Halloween is not just about trick or treating. While neighborhood kids are raiding for candy, adults can make a beeline for the cocktail table while hosting a Halloween party at home. Get into the spirit with this collection of the 15 spookiest cocktails to try this Halloween. You can craft new takes on the classics, bring back themed cocktails from summer with an October twist, or make up a few legends you never thought to try. As always, drink responsibly! 1. Black Vodka Shooters
More of a simple boozy Halloween party drink than a legitimate cocktail, black vodka shots create a cool layer of theming to your All Saints day drinking. You can also create a spooky cocktail using black vodka, but my preference is to keep it to shooters. Instructions Take your favorite bottle of affordable vodka (we recommend Tito’s Handmade Vodka) and add drops of red (10 drops), blue (10 drops), and green (8 drops) food coloring. This will create a nice, if a little translucent, black color to your vodka shot. Balance it with some bright red blood shooters (vodka and grenadine) for some high octane trays. 2. Spooky Pines Halloween Punch
You’ve probably been smashing these great-tasting drinks throughout summer, so why not keep the rum fun going and make it a Halloween-themed cocktail. Throw a fake spider in there, or a slip in a bloodshot eye to freak everyone out. Ingredients
2 oz coconut rum (Koloa Coconut Rum is great for this cocktail) 2 oz pineapple juice 1 oz ginger ale (good carbonation essential) 1 tbsp fresh lime juice Crushed ice
Garnish: Pineapple chunks, Maraschino cherry Instructions Pour the ingredients into a cocktail shaker full of crushed ice and shake it all together. Pour into a cocktail glass and serve. Garnish with pineapple and/or cherries. 3. Halloween Bloody Mary
The classic Bloody Mary is a hangover helper, but you can make a tasty yet spooky cocktail for Halloween celebrations instead. You can create a meaty garnish to enjoy with the drink, and throw in a few fake eyeballs and bits and pieces (literally) to make your creation look like a pot of bone soup. Ingredients
1 1/2 oz vodka (Skyy Vodka works well) 1/2 cup tomato juice 2 teaspoons of fresh lemon juice 1-3 dashes Tabasco sauce (more for spicier taste) 4-6 dashes Worcestershire sauce (more for savory taste) Salt and pepper pinch 1 tsp celery salt Ice
Garnish: Celery sticks, candied bacon, lemon slices, more Tabasco, fake plastic body parts (don’t consume) Instructions Combine all ingredients into a cocktail shaker and mix thoroughly with some crushed ice. Pour the mixture into a punch bowl or large container (make it look soupy), then add plastic body parts for a freakshow look. Repeat until the container is full. For garnishes, place on sticks to the side with some highball glasses to use as needed. 4. Corpse Reviver No. 2
I’m drawn to any cocktail called a Corpse Reviver, but doubly so when I’m looking for the spookiest Halloween cocktails. The wild card in this classic cocktail is absinthe, but it takes the recipe to another level and the high alcohol content works well to keep your Halloween celebration humming along. Ingredients
1 oz gin (I recommend Hendrick’s Gin) 1 oz Cointreau 1 oz Lillet Blanc 1 oz lemon juice 1 dash absinthe (splash up to one ounce of Absente Absinthe if you’re brave) Ice
Garnish: Orange peel Instructions Add gin, Cointreau, Lillet Blanc, lemon juice, and crushed ice to a cocktail shaker. Shake to blend. Add absinthe rinse (a rinse is pre-coating a chilled glass and removing excess) to a cocktail glass, then strain the mixture in. Garnish with an orange peel and serve. 5. Blood Bag Halloween Cocktail
I first enjoyed a blood bag cocktail in Singapore at an operating room-themed bar filled with doctors, nurses, and very drunk revelers. The blood bag is a great piece of theater for the spookiest Halloween cocktails, but much less dodgy than the syringe versions (and it doesn’t have to be just red). Be careful though, drink too many too quickly, and your night doesn’t last long. Ingredients (Fills 1 x 350 ml bag)
2 oz vodka (Finlandia Cranberry Vodka suits the theme) 2 oz cherry liqueur (I always wanted to buy a tonic from Dr. Mcgillicuddy) 3 oz cranberry fruit juice Sprite
Instructions Combine vodka, cherry liqueur, and fruit juice. Place mixture into a blood bag as per instructions (they usually have a funnel or syringe apparatus that makes them easy to fill). Add Sprite as well for maximum enjoyment, although it is less boozy.
