Homerific in the Fall: An Ode to October, by Jay S.

So, October. Seriously, how can it not be everyone’s favorite month? We’re well and truly into cooler temperatures, baseball gets serious, football is getting up to speed (If you’re wondering, yes I’m Capo’s resident sports nerd. My fantasy football team is ROCKING it)…BUT! It’s a great time at CapoPenn, too.

Now, it’s a great time at ALL the Capogiros. We’ve still got some summer flavors lingering, thanks to what must have been a monster Lancaster County watermelon crop, and all the autumnal flavors are starting to come in as well. There are at least two you have to jump on: Our local pear with Wild Turkey Bourbon sorbetto is totally in our sweet spot, with stellar fruit conversating with that sour mash note we all love. And have you tried our gelato with Dogfish Head Punkin Ale? I think it’s the “longest” gelato I’ve had. A big beer wallop at the start mellows into that classic, sweet Capogiro milk flavor, and then the pumpkin low note comes on at the finish to make you think about trick-or-treating and the promise of Thanksgiving. I can think of people I know who don’t have kind of depth, never mind food. Admittedly I didn’t know that gelato could have that kind of complexity of flavor. Then again, I’m sort of the new guy.

Now here’s the best part—we’ve got the Dogfish Head crew coming to hang out at our store later this month. Being a native Delawarean, I actually got choked up one seriously homesick day in Seattle when I stumbled across a bar pouring 60 Minute IPA. The upside of Seattle, though: a few months later, I got to have pretty much all the Life & Limb I wanted while all my East Coast friends were tearing their hair out trying to find it anywhere at any price. (Okay, me: new guy, sports fan, beer nerd). The Slower Lower DFH Crew—and I get to call them that because I’m from Hockessin—stops by to play on Friday October 29^th, and of course we’re already hearing rumors that they’ll be bringing “something special.” DON'T TEASE ME.

Fall means cider, in a couple of ways! Given that we’re the boozy Penn crew, we’re really excited to be serving Wandering Aengus Ciderworks out of Salem, Oregon. You must have forgotten to stop by the store the other night when the brewers were here, but we’ll be serving two of their awesome ciders through the fall, including Wanderlust in a 22 ounce bomber—perfect for sharing! The biggest thing I learned from meeting the cider guys: the best ciders are always made from a blend of fruit, not from a single variety like Granny Smith apples or Bartlett pear, not unlike coffee beans.

Six Point Brewing! Details are still firming up a little on this one, but everyone loves it when we’ve got the Sweet Action on draft. “Sweet Action.” C’mon, you even like just saying it in your mind. Six Point comes down from Brooklyn (nobody's perfect) on Thursday, October 14^th.

Now for the HARD STUFF! We’re really proud to partner with Philadelphia Distilling, given that they’re also local people using local ingredients doing something with a serious Philadelphia flavor. We paired their Bluecoat Gin with our own blueberry sorbetto late this spring and early summer, and it was better than we’d hoped and everything we love doing: unique, seriously fresh, TOTALLY delicious (you ask me, I’ll tell you it was the best sorbetto we made all summer) and as local as we can make it. And we’re pointedly focusing on using Bluecoat Gin, Penn1681 Vodka, and Vieux Carre Absinthe on our latest cocktail menu. Have you seen our new menu? We’ve come up with a grip of new gelato cocktails that we’re a little bit in love with, and we’re bringing a little class with some time-honored aperitifs and digestifs. We’re kinda excited about it.

So Philadelphia Distilling is here next Friday, October 8^th to talk about their spirits, making it a particularly good night to come see us. Then again, we always look forward to seeing you. Stop by for Happy Hour sometime and ask Jo our new bar guru to prepare you a traditional Vieux Carre Absinthe. And given how often we’re all going to be screaming “GO PHILLIES!” over the next few weeks, we should probably all stock up on gelato pints.