warm spices of late autumn and winter or the bright berries of spring and summer, but when it comes to early fall, Micah LeMon is inspired by fruits he can forage before working his cocktail magic to transform them into a masterpiece in a glass. Known for his work behind the bar at the James Beard-nominated Alley Light since its opening, as well as his informational book that’s a master class on cocktail-making, “Ounces, Drops, & Dashes” (previously published as The Imbible), LeMon loves to incorporate local nature into his hand-crafted goodness at the reputable speakeasy. But he also has some tips for home mixologists who are looking to infuse the flavors of the season into their drinks with often easy-to-find local fruits.
LeMon is a fan of foraging every season, but in early fall, he particularly likes to incorporate seasonality into his bar program. “It’s one of my favorite times of the year because you’ve got one foot in all of the produce of summer and another in a bunch [of other ingredients] that grow around here that you could make cocktails with,” he said.
Pawpaws are a go-to for LeMon at the tail end of summer and the early days of autumn, and if you’re lucky, you can still get a pawpaw colada from the bar even at the start of October, depending on how long the fruit can be foraged from the ground beneath their trees (they’re not ripe if they haven’t fallen). If you're a pawpaw fan, you can take inspiration from LeMon and create your own coladas at home.
However, if you’re looking for other options, LeMon has a few suggestions that home cocktail makers and enthusiastic foragers can lean into. Hardy oranges are one of his favorites, and while you can find them on your own throughout October, you can also plant them on your property and reap the rewards easily (though it will take quite a bit of time for the plants to mature and produce the fruit). Growing to a size similar to a golf ball, the musky, fragrant fruit grows well with little oversight. LeMon prefers to use it in a marmalade and to incorporate it with citrusy gins or mix it into a whiskey sour. Sip the drink solo, or pair it with anything you might dine on with white wine -- he recommends seafood like salmon tartare or dishes that incorporate fennel.
North American passionfruit, or the maypop, is another fruit that LeMon seeks out during the season. Clocking in at the size of a lime, sporting an outer papery skin, and boasting a flavor profile that can be akin to white wine, the fruit makes for an amazing citrusy aperitif and works well when infused in gin. They’re somewhat easy to forage, too -- Le Mon recommends looking near train tracks and roadsides.
The final early-fall fruit that LeMon loves can be a more challenging one to forage: elderberries. But if you do find them (or are able to source them from a local grower), they can be a stellar addition to a fall cocktail. LeMon uses them yearly in his “Doctor’s Orders," featuring elderberry, rye, Fernet Branca, and Punt e Mes vermouth.