As one of the drunkest, most unruly holidays of the year (I’d place it in second to Slope Day for campus-wide debauchery) approaches, I thought I should try out some holiday-themed drinks. You never know when you might have to whip up a Halloween party for some friends at the last minute (pregaming at my house anyone?).

On a recent trip to the liquor store, a friend and I discovered a great fall-themed alcohol: Hiram Walker Pumpkin Spice Liqueur ($7.69 for one liter at Northside). A liqueur is a sweet alcoholic beverage that generally has a lower alcohol content than liquor (Bailey’s Irish Cream, for example); this pumpkin spice liqueur is 30 proof.

We thought we’d start simple and try one of the two drinks suggested on the bottle, a pumpkintini. Mix one part vodka and one part pumpkin liqueur with ice; strain into a glass and sprinkle with cinnamon. We discovered a few problems with this drink: there’s no soft mixer, so it’s all alcohol; hit the cinnamon bottle too hard, and your drink will be chunky; it’s too sweet to drink more than one or two sips.

For a safer bet, we thought we’d caffeinate ourselves with a Pumpkin Spice Latte: mix one ounce espresso, four ounces steamed milk and one ounce pumpkin spice liqueur. Not so different from what they sell at Libe Café, but with a kick.

Luckily, a crazed Sun night editor saved this column by deciding there had to be a good drink made from such a delicious sounding liqueur; he went straight for the shots. One part rum (regular or spiced) to one part pumpkin spice liqueur. Smooth going down with a slightly spicy taste.

The group decided Rumpelstiltskin was the right name for this shot.

We also tried it with vodka, thinking the pumpkintini might be better as a shot, but determined the rum/pumpkin mix to be the clear winner.

Want to suggest a drink? The Sun’s Mixology Editor can be reached at mixology@cornellsun.com. Please Drink Responsibly appears Fridays.