Smashing Pumpkin Cocktail

Smashing Pumpkin
from William Hamrick, Hot and Hot Fish Club
Birmingham, Alabama

Ingredients:
1 ½ oz. Bulleit Bourbon
1 oz. pumpkin reduction (see recipe below)
1 dash of celery bitters (Hamrick recommends Bitter Truth or you can also substitute Angostura)

Preparation:
Pour bourbon, pumpkin reduction, and bitters into a mixing glass and fill with ice. Stir generously. Strain into an old-fashioned glass with one large ice cube.


Pumpkin Reduction

Ingredients:
1 ½ quarts chopped Cinderella pumpkin
2 quarts water
3 cups sugar
10 cloves
7 whole allspice
1 cinnamon stick
2 whole star anise

Preparation:
Scoop out the pumpkin seeds and pulp, then peel and chop the pumpkin flesh into small one-inch cubes. Add all ingredients in a non-reactive pot and bring to a boil. Simmer for 40 minutes until reduced. Strain the mixture into a clean bowl and place in an ice bath to cool.