See more about - The 10 Best Cocktails To Enjoy This Summer
6. Devilish Dark n Stormy (Punch Bowl Sized)
Many a Halloween tale has started with a dark and stormy night, so for the rum revelers amongst your guests, a punch bowl-sized version of this classic makes this a premier spooky Halloween cocktail recipe. Ingredients
2 cups dark rum (I heartily recommend Gosling’s Black Seal Rum) 5 cups ginger beer 1 cup ginger ale (make sure the carbonation is good) 1/2 cup simple syrup 1/2 cup fresh lime juice 2 limes, sliced
Instructions Mix all of the ingredients together in a large punch bowl filled with ice cubes (There’s no need to spike it if you make it correctly, this isn’t high school) 7. Poison Apple Cocktail
The Poison Apple is a simple Halloween cocktail that looks just as good as it tastes. If you can put glitter in my drink, rather than on my skin, I won’t have to wash it from strange places for the next three months. Ingredients
2 oz Fireball Cinnamon Whisky 1/3 cup Strongbow Hard Apple Cider 1/3 cup cranberry juice 1 oz grenadine
Garnish: 1/4 teaspoon edible gold glitter, Ice cubes Instructions Combine all ingredients into a cocktail shaker and fill with ice cubes. Shake until the contents are mixed thoroughly. Pour into a rocks glass and serve immediately. Add more glitter if it tickles your fancy. 8. Black Magic Margarita
Forget the frozen slush; a fresh, expertly crafted margarita is one of life’s true pleasures. Making a spooky Halloween cocktail recipe utilizing food coloring and black sanding sugar makes for a scare-friendly riff on the classic. Ingredients
5 oz Tequila (use a tequila like Espolon Tequila Blanco) 1 oz triple sec (DeKuyper Triple Sec Liqueur is a budget-friendly liqueur brand) 1 oz simple syrup 2 limes, halved 1 cup ice cubes Black Sanding Sugar Blue, red, and green food coloring
Instructions Rub one wedge of fresh lime around the rim of an old-fashioned glass, then turn the glass upside-down and dip the wet rim into a saucer of black sanding sugar. Set glass aside. Juice the limes to produce an ounce of liquid, then place the ice cubes, tequila, triple sec, and syrup into a cocktail shaker and shake vigorously until mixed. Strain into the prepared margarita glass, add the food coloring (10 blue, 10 red, 8 green) to make a black color, and serve immediately. 9. Witches Brew Cocktail
A spoonful of shimmer helps the medicine go down, or at least make it look witchy. The Witches Brew cocktail is a vibrant (and potent) cocktail recipe and a killer Halloween drink, just make sure you drink them responsibly because they are very seductive. Ingredients
1 oz vodka (for this, I recommend EFFEN Raspberry Vodka) ½ oz lime juice 2 oz raspberry liqueur (Bol’s Black Raspberry) 2 oz bottled lemonade 1 tsp Silver Cake shimmer 1 drop purple food coloring
Instructions In a large shaker add liquor, silver shimmer, and lime juice. Pour mixture into a cocktail glass or highball. Top up with lemonade, drop in coloring and ice then serve. 10. Halloween Gin Sling
This take on a classic gin cocktail recipe adds a touch of class to your spooky Halloween drinks. The bright red color of the pomegranate juice gin sling makes for a standout blood theme any vampire enthusiasts can get behind, and it tastes fantastic as well. Ingredients
2 oz gin (a classic dry gin like Bombay Sapphire meshes well with pomegranate) 1 oz chilled pomegranate juice 0.5 oz simple syrup 0.5 oz fresh lime juice
Garnish: Pomegranate seeds, lime slice Instructions Stir ingredients together in a mixing glass filled with ice. Strain into a cocktail glass, and garnish with a handful of pomegranate seeds and lime slices.
