Thursday cocktail

It's fall. The air is chilled, the ground echos with the sound of crunchy leaves and the mixed drink menus have been tweaked from tastes of summer mango mojitos to fall ciders and pumpkin brews.

As much as I adore the "Dark & Stormy" from Luxe (www.luxecleveland.com), a mixture of ginger beer, rum and lime...over the weekend I was flipping through the pages of foodie magazines and discovered what could be my favorite fall concoction; shaken not stirred called "a perfect storm."

Hope you enjoy!

1 vanilla bean
1/2 cup super fine sugar
1 ounce ginger beer (Reeds is the best!)
1 1/2 ounces apple cider
2 ounces dark rum

Split a vanilla bean lengthwise, scrape out the inside and add it to the sugar, stir until the sugar is speckled with bits of vanilla. Dip the rim of the glass in water, then in the vanilla sugar to coat. Mix the ginger beer, cider, & rum in a cocktail shaker. Shake. Pour over ice in prepared glasses. garnish with half the vanilla bean.

Sip slowly...it is super yummy! Happy cider. Happy fall. :)