Four fun, festive fall drinks for your drinking enjoyment during this spooky season!
When thinking up drinks that fit the Halloween theme, the easy go-to may be to add dry ice to a beverage. While the look is undoubtedly cool and conjures images of a bubbling cauldron, dry ice can be a bit of a hassle, especially for the home bartender. So instead, we have chosen four cocktail options made mostly with ingredients from your local grocery and liquor store—except just a couple of select items.
Poison Apple
A riff on an Appletini, this drink evokes the flavors of apple pie while appearing dark and mysterious.
- 1 part Blavod Vodka (black-colored vodka)
- 1 part Apple Pucker
- 1/4 part Cinnamon Schnapps
- Body part shaped gummy for garnish (optional)
Shake with ice and strain into a martini glass.
Vampirita
Before the vampire is inevitably a life-draining creature of the night, they’re usually first portrayed as cool characters, which is also a fairly apt description of the blood orange. (The cool part, not the life-draining part!) Besides the allure of the deep red flesh, the blood orange has a sweeter taste compared to a regular orange. Of course, a proper margarita wouldn’t be complete without a salted rim, so to further the “cool” look, we add a bit of black lava salt to the rim.
- 1 1/2 parts Anejo Tequila
- 1/2 part Pomegranate Liqueur (optional)
- 2 parts Blood Orange Juice
- Black Lava Salt for the rim
- Slice of Blood Orange for garnish
Dip the edge of the glass into a bit of the blood orange juice, then into the salt. Shake liquid ingredients with ice and strain into glass (I recommend a champagne coupe). Garnish with a blood orange slice.
Reanimator
This radioactive-looking mixture would fit right at home in a scene from the classic horror movie, although the taste is anything but scary. The tropical flavors come together for a refreshing and delicious beverage. If you already have coconut rum on hand, like Malibu, you could use that in place of the vodka, though the drink will be sweeter. You can also substitute the hard seltzer for sparkling pineapple water, pineapple soda, or lemon-lime soda.
- 1 part Coconut Vodka
- 1 part Melon Liqueur
- 1 part Pineapple Juice
- 1 – 2 parts Pineapple Hard Seltzer
Pour ingredients over ice. Stir to blend.
Dark & Stormy
You know how the scary story begins, “It was a dark and stormy night…” But, of course, this version ends with a quickly emptied glass because the drink is delicious! If you’re a Moscow Mule fan, I highly recommend trying this rum variation. Not only is it tasty, but it also has a great look. When they’re properly layered, the dark rum sits on top of the ginger beer, like a dark cloud hovering over the horizon.
- 1 1/2 parts Aged (Dark) Rum
- A squeeze of Lime Juice
- 3 – 5 parts Ginger Beer
- Dash of Bitters (optional)
Squeeze or add some lime juice over ice. Add bitters if using. Next, add ginger beer. Finally, either pour rum slowly or over the back of a spoon to layer. Note: We recommend using a tall glass.
We hope you enjoy these four creepy cocktail concoctions responsibly. Happy Halloween from our team at JP!
Josh Durham, Technical Director