See more about - Top 5 Green Cocktails To Sip On St. Patrick’s Day
- Pumpkin Spice White Russian
Nothing screams Halloween cocktail recipe like a well-adjusted pumpkin spice effort. Crafting a special White Russian variation works splendidly. Ingredients
5 oz vodka (If I’m drinking something with pumpkin spice in it, I’ll choose a good French vodka) 5 oz pumpkin spice creamer 1 oz coffee liqueur (always Kahlua for me)
Rim: 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice and sugar mixed with crushed Graham Crackers Garnish: Whipped cream and cinnamon stick Instructions For the rim, mix pumpkin pie spice, sugar, and crushed crackers into a shallow bowl. Dip the rim of a martini glass in water and then into the mix to coat thoroughly, and set aside. Add vodka, pumpkin spice creamer, and coffee liqueur into a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake to combine. Pour cocktail mixture into a rimmed martini glass and garnish with whipped cream and a cinnamon stick to serve. 12. Candy Corn Vodka Infusion (Pitcher Size)
Candy corn and vodka go together like beer and skittles. As one of the most recognizable Halloween candies – albeit one that divides families – throwing Brach’s candy corn into a themed cocktail infusion makes for a lot of fun. Ingredients
1 1/2 cups vodka (go cheap – Smirnoff 100 Proof offers some potency) 1/4 cup orange liqueur (Grand Marnier has my heart) 1/2 cup fresh orange juice (pulp-free) 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice 1/2 cup Brach’s candy corn
Garnish: Orange slices, candy corn Instructions Mix the candy corn and vodka in an airtight container and set aside overnight to steep. Separate the vodka from the candy corn with a strainer and pour liquid into a pitcher. Discard the candy, it has done its job. Add the rest of the ingredients to the vodka and shake until thoroughly mixed together. Pour into a martini glass, garnish with fresh orange slices and (new) candy corn then serve. You should get four martini-sized cocktails. 13. Brain Duster
I don’t know what it is about absinthe – actually, I do, it’s the mind-bending connotations the liqueur drags up – but most cocktails containing the spirit have extremely Halloween-friendly names. Take this ghoulish Brain Duster for example – it’s a powerful brew fit for your Halloween party. Ingredients
1 oz rye whiskey (Bulleit Rye is my go-to for cocktails) 1 oz Absinthe (St George Absinthe Verte is a quality expression) 1 oz Italian Vermouth (I prefer dry vermouth, others like it sweet) 1 dash Angostura Bitters
Instructions Combine ingredients in a mixing glass with ice cubes, then strain into a chilled cocktail glass or old-fashioned rocks glass. You can prep the glass by rimming the inside with Angostura Bitters. 14. Zombie Rum Cocktail
They call this spooky Halloween cocktail recipe a zombie because the combination of different types of rum will make you feel 10 feet tall and bulletproof (at least until morning). The original calls for 151 proof rum, but really, that’s a bit of overkill. Ingredients
1 oz cherry brandy (De Kuyper for the win) 1 oz dark rum (I recommend Brugal XV) 1 oz gold rum (Mount Gay Eclipse is great and inexpensive) 1 oz white rum (Bacardi has a bat on the label so why not?) 1 oz lime juice 1 teaspoon pineapple juice 1 dash grenadine or raspberry puree 1 teaspoon sugar
Instructions Fill a highball cocktail glass with ice cubes. Pour in cherry brandy and rum then stir together. Mix in fruit juice then stir in sugar and a dash of grenadine or puree for added flavor. 15. Good Witch Glinda Elderflower Gin Cocktail
Elderflower (cordial or liqueur) is sweet and friendly and works brilliantly with beautifully herbal botanical gin to make this good witch-approved riff on the Aviation cocktail. You can crank up the lemon content by playing up the floral sweetness of the Elderflower, to make a great tasting twist to a classic gin cocktail recipe. Ingredients
2 oz gin (I recommend a “fruitier” gin such as Gin Mare) ½ oz Maraschino Liqueur ½ oz Elderflower Liqueur or Elderflower Cordial ¾ oz lemon juice Ice
Garnish: Luxardo cherry, Lemon twist Instructions Chill a cocktail glass. Throw some ice into a cocktail shaker, add the gin, Elderflower, maraschino, lemon juice, and bitters. Shake to thoroughly combine and chill then strain into the cocktail glass. Rub the rim with the lemon and garnish with the Luxardo cherry. Disclaimer: This post does contain affiliate links which mean that Next Luxury will earn a percentage of sales made by clicking through this article at no extra cost to you.
See more about - The Best Star Wars Cocktails In The Galaxy
Halloween is not just about trick or treating. While neighborhood kids are raiding for candy, adults can make a beeline for the cocktail table while hosting a Halloween party at home. Get into the spirit with this collection of the 15 spookiest cocktails to try this Halloween. You can craft new takes on the classics, bring back themed cocktails from summer with an October twist, or make up a few legends you never thought to try. As always, drink responsibly! 1. Black Vodka Shooters
