Your Espresso Martini Needs A Pumpkin Upgrade This Fall

As of 2023, the espresso martini was the second-most popular cocktail out there, according to results from Liquor.com. It's safe to say that although these drinks have been trendy for quite some time, they're not going anywhere — and people will be ordering and sipping on them well into the fall. And yet, with all the fun beverages of the season, we don't blame you if you're craving a little something extra to make this martini feel like autumn.

To get advice on how to best upgrade yours in the coming months, we turned to Camille Wilson, author of "Free Spirit Cocktails: 40 Nonalcoholic Drink Recipes" and content creator at The Cocktail Snob. According to Wilson, an espresso martini is the perfect drink to give a pumpkin twist. "One way to give an espresso martini a fall twist is by adding pumpkin spice," she said. "Additionally, adding a spice element like cinnamon, ginger, clove, and nutmeg could really elevate the espresso martini." Since we know coffee and pumpkin go together like peanut butter and jelly (as evidenced by the infamous PSL and Starbucks Reserve's 2023 pumpkin spice espresso martini), Wilson's tip is a delicious, yet easy, way to combine these flavors at home.

To follow Wilson's advice for a pumpkin spice boozy beverage, you'll want to add the ingredients for your espresso martini to a cocktail shaker like you normally would. Then, dump in half a teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice. If you don't have a shaker of the premade blend yourself, you can make the combination from scratch using cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, allspice, and black pepper. If you want to add more of one of the spices Wilson suggests, throw it in the shaker too. Cloves will add more of a pungent taste to your drink, ginger will bring slightly spicy warmth, and cinnamon or nutmeg will make your martini even more reminiscent of a fall dessert.

But if you're not a huge pumpkin fan, never fear — there are a couple of other directions you can take this beverage for a fall twist. In lieu of pumpkin spice, Wilson advises adding brown sugar or maple syrup. Just like with the spices, you'll instead want to pour up to 1 ounce of your syrup of choice in the cocktail shaker (depending on how sweet you want your glass), although you can also try half an ounce of each. Whichever upgrade you go for, finish your martini off with a healthy dose of (possibly pumpkin) whipped cream, along with some cinnamon or pumpkin spice if you enjoy those flavors.