Ah, halloween cocktails! We love the concept and it’s not a difficult one. Making cocktails ghoulish can be as easy as a fresh herb sprig smoldering in a glass. Or red gel glaze from the supermarket dripping creepily instead of a salt rim on a margarita. Or a Halloween gummy slipped onto the edge of a glass.
And remember that any cocktail can be a creepy one, if you think about it. Consider all the skull tchotchkes, including ice cube molds and glasses, we’ve got. Or a block of dry ice smoking from the punch bowl. Scary garnishes can include meringue ghosts with googly eyes or even silly plastic spiders. (And, of course, our smoking cloche can make anything a dark and stormy drink.)
Between our drinks and our friends’ genius ideas, we’ve got plenty to keep you creepily, gauzily, terrifyingly covered this Halloween. Here are a few fave recipes.
1. Walking Dead
Think: bloodied. Whether it’s a blood orange punch or this gorgeous Walking Dead cocktail from our friend at Craft & Cocktails. It’s surprisingly tropical in flavor, with a rum base, a dash of dry ice (be careful! tongs and gloves, please!) and a couple sultry cocktail cherries on top. It’s an Elvira among drinks.
2. Dark & Stormy
Remember that “Halloween cocktail” doesn’t need to mean “a million ingredients.” It was a dark and stormy night, after all, folks. Almost nothing is easier than this rum and ginger beer classic. To do it right, leave the lime slice as a garnish and don’t add juice. Per this recipe, it’s as simple as a highball filled with ice, ginger beer, a rum floater and a lime garnish.
3. Vampire’s Drip Cocktail
For some among us, Halloween is a “more is more.” For you fine people, and you are legion, there is this killer “Vampire’s Kiss” concoction from Tieghan Gerard at Half-Baked Harvest. Just look at it! The Oreo truffles! The pomegranate caramel “blood!” It doesn’t hurt that it’s basically a rum-and-Kahlua milkshake cocktail, or as Tieghan says, “if we’re doing dessert cocktails, let’s DO dessert cocktails.” We couldn’t agree more.
4. Smoking Blueberry Lavender Martini
Honestly, this bad boy from Sugar and Charm would make the whole party for us. It’s a smoking lavender martini with extra attitude thanks to that dry ice. (It’s worth remembering that nope, dry ice doesn’t affect the drink’s taste!) So ghoulish.
5. The Grave Digger
Smoky right down to its smoldering rosemary garnish, this mezcal-based number is killer. Tieghan calls it “The Grave Digger,” and honestly, we wouldn’t mind if it was our last drink. Spiced apple cider, Cointreau, ginger beer and rosemary bitters all make cameos in there. It’s just a knockout.