More of a simple boozy Halloween party drink than a legitimate cocktail, black vodka shots create a cool layer of theming to your All Saints day drinking. You can also create a spooky cocktail using black vodka, but my preference is to keep it to shooters. Instructions Take your favorite bottle of affordable vodka (we recommend Tito’s Handmade Vodka) and add drops of red (10 drops), blue (10 drops), and green (8 drops) food coloring. This will create a nice, if a little translucent, black color to your vodka shot. Balance it with some bright red blood shooters (vodka and grenadine) for some high octane trays. 2. Spooky Pines Halloween Punch
You’ve probably been smashing these great-tasting drinks throughout summer, so why not keep the rum fun going and make it a Halloween-themed cocktail. Throw a fake spider in there, or a slip in a bloodshot eye to freak everyone out. Ingredients
2 oz coconut rum (Koloa Coconut Rum is great for this cocktail) 2 oz pineapple juice 1 oz ginger ale (good carbonation essential) 1 tbsp fresh lime juice Crushed ice
Garnish: Pineapple chunks, Maraschino cherry Instructions Pour the ingredients into a cocktail shaker full of crushed ice and shake it all together. Pour into a cocktail glass and serve. Garnish with pineapple and/or cherries. 3. Halloween Bloody Mary
The classic Bloody Mary is a hangover helper, but you can make a tasty yet spooky cocktail for Halloween celebrations instead. You can create a meaty garnish to enjoy with the drink, and throw in a few fake eyeballs and bits and pieces (literally) to make your creation look like a pot of bone soup. Ingredients
1 1/2 oz vodka (Skyy Vodka works well) 1/2 cup tomato juice 2 teaspoons of fresh lemon juice 1-3 dashes Tabasco sauce (more for spicier taste) 4-6 dashes Worcestershire sauce (more for savory taste) Salt and pepper pinch 1 tsp celery salt Ice
Garnish: Celery sticks, candied bacon, lemon slices, more Tabasco, fake plastic body parts (don’t consume) Instructions Combine all ingredients into a cocktail shaker and mix thoroughly with some crushed ice. Pour the mixture into a punch bowl or large container (make it look soupy), then add plastic body parts for a freakshow look. Repeat until the container is full. For garnishes, place on sticks to the side with some highball glasses to use as needed. 4. Corpse Reviver No. 2
I’m drawn to any cocktail called a Corpse Reviver, but doubly so when I’m looking for the spookiest Halloween cocktails. The wild card in this classic cocktail is absinthe, but it takes the recipe to another level and the high alcohol content works well to keep your Halloween celebration humming along. Ingredients
1 oz gin (I recommend Hendrick’s Gin) 1 oz Cointreau 1 oz Lillet Blanc 1 oz lemon juice 1 dash absinthe (splash up to one ounce of Absente Absinthe if you’re brave) Ice
Garnish: Orange peel Instructions Add gin, Cointreau, Lillet Blanc, lemon juice, and crushed ice to a cocktail shaker. Shake to blend. Add absinthe rinse (a rinse is pre-coating a chilled glass and removing excess) to a cocktail glass, then strain the mixture in. Garnish with an orange peel and serve. 5. Blood Bag Halloween Cocktail
I first enjoyed a blood bag cocktail in Singapore at an operating room-themed bar filled with doctors, nurses, and very drunk revelers. The blood bag is a great piece of theater for the spookiest Halloween cocktails, but much less dodgy than the syringe versions (and it doesn’t have to be just red). Be careful though, drink too many too quickly, and your night doesn’t last long. Ingredients (Fills 1 x 350 ml bag)
2 oz vodka (Finlandia Cranberry Vodka suits the theme) 2 oz cherry liqueur (I always wanted to buy a tonic from Dr. Mcgillicuddy) 3 oz cranberry fruit juice Sprite
Instructions Combine vodka, cherry liqueur, and fruit juice. Place mixture into a blood bag as per instructions (they usually have a funnel or syringe apparatus that makes them easy to fill). Add Sprite as well for maximum enjoyment, although it is less boozy.
See more about - The 10 Best Cocktails To Enjoy This Summer
6. Devilish Dark n Stormy (Punch Bowl Sized)
Many a Halloween tale has started with a dark and stormy night, so for the rum revelers amongst your guests, a punch bowl-sized version of this classic makes this a premier spooky Halloween cocktail recipe. Ingredients
2 cups dark rum (I heartily recommend Gosling’s Black Seal Rum) 5 cups ginger beer 1 cup ginger ale (make sure the carbonation is good) 1/2 cup simple syrup 1/2 cup fresh lime juice 2 limes, sliced
Instructions Mix all of the ingredients together in a large punch bowl filled with ice cubes (There’s no need to spike it if you make it correctly, this isn’t high school) 7. Poison Apple Cocktail
The Poison Apple is a simple Halloween cocktail that looks just as good as it tastes. If you can put glitter in my drink, rather than on my skin, I won’t have to wash it from strange places for the next three months. Ingredients
2 oz Fireball Cinnamon Whisky 1/3 cup Strongbow Hard Apple Cider 1/3 cup cranberry juice 1 oz grenadine
