Guy Fieri's 3-Ingredient Fall Cocktail Is The Perfect Cozy Drink

The mayor of Flavortown, Guy Fieri, might be famous for finding all the best diners, drive-ins, and dives, but the Food Network star also likes a well-made drink when the weather starts getting chilly. If you're looking for something cozy to sip as the spooky season gets closer, and you want something a little stronger than beer made with pumpkin, all you need is three simple ingredients to make Fieri's American Pie cocktail: whiskey, apple liqueur, and cranberry juice.

Fall is the perfect time to make a whiskey drink because brown, barrel-aged spirits have rich, complex flavor profiles with notes of vanilla and caramel that pair well with fall flavors like apples, ripe red fruits, baking spices, and gourds (which is why it's the perfect liquor when making a pumpkin spice espresso martini). You probably already have at least two of the ingredients to make an autumnal sipper like Fieri's; just scour the fridge for some cranberry juice, reach for your favorite blended whiskey, and hit the liquor store for some apple liqueur.

It's super easy to make an American Pie cocktail like Guy Fieri, simply combine some type of mellow whiskey or aged bourbon with apple liqueur and cranberry juice. You can modify the most common cocktail ratio, which is also known as the golden rule or the golden ratio, of 2:1:1 — two parts spirit, one part sweet, and one part sour. In this case, you'll use equal parts of whiskey and liqueur (two parts), and then an equal amount of sweetened cranberry juice, which is both sweet and sour. If you're using unsweetened cranberry juice, use half the amount of juice and make up the other half with simple syrup.

The basic components of Fieri's fall concoction will make a perfectly lovely drink, but there's also plenty of room to make it even more interesting with other fall flavor variations. You can add a splash of apple cider, for instance, for a little more fresh apple essence. You could also make a spiced simple syrup by steeping a few cinnamon sticks and a ball of nutmeg in the mixture while it's still hot. The classic mixture of baking spices will complement the naturally occurring flavors in the whiskey, and it'll make your cocktail a little extra cozy. Use sliced apples as a garnish or some frozen cranberries to keep things nice and chilled.