Fall & Winter Cocktails; National Doughnut Heatmap

BOOZE WIRE— The Houston Chronicle's Alison Cook samples the St. James Street cocktail at Pappas Bros. Steakhouse. "It's tart and subtle, as refreshing as a snappy autumn breeze. Based on Scotch that has been infused with "Cherry Rose" tea — green looseleaf laced with rose hips, petals and fruit — the drink sings of lemon and dry apple cider. It's one of a brilliant new line-up crafted for the Pappas family's flagship Houston restaurant by Matt Tanner, a talented alumnus of Anvil Bar & Refuge." [Houston Chronicle]

BOOZE WIRE— The Houston Press lines up some fall and winter cocktails from the city's top bartenders. On the menu? Plenty of spice and citrus. Also, there's a peek of the winter cocktails that El Big Bad will be offering up when it opens at the end of this month. "I was anticipating getting a lot of whiskey and bourbon in my fall cocktail roundup, so I approached El Big Bad because I wanted some tequila in the mix. And I was not disappointed." [Houston Press]

DOUGHNUT WIRE— Eater National compiled a list of the best doughnut shops around the country. On the map is Houston's own River Oaks Donut Shop. "A lot of the bakeries on this list make doughnuts. So does River Oaks, in addition to a selection of kolaches. But they also sell gigantic birthday cake-sized doughnuts. This is Texas, after all." [-EN-]

Mongoose has tasty winter cocktails [Photo: Darla Guillen/EHOU]