9 Halloween Cocktails That Are All Treats, Not Tricks
It's never been easier to make spooky and delicious drinks.
Chelsea Kyle / Food Styling by Drew Aichele
There's a fine line between Halloween cocktails that hit the nail a bit too hard on the proverbial head (think: artificial eyeballs floating in a punch bowl or fake spiders garnishing a highball) and drinks that suggest just a hint of spookiness. We're fond of the latter, which is why you'll find these drinks at our Halloween parties and gatherings. Whether you're serving a crowd with a large format Mother's Ruin Punch or looking to keep things a bit more classic by whipping up a batch of Blood and Sand cocktails, here are our favorite Halloween cocktails that are equally enticing to make year-round.
Blood & Sand
Chelsea Kyle / Food Styling by Drew Aichele
This classic cocktail is perfectly fruity and only faintly smoky — an approachable drink for people who aren't sure they like Scotch. With a name like Blood & Sand, it's perfectly suited for Halloween. Not to mention it has only six ingredients, so it's a super-easy mixed drink to concoct.
Matcha Highball
Chelsea Kyle / Food Styling by Drew Aichele
This cocktail is green as a ghoul. A trip to Japan inspired Denver bartender Jason Patz to combine matcha (a vivid green tea powder) with Japanese whisky.
Marasca Fizz
Matt Taylor-Gross / Food Styling by Liberty Fennell
With its hypnotizing, ruby red hue, this Champagne cocktail makes for a fun toast.
Mother's Ruin Punch
Chelsea Kyle / Food Styling by Drew Aichele
Classicist bartenders have resurrected the centuries-old ritual of the formal punch service, which is something you can totally employ at your own Halloween celebration. Here, Philip Ward makes a potent concoction filled with vermouth, Champagne, and citrus that's named after the old British slang for gin.
Shadow Woman
Pear brandy adds a fruity note to this Old-Fashioned–style cocktail, while honey lends gentle sweetness.
Bloody Mary
Matt Taylor-Gross / Food Styling by Lucy Simon
Call it alcoholic gazpacho, call it the highlight of the weekend — here's how to make the crowd favorite.
Dark 'n Stormy
According to a Gosling's Rum tale, this drink was invented more than 100 years ago when members of Bermuda's Royal Naval Officer's Club added a splash of the local rum to their spicy homemade ginger beer. They described its ominous hue as "the color of a cloud only a fool or dead man would sail under."
Withering Sunrise
Matt Taylor-Gross / Food Styling by Lucy Simon
Brighter than any pumpkin on your porch, this beer cocktail is a must-try for bourbon fans.
In Cold Blood
The name in and of itself qualifies this as a Halloween mixed drink. It's a popular order at Portland Hunt & Alpine Club in Maine. The drink, according to owner Andrew Volk, is "approachable but geeky with the salt" — which he adds to balance the bitterness of the artichoke-flavored aperitif Cynar.
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