On the night of October 31 to November 1, the whole world will plunge into darkness. Ghouls and ghouls will crawl out onto the streets, bar counters will be overgrown with cobwebs, and bartenders will show their true essence – in their souls they are still those ghouls (ha ha). The day of all saints is coming, in other words, Halloween, which in the CIS is considered to be “not ours”. However, who cares?
For the people, Halloween is a great occasion to drink and have fun, and for the owners of bars and clubs – to earn money. We propose not to be led by the masses and modestly, in a family way, celebrate Halloween at home. To do this, it is enough to dress up in plain costumes, making the neighbors nervous, get a good booze and mix hellish cocktails out of it.
History reference!
Halloween, aka Halloween, All Hallows’ Eve, and All Saints’ Eve is a holiday with ancient Celtic roots. Scientists attribute its origin to the Celtic pagan holiday of Samhain, which is dedicated to the end of the harvest. Samhain is also the third autumn month, i.e. November. As you know, the Celtic calendar divides the year into two parts: dark and light. Actually, Samhain is the very transition. The light part begins from the end of March and the beginning of April (Giamonius). The Celts also celebrated the New Year on the first three nights of November. Since Samhain was associated with the dead (it was believed that everyone who violated their geys, prohibitions, taboos died on this day), with the advent of Christianity, it was simply replaced by a kinder holiday, namely All Saints’ Day.
As for the symbols of Halloween, each of them has its own long story. For example, pumpkin lamps appeared thanks to the same Celts who made lanterns that help souls find a way to another world. At the same time, in Scotland, turnips were originally used for this, but in America it was the pumpkin that took root – cheaper and more accessible. A pumpkin with a carved face and a candle inside is called a Jack-o’-lantern. According to legend, once upon a time there lived a blacksmith-drinker Jack, who twice deceived the Devil himself. Therefore, a pumpkin with a malicious grin is a kind of talisman against evil spirits that are released during Halloween. You can find more information about Halloween on Wikipedia.
Now let’s get to the point. As you already understood, on Halloween everything should be spooky, including dishes, and, of course, cocktails. Therefore, when you celebrate Halloween at home, do not forget to prepare thoroughly – the surroundings are very important here. To get started, build some ugly costumes, put on a couple of pounds of makeup, decorate the house and go to the nearest store. Now I’ll tell you why.
Halloween decorations
No, we will not go to the store for ready-made solutions – this is not for us. There we will go for the products that we will need to make the appropriate decorations. Well, for booze, of course. So, let’s start with the classic Halloween cocktail decoration – the bloody eye. It can be done in several ways. For example, you can buy radishes and peel them, leaving red streaks, and cut a small hole in one of the parts. You can insert an olive into the cut hole, after stuffing a blueberry or red pepper into it. Of course, radishes do not go well with sweet cocktails, so you can make it easier: find round ice molds, pour water into them, and put some berries inside.
Don’t forget to prepare your holiday table!
In this article you will find some interesting recipes for Halloween appetizers, and here are photos of original holiday dishes.
In general, you can do anything with ice. Freeze plastic spiders, shards, gelatin worms, etc. inside molds. Just warn guests that the ice will melt and a small piece of plastic will float in their glass, which, God forbid, someone will choke on. You can also make an ice hand by filling a rubber glove with water and placing it in the fridge – a great decoration for punch. Just before removing the ice, place the glove under hot water. Glasses can be decorated with melted chocolate, from which you can create a creepy drawing on the walls – type it into a syringe and draw as much as you like (cobwebs, for example). The red border on the glass can be made from sugar and Grenadine: dip the edges of the glass in Grenadine, and then in sugar. Now let’s talk about the cocktails themselves.
Halloween Cocktails: A Few Tricks
First of all, we need a certain set of alcohol. Color plays a big role here – Halloween has no taste of its own. Green absinthe, multi-colored liquors, including Blue Curacao, and Grenadine syrup, without which the party simply will not take place, will do. With Grenadine, even an ordinary shot of vodka turns out to be unusual. By the way, black vodka will ideally fit into the party – if you get it, then the holiday can be considered successful. With her, even Bloody Mary will sparkle with unusual, new colors. It is called Blavod (from Black Vodka) and costs about $30. Do not forget about Baileys – without it, you will not be able to build brains in a glass. It will be great if you manage to find dry ice – the effect of a steaming drink is unforgettable. Well, it’s time to prepare the cocktails themselves. Let’s start with heavy artillery!
Bloody Rum Punch
- 1 l white rum
- Xnumx ml red wine
- 180 ml of any liqueur
- 180 ml lemon or lime juice
- 180 ml of sugar syrup
- 2 large orange
- 2 large limes
- various berries
- jelly scum
Combine all ingredients in a punch bowl (a small bowl will work too). Add berries, jelly beetles and spiders, sliced limes and oranges. Pour the finished punch into glasses with ice.
