Make the “Donut Stop Believing” at home. Here’s the cocktail recipe by mixologist Annie Nelson.
by Asha Ellison | photographs by Justin Driscoll
When the days grow shorter and there’s a slight chill in the air, Annie Nelson wraps herself in the nostalgic warmth of bourbon, apple and everything spice. Nelson grew up in upstate New York’s Finger Lakes region, where the brisk autumn temps are just right for apple-picking, apple cider and all things fall.
“Fall is my jam,” says Nelson, the youngest of three siblings who grew up in the “middle-of-nowhere” between Rochester and Syracuse. Her father, who works with dairy farmers, and her mother, a retired educator, still live in her childhood home. And while she enjoys going back to visit, Nelson wanted to build a future for herself elsewhere.
The promise of something new
After graduating from SUNY Geneseo in 2016, Nelson, an avid animal lover, worked at a doggy day care, earning minimum wage. One fateful Friday, a coworker who was moving to Charlotte joked with Nelson that she should join her. Nelson was reluctant, at first.
“But I sat with it over the weekend and I asked myself, ‘Why can’t you go?’” In October 2017, she made the move of a lifetime.
“I chose the service industry because I knew you could essentially do the work anywhere,” Nelson says. “It turns out that I’m actually really good at it.”
Welcome to the Queen City
In Charlotte, Nelson moved up the service ladder quickly, gravitating toward bartending.
“I took opportunities as they came my way,” she says. In 2019, Nelson joined the opening team for award-winning Chicago cocktail bar Billy Sunday’s Queen City location at Optimist Hall. She was promoted to bar manager and built a dedicated team, community following and a name for herself as an exceptional bartender.
“I am flattered whenever anyone experiences what I do and thinks, that’s a little more than bartending,” she says. “My degree is in psychology, and my curiosity about people and how the mind works plays into my job. I love making people what they want, educating them about cocktails and clearing up misconceptions they may have about the mixing process.”
Nelson admits that she is also her most confident and comfortable self behind the bar.
“I learned a while ago that I have social anxiety, but it’s nonexistent behind the bar. I have found my element — I’m in my domain, and I enjoy being social there.”
Cheers to the future
In April 2025, Billy Sunday and its sister bar, Spindle Bar, closed abruptly. Three months later, Hibernian Hospitality, the team behind Charlotte Beer Garden and Canopy Cocktails in South End, took over the Spindle Bar space and reopened it as The Bar at Optimist Hall. Nelson, and much of the former Billy Sunday crew, came on board.
Does Nelson see a bar of her own in the future? Yes, no and maybe.
“I sometimes dream about starting my own thing, but I’ve been at Optimist Hall since it opened, and leaving here would be like losing a piece of myself.”
As the lingering heat of summer begins to fade, it’s the perfect time to try making one of Nelson’s favorite fall drinks, an apple-cider bourbon cocktail aptly named Donut Stop Believing.
“Believe in yourself,” Nelson says to all the home mixologists out there. “And have fun!” SP
Donut Stop Believing
Serves one
Ingredients
1.5 ounces bourbon
.5 ounce Licor 43
1 ounce heavy cream
1 ounce apple cider syrup (see recipe below)
1.5 ounces apple cider
3-4 dashes Angostura bitters
Dehydrated apple slice for garnish
Combine all ingredients in a shaker tin and shake for about 30 seconds. Strain into coupe or martini glass.
Garnish with a dehydrated apple slice, and enjoy!
Apple cider syrup
1 cup apple cider
.5 cup packed brown sugar
1 cinnamon stick
.5 nutmeg seed, chopped
10 cloves
8 allspice berries
Combine all ingredients into a small pot and bring to a simmer. Stir until sugar is fully dissolved.
Simmer uncovered for 30 minutes or until desired consistency. Let cool, then strain into a glass jar with a lid. Store in the refrigerator until ready to use.
