Fall in a mason jar
When the first real chill hits, this is the drink we reach for. The Southern Spell is an apple cider rum cocktail with a cinnamon sugar rim, a squeeze of lime, a little fizz from ginger beer, and a ruby swirl of cranberry that bleeds down through the glass.
It looks like a showstopper, but it is built in one jar with no shaker. Pour, stir, add ice, and finish with a sprig of rosemary and a crisp apple slice. It is the kind of drink that works on a porch swing, at a tailgate, or on the Thanksgiving bar cart.
The base is Six & Twenty Dark Rum, a spirit from Greenville, South Carolina, which gives this recipe a true Southern backbone.
About Six & Twenty Dark Rum
Six & Twenty Distillery got its start in 2011 in the Upstate of South Carolina and now operates out of the Poe West facility in the West Greenville village of Greenville (WSPA 7NEWS). The name nods to the distillery’s original location, about 26 miles from the start of the 96-mile ride of Issaqueena, the Cherokee legend who raced to warn her love of an attack.
The distillery makes rum, gin, vodka, and whiskey, and says the grains used in its distilled products are grown in South Carolina. Its distillery listing notes that tours are available (Whiskeylore).
If you cannot find the Dark Rum nearby, any good dark rum with warm, caramel-leaning notes will work in this recipe.
Southern Spell recipe
Makes 1 cocktail. Built in a mason jar.
Ingredients
- Cinnamon sugar and brown sugar simple syrup, for the rim
- 2 oz Six & Twenty Dark Rum
- 1/2 oz fresh lime juice
- 6 oz apple cider
- 2 dashes Angostura bitters
- Ice
- Splash of ginger beer
- 3/4 oz cranberry juice
- Apple slice and fresh rosemary sprig, for garnish
Instructions
- Rim the jar. Dip the rim in brown sugar simple syrup, then press it into cinnamon sugar.
- Pour in the rum, then the lime juice and apple cider.
- Add 2 dashes of Angostura bitters and stir.
- Fill the jar with ice.
- Top with a splash of ginger beer.
- Slowly pour in the cranberry juice so it swirls down through the drink.
- Garnish with an apple slice and a sprig of rosemary.
Tips for the best Southern Spell
Rim first, pour second. Rimming the empty jar keeps the cinnamon sugar crisp and stops it from dissolving into the drink.
Pour the cranberry last. Adding it after the ice and ginger beer lets the color settle into that sunset gradient instead of turning the whole drink pink.
Use a good cider. Fresh-pressed or cold-pressed apple cider tastes brighter than shelf-stable juice, and it carries the drink.
Serving a crowd. Stir the rum, lime, cider, and bitters together in a pitcher ahead of time (multiply each amount by the number of guests). Rim the jars, pour over ice, and add the ginger beer and cranberry to each glass as you serve so the fizz stays lively.
Want a zero-proof version? Skip the rum and use a little extra cider with the lime, bitters, ginger beer, and cranberry. The rim and garnish do the rest.
When to serve it and what to pair it with
The Southern Spell fits any cool-weather gathering: football Saturdays, oyster roasts, fall porch evenings, Friendsgiving, and holiday open houses. The cinnamon rim and rosemary garnish make it look at home on a Thanksgiving table.
For food, think salty and savory. A charcuterie board with sharp cheddar, pimento cheese, and country ham, spiced pecans, or warm cheese biscuits all play well with the apple and cinnamon notes.
