I Fancy Myself a Bartender (sort of)

It's Friday! Let's talk alcohol. That seems timely and relevant, right?

Last fall I discovered a new cocktail at one of my favorite bars, Spider Kelly's (affectionately nicknamed Spider Kittens because I can't ever remember the name). SK's is a sports bar located in the popular/trendy neighborhood of Clarendon, in Northern Virginia. Regardless of the uppity feeling at some of the surrounding bars/clubs, SK's has figured out how to accommodate just about every type of patron. They have tons of TV's surrounding the bar, as well as pool tables, shuffleboards, video games and pop-a-shot nets scattered throughout. To balance out the sports theme, the interior is setup to feel more like a lounge – with dark lighting, loud music and comfy couches staged to look like a living room.

Ok, I wanted to give you a clear vision of the bar, but now that this sounds like a review for Spider Kelly's, let's get to the point of this post – the drinks you see in the picture above.

Spider Kelly's has an amazing cocktail list that is updated throguhout the year to feature seasonal favorites. I usually prefer a good beer over any cocktail, but their happy hour special, which just so happens to feature $4 cocktails, is too good to pass up! They make really good mojitos in the summer, but the drink that stole my heart is one of their fall specials called Spider Cider.

It's not something that I want year round, but it's nice to have a seasonal favorite to fall back on. When October rolled around this year, and we threw our Bocce Party, I wanted to offer a variety of options to our guests. We were already planning to have several types of beer on hand, and I've always liked the idea of offering a signature drink, so I thought Spider Cider would be the perfect addition to the menu.

Best part? It met all of my novice-bartending hosting requirements: it's really simple to make, the ingredients scream autumn, and the chunks of honeycrisp apple mixed in make it classy enough to serve at a party!

I also liked the fact that aside from the apples, I only needed three ingredients - spiced rum, ginger ale and apple cider (if you're like me, you'll want a shot glass too).

With most of November left to go, there is plenty of time to make this drink for your friends and family, or just for yourself! You could even bring it to a Thanksgiving gathering - especially if you want to make new friends. :) Either way, I hope you get to enjoy it before fall is over. It snowed here last week, so I'm a little worried about how much longer we'll get to enjoy the season before Old Man Winter takes over!

But enough with the small talk, let's get to the recipe for my version of Spider Cider .....

Susan's Spiked Cider

Inspired by: Spider Kelly's Spider Cider
Servings: 1 (or as many as you feel like making)
Prep Time: 5 minutes


1 (generous) shot of Spiced Rum
2 shots of Apple Cider
splash of Ginger Ale
1 Honey Crisp Apple, cored and diced

Core and dice the apple (if you can't find honey crisp apples, any sweet variety will work). Add a handful of ice and apple pieces to a cocktail glass. Pour one shot of spiced rum and two shots of apple cider into the glass. Top off with a generous splash of ginger ale. Enjoy!

Notes: I pre-chopped the apples and put them in a bowl with a little bit of lemon juice and water to keep them from browning. I also made the drinks one-by-one, but it would be just as easy to pre-mix the cider, rum and apples, and then just add a splash of ginger ale to the top of each glass as you serve them. And one small recommendation, we had a group of 8 people, but a gallon of cider was wayyyy too much - I would opt for the half gallon. :)