Garnish: 1/4 teaspoon edible gold glitter, Ice cubes Instructions Combine all ingredients into a cocktail shaker and fill with ice cubes. Shake until the contents are mixed thoroughly. Pour into a rocks glass and serve immediately. Add more glitter if it tickles your fancy. 8. Black Magic Margarita
Forget the frozen slush; a fresh, expertly crafted margarita is one of life’s true pleasures. Making a spooky Halloween cocktail recipe utilizing food coloring and black sanding sugar makes for a scare-friendly riff on the classic. Ingredients
5 oz Tequila (use a tequila like Espolon Tequila Blanco) 1 oz triple sec (DeKuyper Triple Sec Liqueur is a budget-friendly liqueur brand) 1 oz simple syrup 2 limes, halved 1 cup ice cubes Black Sanding Sugar Blue, red, and green food coloring
Instructions Rub one wedge of fresh lime around the rim of an old-fashioned glass, then turn the glass upside-down and dip the wet rim into a saucer of black sanding sugar. Set glass aside. Juice the limes to produce an ounce of liquid, then place the ice cubes, tequila, triple sec, and syrup into a cocktail shaker and shake vigorously until mixed. Strain into the prepared margarita glass, add the food coloring (10 blue, 10 red, 8 green) to make a black color, and serve immediately. 9. Witches Brew Cocktail
A spoonful of shimmer helps the medicine go down, or at least make it look witchy. The Witches Brew cocktail is a vibrant (and potent) cocktail recipe and a killer Halloween drink, just make sure you drink them responsibly because they are very seductive. Ingredients
1 oz vodka (for this, I recommend EFFEN Raspberry Vodka) ½ oz lime juice 2 oz raspberry liqueur (Bol’s Black Raspberry) 2 oz bottled lemonade 1 tsp Silver Cake shimmer 1 drop purple food coloring
Instructions In a large shaker add liquor, silver shimmer, and lime juice. Pour mixture into a cocktail glass or highball. Top up with lemonade, drop in coloring and ice then serve. 10. Halloween Gin Sling
This take on a classic gin cocktail recipe adds a touch of class to your spooky Halloween drinks. The bright red color of the pomegranate juice gin sling makes for a standout blood theme any vampire enthusiasts can get behind, and it tastes fantastic as well. Ingredients
2 oz gin (a classic dry gin like Bombay Sapphire meshes well with pomegranate) 1 oz chilled pomegranate juice 0.5 oz simple syrup 0.5 oz fresh lime juice
Garnish: Pomegranate seeds, lime slice Instructions Stir ingredients together in a mixing glass filled with ice. Strain into a cocktail glass, and garnish with a handful of pomegranate seeds and lime slices.
See more about - Top 5 Green Cocktails To Sip On St. Patrick’s Day
- Pumpkin Spice White Russian
Nothing screams Halloween cocktail recipe like a well-adjusted pumpkin spice effort. Crafting a special White Russian variation works splendidly. Ingredients
5 oz vodka (If I’m drinking something with pumpkin spice in it, I’ll choose a good French vodka) 5 oz pumpkin spice creamer 1 oz coffee liqueur (always Kahlua for me)
Rim: 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice and sugar mixed with crushed Graham Crackers Garnish: Whipped cream and cinnamon stick Instructions For the rim, mix pumpkin pie spice, sugar, and crushed crackers into a shallow bowl. Dip the rim of a martini glass in water and then into the mix to coat thoroughly, and set aside. Add vodka, pumpkin spice creamer, and coffee liqueur into a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake to combine. Pour cocktail mixture into a rimmed martini glass and garnish with whipped cream and a cinnamon stick to serve. 12. Candy Corn Vodka Infusion (Pitcher Size)
Candy corn and vodka go together like beer and skittles. As one of the most recognizable Halloween candies – albeit one that divides families – throwing Brach’s candy corn into a themed cocktail infusion makes for a lot of fun. Ingredients
1 1/2 cups vodka (go cheap – Smirnoff 100 Proof offers some potency) 1/4 cup orange liqueur (Grand Marnier has my heart) 1/2 cup fresh orange juice (pulp-free) 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice 1/2 cup Brach’s candy corn
Garnish: Orange slices, candy corn Instructions Mix the candy corn and vodka in an airtight container and set aside overnight to steep. Separate the vodka from the candy corn with a strainer and pour liquid into a pitcher. Discard the candy, it has done its job. Add the rest of the ingredients to the vodka and shake until thoroughly mixed together. Pour into a martini glass, garnish with fresh orange slices and (new) candy corn then serve. You should get four martini-sized cocktails. 13. Brain Duster
I don’t know what it is about absinthe – actually, I do, it’s the mind-bending connotations the liqueur drags up – but most cocktails containing the spirit have extremely Halloween-friendly names. Take this ghoulish Brain Duster for example – it’s a powerful brew fit for your Halloween party. Ingredients
1 oz rye whiskey (Bulleit Rye is my go-to for cocktails) 1 oz Absinthe (St George Absinthe Verte is a quality expression) 1 oz Italian Vermouth (I prefer dry vermouth, others like it sweet) 1 dash Angostura Bitters
