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As the warmer months recede, our palates shift towards delightful cocktails infused with the essence of autumn and winter—becoming even more delectable when enhanced by a creamy, velvety texture. This appealing consistency can be effortlessly introduced with coffee creamer. Not only can you create concoctions centered around the creamer, but a simple dash can also transform any cocktail with a smooth richness, or even substitute heavy cream in certain recipes, provided the creamer is dairy to maintain the desired thickness.

The allure of using coffee creamers in mixed drinks lies in the variety of flavors available. We recently tested Coffee Mate’s seasonal flavors, discovering how Kit Kat creamer could innovate a chocolate martini, or how Caramel Apple Crisp could morph a cinnamon whiskey coffee into a rendition of apple pie, and Zero-Sugar White Chocolate Peppermint could add a festive spin to a grasshopper. Essentially, any preferred creamer flavor can inspire your mixology creativity once you master the basics of incorporating creamers into your concoctions.

Begin by selecting the best coffee creamer brand for your taste, noting that while non-dairy versions are an option, they may slightly differ in texture compared to traditional heavy cream. It’s important to consider proportions as well—most cocktails benefit from about 1 to 2 ounces of creamer to achieve optimal creaminess without overpowering other elements. Lastly, shaking these beverages is recommended to thoroughly mix and aerate them.

An easy place to start is the classics. Take that retro grasshopper cocktail, made with white crème de cacao, crème de menthe, and heavy cream. Instead of 1 ounce of heavy cream, use Zero-Sugar White Chocolate Peppermint creamer, or a peppermint mocha creamer. Finish it off by garnishing with a candy cane or a rim of crushed peppermints. Or, there’s the white Russian, a blank canvas for assorted creamer flavors. To complement its Kahlua coffee kick, swap out the ounce of heavy cream for mocha or hazelnut creamers, or go seasonal with pumpkin spice and top the drink with whipped cream and pumpkin pie spice. While there’s no cream in an espresso martini recipe, ½ of an ounce of creamer in your shaker would make the frothy head even creamier, and you can add any flavor from International Delight’s Cinnabon offering to Coffee Mate’s Himalayan Salted Caramel.

On the martini note, you can build any desserty martini around a creamer flavor. Make a chocolatini with International Delight’s Hershey’s Chocolate Caramel creamer, vodka, and chocolate liqueur; a pecan pie martini with French vanilla creamer, bourbon, amaretto, Frangelico, and brown sugar; or a sugar cookie martini with sugar cookie creamer, vodka, and amaretto. Rum fans will love a boozy root beer float, with root beer, spiced rum, and vanilla creamer. You can even take a non-creamy cocktail and transform it: Make a creamy coconut mojito by adding coconut crème coffee creamer to lime, mint, soda water, and white rum.

Read the original article on Tasting Table.