I made more pumpkin pie infused vodka to take to a Thanksgiving dinner yesterday, but after I strained out the pumpkin goop through coffee filters, I found it didn't taste at all like the other two batches I'd made. It didn't taste like cinnamon and baked pie; it tasted like plain old pumpkin. And honestly, that's kind of yucky on its own. I think I know what I did wrong- I didn't stir the pumpkin pie mix before I added it to the vodka in the first place. All the good artificial flavorings must have been in the bottom part of the can.
So with ten minutes to go before I had to leave for Thanksgiving dinner, I started experimenting with all of the mixers in my bar. I tried it with dry vermouth, sweet vermouth, powdered cinnamon, soy milk, tonic, and various bitters. Nothing was working, so in an act of desperation I mixed it with the chai tea-in-a-box I'd bought to try to recreate the spiced chai rum drink from Medjool.
Chai tea and pumpkin vodka was absolutely fantastic. The chai gave the drink enough of the spicy flavors to take the edge off the raw melon of the pumpkin, and the pumpkin mellowed the black tea harshness of the chai. Together it was a great fall cocktail. As a bonus the drink is the color of apple cider, so it even looks the part.
The drink was a surprise hit at Thanksgiving dinner, with people switching from wine to the cocktail once they tried it. I ran out by the end of the night. Not bad for a drink created in ten minutes.
Camper's Pumpkin Chai Cocktail
1 part ice-cold pumpkin pie infused vodka (scoop pumpkin pie mix into a jar of vodka, seal, let sit for one week in the freezer, strain through a coffee filter).
1 1/2 parts chai tea. I used the Tazo chai tea that comes in a box similar to soy milk, found in my local convenience store.
Mix together and serve up in a martini or wine glass.
