Cocktail Relay: Pear Potions at Cork & Cask in Colorado Springs

Think of fall and it’s hard to not envision pumpkins and all that spice. Apple is a solid second in the fall flavor race. But when we visited Kamryn Marshall, bartender at Cork & Cask and the October Cocktail Relay nominee, she presented us with Pear Potions.

“Some might argue with me that it’s more of a summer fruit,” she says with a smile. After you taste this $14 concoction among their fall specials, you’ll probably be too busy sipping to fight.

Marshall wanted to make something that was autumnal and pear forward. “An easy sipper,” she says. “You can keep pounding it back, but it’s not overly boozy.”

With a mix of pear liqueur, Sazerac rye, pear juice and fig liqueur, the base of the drink alone could ease you from the hot summer into a cooler fall.

But it’s the whipped topping that delivers autumn. It’s more of an airy, peary foam that Marshall makes (foam-making is new for her). It’s sprinkled with cinnamon and the drink is adorned with a slice of pear. Take a sip and you can almost taste the rye, but it blends with the velvety foam, and you find yourself drinking fall.

“It’s like whiskey with training wheels,” Laura comments. No one flavor stands up and demands your attention in this drink. It’s exactly what Marshall intended: a drink that’s easy to sip, and you’ll likely want more than one.

Pair the drink with the Cork & Cask’s cheese board: it plays well with bites of cheese, and the board’s fig jam complements the fig in the potion.

You might recognize Marshall’s face or name from her former gigs at Dos Santos, The Well (RIP), Night Ramen or Nacho Matrix.

These days, you can also find her behind the bar in Caddie’s, at Valley Hi Golf Course. The restaurant and bar have been attracting more than just the golfing crowd. There, she recommends the Morning Dew Margarita: a jalapeño-cucumber-infused tequila mixed with agave and lime juice. Marshall quips, “It’s slightly spicy and all around delicious.”