This rum-based martini is the perfect finish to any round — and any meal

Welcome to Clubhouse Eats, where we celebrate the game’s most delectable food and drink. Hope you brought your appetite.

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Nothing punctuates an epic holiday gathering like a rich and flavorful nightcap. Kris Vickrey is the lead bartender at Constantino’s — an elegant, members-only restaurant at Desert Mountain in Scottsdale, Ariz. — and he’s conjured up a concoction that’s sure to impress every guest at the table.

The Autumn’s Apple features a chocolate rim dipped in graham cracker crumbs and a heady mix of spiced rum, Grand Marnier, cinnamon-vanilla agave and heavy cream to give the cocktail its seasonally appropriate snowy-white hue. Adding a splash of sparkling apple cider before serving gives the drink a bubbly, fluffy lift and its namesake apple taste.

Vickrey added the cocktail to the seasonal beverage menu at Constantino’s for the first time last year, and the drink was such a hit that he says it will make a return engagement this fall and winter season.

“The inspiration was apple pie and ice cream,” he says. “This is a fun one to bring out when all the members are bringing back their families. It’s the perfect way to close the night off.”

The Autumn’s Apple pairs well with the hearty fare served around the holidays. Prime rib is a great choice, Vickrey says, as are other family-gathering staples like veal, steak, turkey and even spaghetti and meatballs. Accompaniments like mashed potatoes and asparagus also pair well.

Lifestyle

While the ingredients and prep for the Autumn’s Apple may look intimidating, Vickrey says you don’t have to be too prescriptive.

“The beautiful thing about making cocktails is how flexible you get to be with them,” he says. “If you don’t have all the ingredients at home to make it, you can be creative. If you want to do a sugar rim instead of a graham cracker rim, do that. If you want to use a caramel dipping sauce on the rim rather than chocolate, that tastes fantastic too.”

The heavy cream can also be subbed for a nondairy product like oat milk, Vickrey says.

“That’s the fun part about my job,” he adds. “You get to be flexible.”

Autumn’s Apple cocktail

-3 cloves
-3 cinnamon sticks
-1 tsp vanilla extract
-Agave syrup
-1 oz spiced rum
-1 oz Grand Marnier
-1 oz heavy cream
-Splash of sparkling apple cider

Garnish: Chocolate, crushed graham crackers, cinnamon sugar, apple slice

Take a chilled martini glass and dip the rim in a prepared chocolate sauce, then add crushed graham crackers and cinnamon sugar. Set aside. Add cloves, cinnamon sticks and vanilla extract to the agave syrup. Mix to make cinnamon-vanilla agave. Add 1 ounce to a cocktail shaker, followed by the rum, Grand Marnier and heavy cream. Shake well and strain into the prepared martini glass. Top with a splash of sparkling apple cider, then garnish with apple slice.