Dropping leaves and temperatures call for certain spices, flavors that tingle on your tongue after summer fruits have faded out of season. Peaches, blueberries, and honeydew are decidedly of the warmer months, purely sweet and simple. Come fall and winter, though, tastes get slightly more complex. Ginger, for example, is not a summer flavor. And all winter long, the West Side Lounge is offering a ginger martini, made with Skyy Vodka infused with candied ginger and a splash of lemon juice, then chilled and served straight up. The drink captures ginger exactly, with that same warm bite at the back of your throat, that same hot, sweet ginger kick. Its multi-layered, complicated flavor is perhaps more challenging than the fruity stuff of summer — and no doubt a little more satisfying on a raw December night.

Available through spring for $7.50 at the West Side Lounge, 1680 Mass Ave, in Cambridge. Call (617) 441-5566.