How Fruit Purees Can Spice Up Your Fall Drink Menu
Autumn presents an exciting opportunity to incorporate fall seasonal drinks into your menu. Customers can’t get enough of those iconic flavor profiles that pair perfectly with cooler weather, colorful foliage, and a general sense of coziness. There’s just something about autumn that makes people want to sip on something special!
From soul-warming pumpkin lattes in the morning to spiced fruity fall cocktails at night, having autumn-specific offerings on your menu is a fantastic way to attract new patrons and keep your regulars coming back for more. Of course, there’s more to planning a fall drink menu than putting a pumpkin beer or two on tap!
Here at Fierce Fruit, we work alongside many bev-based businesses, from bars to breweries, providing them with the finest 100% natural fruit puree for drinks. We’ve seen the ups and downs of menu planning, and we’re always happy to share some expert insight into the industry.
Follow this guide, and you’ll be ready to give your customers what they’re craving this autumn season.
Table of Contents
- Get to Know Traditional Fall Flavors
- Experiment With Your Own Twists on the Classics
- Offer a Variety of Old and New
- Be Ready and Able to Adapt Your Menu
- Use High-Quality Ingredients
- Order 100% Natural Fruit Purees
Get to Know Traditional Fall Flavors
First thing first. Before you start planning your fall drink menu, take the time to get familiar with the flavors that have become synonymous with the autumn season. The classics are classics for a reason. People adore fall seasonal drinks that give them a feeling of nostalgia, bringing back fond memories of flavors and scents that have become so familiar over the years.
You must know the rules to break them! While there’s nothing wrong with elevating the classics, we highly recommend that you start with these traditional flavors before you start branching out.
Classic Autumn Flavors
- Pumpkin
- Apple
- Pear
- Cranberry
- Cinnamon
- Nutmeg
- Cloves
- Ginger
- Star anise
- Cardamom
- Allspice
- Chocolate
- Vanilla
- Caramel
- Butterscotch
- Maple
- Nuts
- Raisins
Experiment With Your Own Twists on the Classics
While you don’t need to include every single one of those classic flavors on your fall drink menu, they should provide a solid base for you to work with. From there, you can start adding your own unique variations to create signature drinks that customers can’t find anywhere else.
For example, a cranberry orange spritzer is one of the most beloved fruity fall cocktails. Instead of simply making that old standby, you could use blood orange puree and Andean blackberry puree to achieve a familiar flavor profile that hits more interesting notes.
Or, let’s say you really want to make your pumpkin latte pop. Skip the artificial pumpkin flavoring and use 100% natural, fresh pumpkin puree. Add a splash of coconut puree to add dimension and creaminess.
Offer a Variety of Old and New
The best fall drink menu has something for everyone. Not every customer wants to expand their gustatory horizons. Some people just want to sip on that perfect pumpkin beer or spiced apple cider. Make sure you’re catering to both traditional sensibilities and bolder palates.
Besides flavors, you’ll also want to offer a variety of different styles of fall seasonal drinks—coffees, teas, cocktails, beers, ciders, and kombuchas should cover most desires. Make sure you have both alcoholic and non-alcoholic options, too.
Be Ready and Able to Adapt Your Menu
Not everyone who walks through the door is going to want exactly what’s on the menu. Being able to create custom drinks on the fly can give you a huge advantage over other businesses that stick with stock offerings.
In order to keep your fall drink menu flexible, we recommend having a variety of ingredients on hand, even if they’re not staples in your usual drinks. Aseptic fruit puree is the perfect flavoring agent. It’s endlessly versatile, easy to store, and ready to use whenever you need it.
For example, let’s say a customer is craving a pumpkin latte, but they’re lactose intolerant. Being able to substitute a splash of coconut puree for cream would make their day!
Or, maybe it’s a warmer autumn evening and someone’s in the mood for ice-cold fruity fall cocktails. You could shake spiced rum with apple puree, pear puree, and strawberry puree to create a refreshing cocktail that still captures the essence of autumn.
Beyond fulfilling customer requests, you might want to update your fall drink menu throughout the season. Having a variety of fruit purees—berries, tropical, citrus, and stone fruits—lets you adjust your offerings with ease. You could even have a specialty cocktail that changes nightly.
Use High-Quality Ingredients
If a customer wants a cheap drink, they’ll go to the chain down the street. Using quality ingredients is the key to getting people excited about your fall seasonal drinks. There’s a night-and-day difference between using artificial fruit flavors and real, 100% natural fruit purees made with bold, strong, sun-ripened fruits.
Furthermore, from a business perspective, using quality ingredients justifies your menu’s pricing. Fortunately, you don’t need to spend a fortune on premium supplies for your fall drink menu. We give you the best of both worlds—top-tier purees at highly competitive prices.
Order 100% Natural Fruit Purees
You’re reading this, so you know where to buy fruit puree—right here at Fierce Fruit! Partner with us, and we’ll take care of you.
Our wholesale program is the ultimate resource for businesses that need to buy their fruit purees in bulk. Not only do we offer generous volume and shipping discounts (among many other perks), but we can create a custom fruit contract (similar to a hops contract) so your inventory is always stocked.
Ready to put together a winning fall drink menu? From fruity fall cocktails and ciders to iconic pumpkin beers and coffees, we have what you need to make this autumn season the best one yet. Shop now, and check our blog for more awesome drink recipes!