Halloween is just around the corner, and it’s time to spark sales by getting your guests in the mood for the haunted holiday season. Try these Halloween- and fall-themed drinks at your bar or let them inspire you to create your own creepy twists on a classic or specialty drink of your own.
Candy Corn
Developed by Jonathan Pogash, Cocktail Guru.
1 ½ ounces kettle corn-infused Bombay Sapphire Gin*
½ ounce Moscato wine (sweet dessert wine)
¾ ounce home-made citrus peel grenadine syrup**
Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker with ice and shake very well. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass and garnish with three pieces of candy corn.
*To make kettle corn-infused Bombay Sapphire: Add 1 cup kettle corn to a 750 ml bottle of Bombay Sapphire and allow to infuse in an airtight container for about 24 hours. Fine strain kettle corn and re-bottle. Store in refrigerator.
**To make grenadine syrup: Dissolve 1 cup granulated sugar in 1 cup of POM Wonderful pomegranate juice over stove top. Once dissolved, add in the skins of 1 orange and 1 lemon and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove skins and chill syrup.
Jack-o-Lantern Punch
Created by Phil Ward of New York City’s Mayahuel.
2 ounces Flor De Caña 7 Year Old Grand Reserve
4 sugar cubes
3 ounces club soda
2 whole cloves
1 pinch of fresh nutmeg
1 ounce lemon juice
2 ounces apple juice
Toasted pumpkin seeds (optional)
Dissolve the sugar cubes in 1 ounce of club soda (this generally involves muddling to help the process). Muddle the cloves with the sugar cubes. After the sugar cubes and cloves are muddled/dissolved, add the rest of the ingredients one at a time and stir as added. Add ice, and stir the punch until it is chilled. Strain the punch into a glass, punch bowl or carved out pumpkin depending on the size of the portion. Top with 2 ounces club soda and garnish with apple slices, cinnamon sticks and pumpkin seeds.
Early Autumn
Created by Adam Schuman of Manhattan’s Fatty Crab.
1 ½ ounces Bombay Sapphire infused with dried pear and apples
½ ounce Lucid absinthe
1 ounce local apple cider
½ ounce pear brandy (recommended: Massenez Williams Poire Brandy)
½ ounce fresh lemon juice
2 dashes Fee Brothers Aztec Chocolate Bitters
Ginger beer
Shake all ingredients well. Strain into a highball glass and top with ginger beer. Garnish with a cinnamon stick and lemon peel.
Black Cat Martini
Courtesy of HINT Essence Water.
1 ½ ounces Blackberry HINT Essence Water
2 ounces Blavod Black Vodka
½ ounce Chambord
2 blackberries, for garnish
Build drink in a Martini glass and add blackberries for garnish.
Pumpkin Spice
Courtesy of Corzo Tequila.
1 ¼ parts Corzo Reposado
¾ part pumpkin spice liqueur
½ part agave nectar
1 small orange slice
1 small lemon slice
¾ part orange juice
1 tsp. egg white
Cinnamon stick, for garnish
Shake all ingredients with ice in a mixing glass and strain into a chilled Martini glass. Top it off with 3 dashes of pumpkin spice liqueur.
Rhyme & Reason
By Sean Kenyon of Steuben’s in Denver.
1 ½ ounces Boca Loca Cachaça
½ ounce Aperol
¾ ounce cinnamon simple syrup
½ ounce fresh lime juice
1 ounce fresh grapefruit juice
Shake all ingredients together with ice in a mixing glass, strain over fresh ice in a Collins glass. Garnish with a lime wheel.
Fall Harvest Cider
Courtesy of Monin Gourmet Flavorings.
1 ½ ounces Southern Comfort
¾ ounce Monin Pumpkin Spice Syrup
¼ ounce Monin Chai Tea Concentrate
6 ounces hot apple cider
Berries, cherries, apples, lemons, limes, oranges, cloves, cinnamon and star anise as garnish options
Combine Monin products and Southern Comfort in a pre-warmed mug. Fill with hot apple cider and stir with a cinnamon stick. Garnish with an orange slice with cloves.
Witches Brew
Served at Whiskey Blue New Orleans.
2 ¼ ounces Bacardi Light
2 ¼ ounces Meyers Rum
1 ¼ ounces Bacardi 151
2 ½ ounces pineapple juice
2 ½ ounces orange juice
1 ¼ ounces sour mix
1 ¼ ounces Grenadine
Sour or regular Gummi Worms, for garnish
Fill glass completely with ice add all ingredients. Use your bar spoons to stir the drink until all ingredients are combined. Throw in a handful of Gummi Worms and the appropriate amount of silly straws needed.
Autumn Gold
Courtesy of Vermont Vodka.
2 ounces Vermont Vodka
2 ounces Irish Mist Liqueur
Honey
In a rocks glass filled with crushed ice, add Vermont Gold and Irish Mist Liqueur. Drizzle a drop of honey on the top.
All-American Chilled Apple Pie
Courtesy of Blue Ice Vodka.
1 ¼ ounces Blue Ice Vodka
¾ ounce Tuaca Liqueur
½ ounce sweet and sour
Apple cider
Build drink in order over ice in a 12-ounce glass, filling the glass with apple cider. Garnish with a lemon slice, a long cinnamon stick and a straw.
Green Ghoul
Courtesy of Midori Melon Liqueur; created by Victoria D’Amato-Moran.
1 part Midori Melon Liqueur
½ part Strega Liqueur or Yellow Chartreuse
½ part Domaine de Canton Ginger Liqueur
Ginger beer or ginger ale
Add first 3 ingredients into a shaker glass, add ice, shake and strain over ice in a
Collins glass. Line the inside of the glass with strands of black licorice. Pour in contents of shaker and fill with ginger beer or ginger ale.
The Wolf Bite
Courtesy of Lucid Absinthe.
1 ounce Lucid
1 ounce Midori Melon Liqueur
1 ounce lemon-lime soda
1 ½ ounces pineapple juice
Drizzle of grenadine
In a cocktail shaker, add Lucid Absinthe, Midori Melon Liqueur, pineapple juice and ice. Shake vigorously and strain into a 2-ounce shot glass. Splash lemon-lime soda on top and a drizzle of grenadine.
Jack-O-Lantern Martini
On the menu at N9NE Steakhouse, Las Vegas.
1 ounce Harlem Liquor
½ ounce Ketel One
2 ounces Pumpkin Puree Mix*
½ ounce Vanilla Bean Syrup**
In a mixing tin filled with ice, add Harlem, Ketel One, Vanilla Bean Syrup and pumpkin puree mix. Shake well and strain into a chilled Martini glass rimmed with crushed graham cracker. Garnish with a dollop of Vanilla Bean Butterscotch whipped cream***.
*Pumpkin Puree Mix
15 ounce can of pumpkin puree
2 ounces each: Baileys, Butterscotch Schnapps, caramel sauce, brown sugar
1 ounce Goldschlager
1 ounce vanilla bean syrup
1 vanilla bean, split and seeded
Dash of cinnamon, clove and nutmeg.
**Vanilla Bean Syrup: Make a simple syrup of 2 cups water and 2 cups granulated sugar and bring to a boil. Infuse overnight with 1 whole vanilla bean, opened and seeded.
***Vanilla Bean Butterscotch Whipped Cream
12 ounces heavy whipping cream
1 whole vanilla bean, opened and seeded
1 ounce butterscotch schnapps, whipped to stiff peaks