I awoke this morning to discover that over the weekend the jack o’ lanterns that had invaded stately Monkey Manor have been replaced by their smooth-faced cousins. On further inspection I actually found that several of them had merely turned their faces to the wall revealing their unmarred backsides, which gave me some comfort. I just feel better with adaptation and evolution over wholesale replacement. Still, with our devils relegated to the top shelf in my office and our skeletons back in their closets there is no denying that is is indeed fall, y’all. Yes, I know we set a high temperature record here in the sultry Autumn of middle Tennessee today, but the leaves have changed and it was crisp in the early morning, so with a nod toward evenings sitting around the bonfire to come, won’t you join me now as we stand and make the Angel Face.

Despite the name, this one really is an ode to fall. It was created by Harry Craddock around 1930 and documented first in his The Savoy Cocktail Book. I have been digging through some of the older books lately thinking about Fall menus and this one jumped out at me with an intriguing blend of gin with apple and apricot brandies and it’s use of a shaken preparation, contrary to bartending norms. I want to enjoy this one with the daylight savings time hastened sunset, so let’s dispense with the formalities and get to making.

I was drawn to this one as an equal parts cocktail. I don’t know what it is, but there is something so appealing about the symmetry of an equal parts build. That said grab your shaker tin and toss in 1 ounce of a dry gin, I went with Beefeater; 1 ounce of Apricot Brandy, I chose Luxardo; and 1 ounce of apple brandy, I broke out a particularly nice bottle of Laird’s “Old” Apple Brandy that is aged 7 1/2 years and has a really deep apple flavor. Add some ice and go for a nice shake to the beat of Tom Waits’ classic “Please Call Me, Baby“. When it is well chilled and you’ve got some good dilution going on strain into a chilled coupe, spritz a little cinnamon tincture over it and serve.

Oh, that is nice. Everything just plays so well together. It is booze forward, obviously, but nicely balanced. Normally, an all alcohol drink is stirred, but I see why he instructs us to shake this one, you get a little more dilution and I think it enhances the mouthfeel, emulsifying things rather than just mixing them. The cinnamon tincture was my own addition, but I like how it brings out the autumnal notes and enhances the apple. Definitely a solid addition to any Fall menu and a nice twist on the accepted norms. There is a reason so many of these elder drinks have survived.

I love this time of year, the bounty of the harvest, that low angle golden light, just about everything appeals to me. Well, not having that sunset at 5 PM, but you get the gist. Of course, we all know that the sun is setting in its own time and that the number on the clock is just politicians trying to manage nature. I know they mean well, but it does feel like they may be out of step with the modern world and maybe a little less interference in how our daily lives play out and a little more looking out for each other might be a better use of their time.

Autumn is a time of transition and that is not lost on me this election eve. I heard someone say earlier that they were “nauseously optimistic” and that seems about right. Normally, I would say that with tomorrow’s vote we should get some resolution one way or the other. That with the die cast it would all be over but the crying, but as we have seen, it seems like the crying goes on longer than the contests these days. I hope that when the dust settles, we can move on from the hate and division and get back to seeing our neighbors as fellow citizens and more importantly, fellow humans. Too many profits have been made these last few years trying to make people forget just how much we have in common and how much we have to lose when we lose sight of those ties that bind us together. I don’t have a lot of faith in that result, but I do have hope and sometimes that has to be enough. So, with a nod to Lincoln’s famed “better angels of our nature” I am going to sit back and enjoy the sunset while I try to remember that it also holds the promise of a new day to come. So raise your Angel Face to unity and stay safe, stay hydrated and stay sane, my friends.