Fall Mocktail with Ginger Beer

Whenever I serve cocktails, I make sure there’s a mocktail on the table too, so everyone has something festive to sip. In the fall, that means apple cider with bubbles. This fall mocktail starts with that pairing and adds ginger beer for a spicy kick. Fresh lime and orange keep it bright, and every glass gets a cinnamon stick.

Bubbly apple cider was always on the table at our family dinners through the fall, and at Thanksgiving it was a must. Some years my grandpa and I were the only ones drinking it, and we still went through a lot of it. These days I’m satisfied with a mimosa with apple cider from brunch into the evening, and a mocktail, like this one, belongs right next to it for anyone skipping the champagne.

On Thanksgiving, this is the drink I’d set beside a roasted turkey. It works on the dessert table too, next to warm upside-down apple tarts. For the rest of the menu, my Thanksgiving recipes cover the sides and the pie.

How It Comes Together

The order matters more than the timing here. Stir the maple syrup into the cider, orange juice, and lime juice first. Nothing fizzy is in the mixer yet, so the maple dissolves completely. Drop two cinnamon sticks into the base, then add the ginger beer last and stir gently. Shaking or stirring hard once the ginger beer is in knocks out the bubbles you bought it for.

The ice goes in the glasses, not the mixer, so it doesn’t water down the base while you finish the garnish. Pour as soon as the ginger beer is in. The cinnamon comes through more as aroma than flavor. That’s why each glass gets its own stick, right under your nose.

The full ingredient list, measurements, and steps are in the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post.

Ingredient Notes

• Apple cider: Fresh-pressed cider is wonderful here, but I have a hard time doing anything with it besides drinking it straight. Store-bought cider works well too.
• Orange juice: Fresh-squeezed or bottled both work. Blood orange juice is a good swap and gives the drink a deeper color.
• Limes: You’re buying whole limes for the garnish anyway, so squeeze the juice fresh from one of them. Lemon juice works if that’s what you have.
• Maple syrup: I used to sweeten drinks like this with honey, and it didn’t mix in the same way twice. Honey that has started to crystallize won’t dissolve in cold juice unless you warm it first. Maple syrup stays pourable and stirs right in, so it’s what I use now. If honey is all you have, make sure it’s super fresh or warm it for a few seconds before adding it.
• Ginger beer: Use ginger beer, not ginger ale. Ginger ale is a milder, sweeter soda, and it doesn’t give this drink the body it needs. Don’t get the two confused! Heat varies a lot by brand. My friend Susannah at Feast + West taste-tested a dozen ginger beers and rated each one for spice. For mocktails, she points to the middle of her scale, around 4 to 6 out of 10, where Bundaberg sits.
• Cinnamon sticks: You need four. Two go into the base and one goes into each glass.
• Apples: Honeycrisp or Fuji for the garnish. Both are crisp, juicy, and sweet. Slice them thin.

How to Serve a Fall Mocktail

At Thanksgiving and fall family dinners, pour it into chilled glasses as everyone sits down. Bubbly cider always went fast at our family dinners, so plan on refills. Keep the base cold and top each new glass with fresh ginger beer when someone asks.

For a fall brunch, set it out with pumpkin pecan waffles. For a pretty splash of red, add fresh cranberries on a cocktail pick, the same finish I use on my cranberry lime spritzer.

For a bigger group, scale up the base with the multiplier on the recipe card and mix it as guests arrive. Keep it in the fridge. Pour it over ice one glass at a time and top each one with ginger beer. The last glass comes out as bubbly as the first.