Whether you’re attending a creepy festive party, hosting one of your own, or having a quiet night in watching horror films, there’s plenty of opportunity to enjoy a delicious Halloween cocktail this 31 October.
Blood Martinez
Ingredients:
- 45ml G’vine Floraison
- 2tbsp lemon juice
- 1tbsp water
- 10-15 red grapes (keep two aside for garnish)
- 1/2tsp sugar
- 30ml sweet vermouth
- Toothpick
Method:
In a blender, combine the grapes, water, gin, lemon juice, sugar and vermouth and blend until smooth. Pour in a shaker filled with ice and shake for about a minute and strain into a small glass. Garnish with a couple of grapes and toothpick.
Bloody Iberia
This incredibly well put-together cocktail has been crafted by the wonderful team at El Norte.
Ingredients:
- 50ml Absolut vodka
- 25ml cinnamon infused Spanish gin (gin mare)
- 60ml pumpkin puree
- 15ml smoked maple syrup
Method:
- Pour all the ingredients into a Boston shaker
- Add ice in the shaker
- Shake energetically
- Double strain to an empty / cleaned small pumpkin
- Top up with ice
- Garnish with edible flowers and a straw
- Place the pumpkin on a bed of thyme and dry ice
- To be served with a jug of boiling water to activate the dry ice
Hocus Pocus
Ingredients:
- 1 Slice of flesh (a.k.a. fresh watermelon)
- 50ml Nouaison Gin
- 20ml of flesh (a.k.a. fresh ruby grapefruit)
- 1 teaspoon of frog (a.k.a. lime jam)
- 10ml aperol
Method:
In a shaker, pulp slice of fresh watermelon, add Nouaison Gin, fresh grapefruit, teaspoon of lime jam and aperol. Shake and double strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a slice of watermelon.
Slingsby Marmalade Halloween Punch
This cocktail appeared in a previous Halloween edition of Cocktail of the Week, but it’s so delicious and so thematically perfect that it had to be mentioned once again!
Ingredients:
- 1 part Slingsby Marmalade Gin
- 1 part blood orange juice
- 1/2 part lemon juice
- 1 jar of marmalade preserve
- Prosecco
Method:
Assemble gin, orange juice, lemon juice and marmalade in a punch bowl and mix well. Top up with Prosecco as desired, garnish with orange slices and drizzle grenadine over the top.
Dracula’s Blood
While the full method is not yet available, this cocktail is available at Smoke & Mirrors’ Halloween event, with the cocktail’s crafter, Joshua Chua, providing comments on the combination:
“I wanted to create a cocktail that would complement the citrus and seaside salty notes of the Hendricks Neptunia Gin. And the first thought was a Bloody Mary, a well-known savoury and spicy cocktail. And I wanted to put my own twist on it! Fret not, no tomatoes were harmed in this one!”
Ingredients:
- Hendrick’s Neptunia
- Minestrone
- Ghost Pepper
- Lemon
- Egg
Such great ideas!