When the scent of crisp fallen leaves perfumes the air, it’s time to offer your customer base beverage options to warm their spirits. Pumpkin-spiced everything floods the market this time of year, and it’s easy to understand why. Pumpkin-spiced drinks are warming and delicious, but that familiar combination of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and clove isn’t the only fall flavor worth exploring.
Developing new flavor trends for fall is a challenge. If ever there was a time to celebrate nostalgia, the season of apple harvests and trick-or-treating is it. Fall beverage trends rely on new twists on comforting autumnal favorites like the ones explored in this article.
Spiced Pomegranate
The natural tartness of pomegranate juice makes the perfect base for a fall drink that refreshes and warms at the same time. Spicy additions like fresh ginger and cinnamon transform plain pomegranate juice into a hot or cold beverage that’s sure to go viral.
Warmed, spiced pomegranate juice is a great non-alcoholic replacement for mulled wine, or it can be mixed with classic ingredients to create an entire menu of cocktails and mocktails worthy of the season.
Maple Craft Cocktails
For pancake lovers, maple syrup is an all-season must, but incorporating maple flavors into the fall cocktail line-up is an innovative use of a traditional flavor profile. Maple works especially well with dark spirits like Cognac or whiskey.
Whether substituting maple syrup for simple syrup in a classic old fashioned or using a maple-infused liquor to create something entirely new, craft cocktails with a splash of maple flavor are on-trend this fall.
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Lactose-Free Pumpkin Nog
Nothing trends harder in the food and beverage world than a delicious, decadent treat that everyone can enjoy, even those with food allergies. The creamy consistency of oat milk and real pumpkin puree gives this lactose-free drink the thick, rich texture expected from any beverage worthy of the name “nog.”
Like traditional nog, the lactose-free version can be enjoyed hot or cold and “spiked” or not. but unlike traditional nog, this trendy drink won’t leave anyone feeling bloated or uncomfortable.
Spiced Apple Cider Float
Warm apple cider is as wholesome and wholly satisfying as a fall beverage gets, but it’s not exactly innovative. However, a spiced apple cider float has “Instagram hit” written all over it. With classic vanilla ice cream or something more adventurous like salted caramel, an apple cider float could be the new fall dessert everyone needs to try.
Of course, like all innovative flavor ideas, this idea is also versatile. A shot of rum, Cognac, or bourbon turns this dessert drink into a seasonal adult treat that will have everyone asking, “What pumpkin spice?”
Related: Seasonal Food and Beverage Trends
Ginger Hot Chocolate
Who doesn’t love a sweet, creamy mug of hot chocolate? It’s the favorite of fall hay rides, and it makes the perfect post-haunted house warmup treat. Adding the spicy undertones of ginger to hot chocolate elevates the classic drink and reintroduces it to a trend-chasing generation that may have thought they’d outgrown this childhood stable.
Ginger is also considered to be a superfood of sorts. It is well-known for its anti-nausea and anti-inflammatory properties and is a rich source of antioxidants. Incorporating healthy ginger root into a nostalgic cup of cocoa adds extra appeal.
Mixing It All Together
The best spiced fall drinks start by being delicious, but flavor alone isn’t always enough to grab a consumer’s attention. Putting a new spin on an old favorite drink builds the kind of fresh excitement that could make these spicy innovations the next big drink on everyon
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