Hairy Movember has come and gone but the spirit (pun intended) of the cheeky mustaches remain. At the Spare Room at the Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood, the bartenders were wearing mustaches of the fake variety. Though some already had mustaches, they still put the fake ones on. Loved that!

Here are some recent Autumn cocktails I tried.

I love sherry in cocktails and the Sherry-Netherland is a great one to try. It features Alfonso Oloroso Seco Sherry, Assam Tea-infused Bols Genever, red grapes, lemon wedge, nutmeg and bitters. Although it came on crushed ice like something you’d want during the summer, the long drink was perfect to start our evening with. I like this drink incorporates a few favorite ingredients like tea and grapes.

My friend got the Running Leap (bonded bourbon, apple cider, house made rosemary liqueur, maple syrup). I liked that it was served with a (fake) Autumn leaf that smelled liked something you would slip in your lingerie drawer (yes, that means it smelled purty). I like the idea of the apple cider in this drink. It gave it a slight fizz without too much carbonation.

We are in Hollywood after all so Fifteen Minutes of Fame (Chardonnay eau di vie, Imbue vermouth, pear, grapefruit, cinnamon) was appropriately named. We got mini versions of this one. I would love to see more “taster” size portions of cocktails in the future. It’s like a shot…but not.

I do so love sitting at the bar. You never know what bartender shenanigans will happen.

Next my friend chose the Thanks, Grandma! which was a popular Fall drink from a previous menu. The creamy drink has Jamaican rum, hazelnut and allspice liqueurs, cinnamon-spiced pumpkin, cream and nutmeg. It was pretty much like drinking a pumpkin pie. That’s good for someone like me who drinks her desserts.

From the regular menu, we got the Fernet Egg Cream to end our happy night. We got two straws so we could be dorks and drink from it at the same time. Trust me, you don’t want to see the pictures of that. What I liked about this cocktail was another trend- getting back to the soda jerks days when Prohibition started and a lot of bartenders became soda jerks. Of course now we can have booze again so Fernet-Branca is appropriately incorporated into this Egg Cream.

The Spare Room
The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel (Mezzanine Level)
7000 Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90028

© The Minty // LA Cocktails 2013