Autumn is the very best season—hands down. Disagree and I’ll fight you. Not really, but it’s hard to beat the crisp outdoors, the built-in nostalgia and the beautiful colors. So it’s the perfect time to relax a little bit with a fantastic cocktail and take a moment to bask in all the glory of the season. These six cocktails will help you do that.

Kentucky Mulled Cider
I LOVE apple cider. It may be that I was initially allergic to it for whatever reason as a really young kid. It may be the too hot to drink temperature I often experienced it at after a long day playing in a pumpkin patch or going on hayrides. Or maybe it’s just the fact that it’s a damn good drink. Whatever the reason, reaching the legal drinking age turns the whole apple cider game on its head. Maker’s Mark has their own specific recipe that they like to call the Kentucky Mulled Cider. Add 1.25 oz. Maker’s Mark to hot apple cider, add a dash of allspice, swirl it around with a cinnamon stick, and add a lemon for garnish. And sip that oh so tasty goodness.

The Autumn Russian
I don’t know if you’ve heard, but they’re pumpkin-spicing everything these days. They’ve even pumpkin-spiced a pizza. So it’s no surprise that Kahlua took the hint and came out with a seasonally appropriate, Limited Edition Pumpkin Spice Kahlua. Mix together 2 parts vodka with 1 part heavy cream and 1 part Pumpkin Spice Kahlua and enjoy. (I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about how The Dude would feel about this drink…he’s pretty zen, but he also likes his drink the way it is…I think the jury’s still out.)

Maple Bourbon Old Fashioned
Whiskey as a liquor has a built-in oakey base that already tastes autumnal to my palate, regardless of the season. With that said, here’s a great way to make a classic cocktail even better: the Maple Bourbon Old Fashioned. The recipe I found came from Delish.com and is essentially an Old Fashioned with some maple syrup mixed in instead of a sugar cube. Specifically, muddle up 2 oz. maple syrup with 1 oz. water and a dash of bitters, and then add ice and your choice of bourbon and garnish with a cherry. Voila.

Apple Cider Mimosas
You don’t need a summer’s day to enjoy a quality boozy brunch. Throw together a good cinnamon-sugar mix to garnish around the edges of your glasses (get the rims wet and then dip them lightly into the mixture). Pour the champagne flute about a fourth of the way with apple cider instead of orange juice and then top off the rest with champagne.

Mulled Wine
Okay no, wine isn’t technically a cocktail but it’s worth pointing out. It’s easy to stick with bringing a simple bottle of wine to dinner parties as we move into the season of Fall holidays, but why not do the extra work to bring something unique to the drinking game? There are too many different recipes online to include here, but a google search will point out that it’s essentially bringing wine to a light simmer with a variety of ingredients that suit your fancy. Typical mulling ingredients include tiny oranges, tangerines, clementines, lots of cloves, cinnamon sticks, cardamom, apple cider—but really whatever suits your fancy. You’ll likely have to let the mélange simmer for somewhere around 10 to 20 minutes, although you can let it sit up to two hours with a little reheating if you want to make it before you get to a host’s house.

Apple Brandy Hot Toddies
A hot toddy is a surprisingly versatile drink considering you can really vary the liquor to suit your personal tastes. In this case, try opting for an apple brandy (take a look at Cedar Ridge or Laird’s Straight Apple Brandy) and mixing in a dash of nutmeg and, per usual at this point, stir with a cinnamon stick.