Instructions Combine ingredients in a mixing glass with ice cubes, then strain into a chilled cocktail glass or old-fashioned rocks glass. You can prep the glass by rimming the inside with Angostura Bitters. 14. Zombie Rum Cocktail
They call this spooky Halloween cocktail recipe a zombie because the combination of different types of rum will make you feel 10 feet tall and bulletproof (at least until morning). The original calls for 151 proof rum, but really, that’s a bit of overkill. Ingredients
1 oz cherry brandy (De Kuyper for the win) 1 oz dark rum (I recommend Brugal XV) 1 oz gold rum (Mount Gay Eclipse is great and inexpensive) 1 oz white rum (Bacardi has a bat on the label so why not?) 1 oz lime juice 1 teaspoon pineapple juice 1 dash grenadine or raspberry puree 1 teaspoon sugar
Instructions Fill a highball cocktail glass with ice cubes. Pour in cherry brandy and rum then stir together. Mix in fruit juice then stir in sugar and a dash of grenadine or puree for added flavor. 15. Good Witch Glinda Elderflower Gin Cocktail
Elderflower (cordial or liqueur) is sweet and friendly and works brilliantly with beautifully herbal botanical gin to make this good witch-approved riff on the Aviation cocktail. You can crank up the lemon content by playing up the floral sweetness of the Elderflower, to make a great tasting twist to a classic gin cocktail recipe. Ingredients
2 oz gin (I recommend a “fruitier” gin such as Gin Mare) ½ oz Maraschino Liqueur ½ oz Elderflower Liqueur or Elderflower Cordial ¾ oz lemon juice Ice
Garnish: Luxardo cherry, Lemon twist Instructions Chill a cocktail glass. Throw some ice into a cocktail shaker, add the gin, Elderflower, maraschino, lemon juice, and bitters. Shake to thoroughly combine and chill then strain into the cocktail glass. Rub the rim with the lemon and garnish with the Luxardo cherry. Disclaimer: This post does contain affiliate links which mean that Next Luxury will earn a percentage of sales made by clicking through this article at no extra cost to you.
See more about - The Best Star Wars Cocktails In The Galaxy
Halloween is not just about trick or treating. While neighborhood kids are raiding for candy, adults can make a beeline for the cocktail table while hosting a Halloween party at home. Get into the spirit with this collection of the 15 spookiest cocktails to try this Halloween.
You can craft new takes on the classics, bring back themed cocktails from summer with an October twist, or make up a few legends you never thought to try.
As always, drink responsibly!
1. Black Vodka Shooters
More of a simple boozy Halloween party drink than a legitimate cocktail, black vodka shots create a cool layer of theming to your All Saints day drinking. You can also create a spooky cocktail using black vodka, but my preference is to keep it to shooters.
Instructions
Take your favorite bottle of affordable vodka (we recommend Tito’s Handmade Vodka) and add drops of red (10 drops), blue (10 drops), and green (8 drops) food coloring. This will create a nice, if a little translucent, black color to your vodka shot. Balance it with some bright red blood shooters (vodka and grenadine) for some high octane trays.
2. Spooky Pines Halloween Punch
You’ve probably been smashing these great-tasting drinks throughout summer, so why not keep the rum fun going and make it a Halloween-themed cocktail. Throw a fake spider in there, or a slip in a bloodshot eye to freak everyone out.
Ingredients
- 2 oz coconut rum (Koloa Coconut Rum is great for this cocktail)
- 2 oz pineapple juice
- 1 oz ginger ale (good carbonation essential)
- 1 tbsp fresh lime juice
- Crushed ice
Garnish: Pineapple chunks, Maraschino cherry
Pour the ingredients into a cocktail shaker full of crushed ice and shake it all together. Pour into a cocktail glass and serve. Garnish with pineapple and/or cherries.
3. Halloween Bloody Mary
The classic Bloody Mary is a hangover helper, but you can make a tasty yet spooky cocktail for Halloween celebrations instead. You can create a meaty garnish to enjoy with the drink, and throw in a few fake eyeballs and bits and pieces (literally) to make your creation look like a pot of bone soup.
- 1 1/2 oz vodka (Skyy Vodka works well)
- 1/2 cup tomato juice
- 2 teaspoons of fresh lemon juice
- 1-3 dashes Tabasco sauce (more for spicier taste)
- 4-6 dashes Worcestershire sauce (more for savory taste)
- Salt and pepper pinch
- 1 tsp celery salt
- Ice
Garnish: Celery sticks, candied bacon, lemon slices, more Tabasco, fake plastic body parts (don’t consume)
Combine all ingredients into a cocktail shaker and mix thoroughly with some crushed ice. Pour the mixture into a punch bowl or large container (make it look soupy), then add plastic body parts for a freakshow look. Repeat until the container is full.
For garnishes, place on sticks to the side with some highball glasses to use as needed.
4. Corpse Reviver No. 2
I’m drawn to any cocktail called a Corpse Reviver, but doubly so when I’m looking for the spookiest Halloween cocktails.
The wild card in this classic cocktail is absinthe, but it takes the recipe to another level and the high alcohol content works well to keep your Halloween celebration humming along.
- 1 oz gin (I recommend Hendrick’s Gin)
- 1 oz Cointreau
- 1 oz Lillet Blanc
- 1 oz lemon juice
- 1 dash absinthe (splash up to one ounce of Absente Absinthe if you’re brave)
- Ice
Garnish: Orange peel
Add gin, Cointreau, Lillet Blanc, lemon juice, and crushed ice to a cocktail shaker. Shake to blend. Add absinthe rinse (a rinse is pre-coating a chilled glass and removing excess) to a cocktail glass, then strain the mixture in. Garnish with an orange peel and serve.
5. Blood Bag Halloween Cocktail
I first enjoyed a blood bag cocktail in Singapore at an operating room-themed bar filled with doctors, nurses, and very drunk revelers. The blood bag is a great piece of theater for the spookiest Halloween cocktails, but much less dodgy than the syringe versions (and it doesn’t have to be just red). Be careful though, drink too many too quickly, and your night doesn’t last long.
Ingredients (Fills 1 x 350 ml bag)
- 2 oz vodka (Finlandia Cranberry Vodka suits the theme)
- 2 oz cherry liqueur (I always wanted to buy a tonic from Dr. Mcgillicuddy)
- 3 oz cranberry fruit juice
- Sprite
Combine vodka, cherry liqueur, and fruit juice. Place mixture into a blood bag as per instructions (they usually have a funnel or syringe apparatus that makes them easy to fill). Add Sprite as well for maximum enjoyment, although it is less boozy.
See more about - The 10 Best Cocktails To Enjoy This Summer
6. Devilish Dark n Stormy (Punch Bowl Sized)
See more about - The 10 Best Cocktails To Enjoy This Summer
Many a Halloween tale has started with a dark and stormy night, so for the rum revelers amongst your guests, a punch bowl-sized version of this classic makes this a premier spooky Halloween cocktail recipe.
- 2 cups dark rum (I heartily recommend Gosling’s Black Seal Rum)
- 5 cups ginger beer
- 1 cup ginger ale (make sure the carbonation is good)
- 1/2 cup simple syrup
- 1/2 cup fresh lime juice
- 2 limes, sliced
Mix all of the ingredients together in a large punch bowl filled with ice cubes (There’s no need to spike it if you make it correctly, this isn’t high school)
7. Poison Apple Cocktail
The Poison Apple is a simple Halloween cocktail that looks just as good as it tastes. If you can put glitter in my drink, rather than on my skin, I won’t have to wash it from strange places for the next three months.
- 2 oz Fireball Cinnamon Whisky
- 1/3 cup Strongbow Hard Apple Cider
- 1/3 cup cranberry juice
- 1 oz grenadine
Garnish: 1/4 teaspoon edible gold glitter, Ice cubes
Combine all ingredients into a cocktail shaker and fill with ice cubes. Shake until the contents are mixed thoroughly. Pour into a rocks glass and serve immediately. Add more glitter if it tickles your fancy.
8. Black Magic Margarita
Forget the frozen slush; a fresh, expertly crafted margarita is one of life’s true pleasures. Making a spooky Halloween cocktail recipe utilizing food coloring and black sanding sugar makes for a scare-friendly riff on the classic.
- 5 oz Tequila (use a tequila like Espolon Tequila Blanco)
- 1 oz triple sec (DeKuyper Triple Sec Liqueur is a budget-friendly liqueur brand)
- 1 oz simple syrup
- 2 limes, halved
- 1 cup ice cubes
- Black Sanding Sugar
- Blue, red, and green food coloring
Rub one wedge of fresh lime around the rim of an old-fashioned glass, then turn the glass upside-down and dip the wet rim into a saucer of black sanding sugar. Set glass aside.
Juice the limes to produce an ounce of liquid, then place the ice cubes, tequila, triple sec, and syrup into a cocktail shaker and shake vigorously until mixed.
Strain into the prepared margarita glass, add the food coloring (10 blue, 10 red, 8 green) to make a black color, and serve immediately.
9. Witches Brew Cocktail
A spoonful of shimmer helps the medicine go down, or at least make it look witchy. The Witches Brew cocktail is a vibrant (and potent) cocktail recipe and a killer Halloween drink, just make sure you drink them responsibly because they are very seductive.
- 1 oz vodka (for this, I recommend EFFEN Raspberry Vodka)
- ½ oz lime juice
- 2 oz raspberry liqueur (Bol’s Black Raspberry)
- 2 oz bottled lemonade
- 1 tsp Silver Cake shimmer
- 1 drop purple food coloring
In a large shaker add liquor, silver shimmer, and lime juice. Pour mixture into a cocktail glass or highball. Top up with lemonade, drop in coloring and ice then serve.
10. Halloween Gin Sling
This take on a classic gin cocktail recipe adds a touch of class to your spooky Halloween drinks. The bright red color of the pomegranate juice gin sling makes for a standout blood theme any vampire enthusiasts can get behind, and it tastes fantastic as well.
- 2 oz gin (a classic dry gin like Bombay Sapphire meshes well with pomegranate)
- 1 oz chilled pomegranate juice
- 0.5 oz simple syrup
- 0.5 oz fresh lime juice
Garnish: Pomegranate seeds, lime slice
Stir ingredients together in a mixing glass filled with ice. Strain into a cocktail glass, and garnish with a handful of pomegranate seeds and lime slices.
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11. Pumpkin Spice White Russian
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Nothing screams Halloween cocktail recipe like a well-adjusted pumpkin spice effort. Crafting a special White Russian variation works splendidly.
- 5 oz vodka (If I’m drinking something with pumpkin spice in it, I’ll choose a good French vodka)
- 5 oz pumpkin spice creamer
- 1 oz coffee liqueur (always Kahlua for me)
Rim: 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice and sugar mixed with crushed Graham Crackers
Garnish: Whipped cream and cinnamon stick
For the rim, mix pumpkin pie spice, sugar, and crushed crackers into a shallow bowl. Dip the rim of a martini glass in water and then into the mix to coat thoroughly, and set aside.
Add vodka, pumpkin spice creamer, and coffee liqueur into a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake to combine.
Pour cocktail mixture into a rimmed martini glass and garnish with whipped cream and a cinnamon stick to serve.
12. Candy Corn Vodka Infusion (Pitcher Size)
Candy corn and vodka go together like beer and skittles. As one of the most recognizable Halloween candies – albeit one that divides families – throwing Brach’s candy corn into a themed cocktail infusion makes for a lot of fun.
- 1 1/2 cups vodka (go cheap – Smirnoff 100 Proof offers some potency)
- 1/4 cup orange liqueur (Grand Marnier has my heart)
- 1/2 cup fresh orange juice (pulp-free)
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1/2 cup Brach’s candy corn
Garnish: Orange slices, candy corn
Mix the candy corn and vodka in an airtight container and set aside overnight to steep.
Separate the vodka from the candy corn with a strainer and pour liquid into a pitcher. Discard the candy, it has done its job.
Add the rest of the ingredients to the vodka and shake until thoroughly mixed together.
Pour into a martini glass, garnish with fresh orange slices and (new) candy corn then serve. You should get four martini-sized cocktails.
13. Brain Duster
I don’t know what it is about absinthe – actually, I do, it’s the mind-bending connotations the liqueur drags up – but most cocktails containing the spirit have extremely Halloween-friendly names. Take this ghoulish Brain Duster for example – it’s a powerful brew fit for your Halloween party.
- 1 oz rye whiskey (Bulleit Rye is my go-to for cocktails)
- 1 oz Absinthe (St George Absinthe Verte is a quality expression)
- 1 oz Italian Vermouth (I prefer dry vermouth, others like it sweet)
- 1 dash Angostura Bitters
Combine ingredients in a mixing glass with ice cubes, then strain into a chilled cocktail glass or old-fashioned rocks glass. You can prep the glass by rimming the inside with Angostura Bitters.
14. Zombie Rum Cocktail
They call this spooky Halloween cocktail recipe a zombie because the combination of different types of rum will make you feel 10 feet tall and bulletproof (at least until morning). The original calls for 151 proof rum, but really, that’s a bit of overkill.
- 1 oz cherry brandy (De Kuyper for the win)
- 1 oz dark rum (I recommend Brugal XV)
- 1 oz gold rum (Mount Gay Eclipse is great and inexpensive)
- 1 oz white rum (Bacardi has a bat on the label so why not?)
- 1 oz lime juice
- 1 teaspoon pineapple juice
- 1 dash grenadine or raspberry puree
- 1 teaspoon sugar
Fill a highball cocktail glass with ice cubes. Pour in cherry brandy and rum then stir together. Mix in fruit juice then stir in sugar and a dash of grenadine or puree for added flavor.
15. Good Witch Glinda Elderflower Gin Cocktail
Elderflower (cordial or liqueur) is sweet and friendly and works brilliantly with beautifully herbal botanical gin to make this good witch-approved riff on the Aviation cocktail.
You can crank up the lemon content by playing up the floral sweetness of the Elderflower, to make a great tasting twist to a classic gin cocktail recipe.
- 2 oz gin (I recommend a “fruitier” gin such as Gin Mare)
- ½ oz Maraschino Liqueur
- ½ oz Elderflower Liqueur or Elderflower Cordial
- ¾ oz lemon juice
- Ice
Garnish: Luxardo cherry, Lemon twist
Chill a cocktail glass. Throw some ice into a cocktail shaker, add the gin, Elderflower, maraschino, lemon juice, and bitters. Shake to thoroughly combine and chill then strain into the cocktail glass. Rub the rim with the lemon and garnish with the Luxardo cherry.
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