Jack-o’-lantern cocktail
- 30 ml of cognac
- 45 ml orange juice
- 15 ml ginger ale
- 15 ml orange liqueur
- orange ring
- slice of lime peel
Add all ingredients to a shaker and shake with ice. Strain into a glass, which is then covered with a circle of orange of the desired size. Attach a lime peel (gourd stick) on top as in the picture.
The Spooky Screwdriver Cocktail
- 45 ml black vodka (you can use coffee tincture)
- 90 ml orange juice
Fill a collins glass with ice. Pour the juice, and gently add black vodka on top. Decorate with a black tube and plastic spiders (optional).
Cocktail “Black Martini” / Black Martini
- 100 ml of gin
- 15 ml raspberry or currant liqueur
- olives
On the edges of the cocktail glass, make a crunch of tinted sugar or salt. Mix gin and liqueur in a mixing glass with ice. Strain into a glass and garnish with olives on a skewer or toothpick.
Cocktail “Hypnosis” / Hypnosis
- 30 ml Blue Curacao liqueur
- 60 ml of vodka
- 5 ml lemon juice
Mix all ingredients in a shaker with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Decorate with neon stick. You can add dry ice.
Cocktail “Brain Tumor” / Brain Tumour
- 40 ml peach liquor
- 5 ml grenadine
- 10 ml Baileys (cream liqueur)
Pour peach liqueur into a shot glass, layer on Baileys. Add a few drops of grenadine.
Cocktail “Devil” / El Diablo
- 45 ml of tequila reposado
- 15 ml of Cassis liqueur
- 15 ml of lime juice
- 180 ml ginger beer
Shake tequila, currant liqueur and lime juice in a shaker with ice. Strain into a collins glass or other large glass, add coarsely crushed ice and top up with ginger beer (it’s best to make your own).
Gravedigger Cocktail
- 45 ml of tequila reposado
- 15 ml of mescal
- 25 ml of sherry
- 15 ml of pear liqueur
Mix all ingredients in a mixing glass with ice, strain in a tumbler filled with large ice cubes (or a large skull-shaped block). Garnish with a strip of lemon zest, if desired.
Dracula’s Kiss Cocktail
- 30 ml of vodka (you can use cherry tincture)
- 15 ml grenadine
- 150 ml cola
Pour grenadine into a highball glass, add ice and vodka, top up with cola. Garnish with a cocktail cherry.
Candy Corn Cocktail
- 45 ml gin on popcorn
- 15 ml of dessert nutmeg wine *
- 25 ml of citrus grenadine **
Shake all ingredients in a shaker with ice, strain into a cocktail glass and garnish with popcorn.
*Gin on popcorn:
- For every 750 ml of gin, add 250 ml according to the volume of popcorn.
- Insist in a dark cool place for 24 hours.
- Strain, filter and pour into a bottle.
**citrus grenadine:
- For every 1 cup of pomegranate juice, take 1 cup of sugar.
- Mix juice and sugar in a saucepan, put on a slow fire.
- Add the zest of 1 orange and 1 lemon, cook for 10 minutes.
- Strain.
Midnight’s Shadow Cocktail
- 60 ml coffee-infused spiced rum*
- 30ml Paul Clark’s ginger beer
- 30 ml of lime juice
Mix rum and lime juice in a shaker with ice. Strain into a collins glass filled with ice. Top up with ginger beer. Decorate with candied ginger.
*Coffee-spiced rum:
- Mix 750 ml of spiced rum and 60 g of ground coffee.
- Shake well and wait 30 minutes.
- Strain, filter.
Cocktail “Ghostbusters” / The Ghostbuster
- 30 ml peach liqueur
- 30 ml melon liqueur
- 3-5 dashes Irish cream liqueur
Mix peach and melon liqueur in a shaker with ice. Strain into a cocktail glass. Drizzle cream liqueur on top.
Cocktail “Wolf Bite” / The Wolf Bite
- 7,5 ml absinthe
- 15 ml melon liqueur
- 30 ml of pineapple juice
- 1 dash of lemonade
- 1 dash grenadine
Mix absinthe, melon liqueur and juice in a shaker with ice. Strain into a tall glass of at least 60 ml. Top with 1 dash of lemonade and grenadine.
The recipe of all cocktails can be changed at your discretion, remembering only the entourage, which plays a key role. In a good way, any of the cocktails can be made scary (for many it gets by itself, haha). Just enough to replace the usual vodka with black, add red crunch or “bruises” from Grenadine. Halloween cocktails are limited only by your imagination.
Happy Halloween!
PS To heighten the effect, I suggest watching some inspirational videos: