Shake things up for Halloween or Dia de los Muertos with a delicious adult-only treat that's best served chilled.
From sweet and sour to smoky and savory, check out these fall and Halloween-inspired cocktail recipes below.
Easy Apple Cider Margarita
Makes: 4 drinks
Ingredients
3 1/2 cups apple cider
6 ounces of tequila
2 ounces of triple sec
4 tbsp lime juice
Cinnamon sugar rim:
2 tbsp coconut sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
Instructions
Add the ingredients together in a pitcher or shaker. Mix well.
Add lime juice or water to the rim of the glass.
Mix the cinnamon sugar mixture together on a small plate and dip the glass into it.
Serve with apples slices and cinnamon sticks!
Heidi Klum's Black Magic-rita
The undisputed queen of Halloween costumes shared her latest party trick, a delicious adult beverage to sip all Halloween long that will be served as the official cocktail of her own festive party this year.
Ingredients
2 ounces Patrón El Alto tequila
1 ounce blackberry syrup, (recipe below)
1 ounce fresh lime juice
2 drops of Scrappy’s Fire Water Tincture
Black lava salt
Blackberry syrup
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
5 large blackberries
Sugar spider web garnish:
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/4 light corn syrup
1/4 cup water
Blackberries
Directions
For the blackberry syrup: In a small saucepan, mix one cup of sugar, one cup of water with five large blackberries. Simmer and let the sugar melt. Once the blackberries are soft, muddle them with the back of a spoon. Strain through a fine mesh strainer and let cool.
For the spider web garnish: Combine 1 1/4 cups of sugar, 1/4 cup of light corn syrup, and 1/4 cup of water with muddled blackberries in a small saucepan. Start on low heat and periodically whisk to increase temperature. Using a candy thermometer, bring the mixture to 300 degrees. Place the saucepan in an ice bath and bring it down to 275 degrees. Using a fork, spin your cobweb design by drizzling the mixture over parchment in your desired shape.
To assemble the cocktail: In a shaker combine tequila, blackberry syrup, lime juice, and ice and shake. Strain and pour over ice in a rocks glass with a black salt rim. Top with two drops of fire water tincture and a sugar spider web garnish.
Dia de los Muertos Cocktail
Mixologist Julien Calella created this sweet and tart drink that draws influence in its color and garnish to resemble the ofrenda and decor on Dia de los Muertos.
Ingredients
1 1/2 oz Tequila Don Julio Blanco
3/4 oz Fresh Pineapple Juice
3/4 oz Fresh Lime Juice
1/4 oz Agave Nectar
1/2 tsp. Activated Charcoal Powder
Directions
Combine Tequila, fresh pineapple juice, fresh lime juice, agave nectar and activated charcoal powder into a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake well.
Strain contents into a double rocks glass over fresh ice. Garnish with a lime wheel and an edible marigold flower.
Haunted orchard punch
Blogger and cookbook author Tieghan Gerard has curated an array of festive drinks for her popular site, Half Baked Harvest, and she is sharing the tasty concoctions just in time for all our own Halloween festivities.
"This drink is a mix of tequila, a splash of lemon, apple cider, a teensy bit of maple syrup, ginger, cinnamon and sparkling hard cider," Gerard said. "It's all things fall and incredibly delicious."
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups silver tequila
2 cups apple cider
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/4-1/3 cup real maple syrup, to taste
1 inch fresh ginger, grated
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2-3 (12 ounces) bottles sparkling hard cider
3-4 cinnamon sticks
1 apple, thinly sliced
Instructions:
In a large pitcher, combine the tequila, cider, lemon juice, maple syrup, ginger and cinnamon. Chill until ready to serve.
Top with hard cider just before serving. Stir in the cinnamon sticks and apple slices.
Vampire's drip cocktail
This decadent Halloween cocktail is a mix of coconut rum, Kahlua, vanilla, milk and chocolate and garnished with a pomegranate caramel. It's topped with a chocolate truffle bat on the rim.
Ingredients:
Pomegranate caramel
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup pomegranate juice
Vampire's kiss
1 ounce white rum (or vodka)
1/2 ounce coconut rum (or vodka)
1/2 ounce Kahlúa
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup whole milk or heavy cream
1-2 tablespoons sweetened condensed milk, to taste
Instructions:
For the pomegranate caramel: Bring the sugar and pomegranate juice to a boil over high heat in a medium saucepan. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer until thickened, about 8 to 10 minutes. Set aside to cool.
Note: The Pomegranate Caramel will make enough to drizzle over eight drinks.
Drizzle a martini or coupe glass with pomegranate caramel.
In a cocktail shaker filled with ice, combine the rum, coconut rum, Kahlúa, vanilla, milk and sweetened condensed milk. Shake until combined. Strain into prepared glass.
Garnish with chocolate bats, if desired.
The full recipe for Gerard's chocolate bat garnish can be found here.
Deathly Hallows cocktail
This cocktail is a mix of cranberry juice, Mezcal, orange liquor, lemon juice, maple and ginger beer. Gerhard says it's sweet, smoky and "all things cozy, but also gives off the spookiest of Halloween vibes."
Grab a fun goblet, shake up this easy cocktail and surprise your guests with this spooky drink.
Ingredients:
1 1/2 - 2 ounces silver tequila or Mezcal
2 1/2 ounces cranberry juice
1/2 ounce orange liquor
1/2 ounce lemon juice
1 tablespoon real maple syrup
ginger beer, for topping
fresh thyme, for garnish
Instructions:
Combine all the ingredients in a cocktail shaker and fill with ice. Shake until combined and then strain into a glass. Top with ginger beer.
Garnish with thyme. If desired, carefully light a thyme sprig on fire for a smoky effect.
Death Eater Negroni
A Negroni is a simple mix of equal parts gin, Campari and sweet vermouth. Gerhard adds one of her favorite autumn ingredients, a splash of pomegranate juice. "Not only does the pomegranate juice give the drink a nice dark color, it also adds some sweetness, which I like when paired with the gin," she said.
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons (1 ounce) gin
2 tablespoons (1 ounce) Campari
2 tablespoons (1 ounce) sweet vermouth
2 tablespoons (1 ounce) pomegranate juice
activated charcoal, for coloring (optional)
1 orange peel and pomegranate arils, for garnish
Instructions:
In a cocktail glass, combine gin, Campari, sweet vermouth and pomegranate juice. If a black color is desired, add one-eighth of a teaspoon activated charcoal and stir to combine. Top the glass with ice and garnish with an orange twist and pomegranate arils.
For a spooky effect, you can add a dying flower to each drink.
Apple Butter Old Fashioned
This recipe combines bourbon and apple butter to create a beverage that's packed with autumn flavor. Gerhard fills this drink with homemade apple butter, cider, lemon, orange bitters and bourbon.
Ingredients:
Coarse sugar, for the rim (optional)
1/4 cup apple cider
Juice from 1/2 a lemon
Dash of orange bitters
1 tablespoon apple butter
2 ounces bourbon
Ginger beer or ginger kombucha, for topping (optional)
Thinly sliced apples and cinnamon, for garnish
Instructions:
If desired, rim your glass with coarse sugar.
In a cocktail shaker, combine the apple cider, lemon juice, orange bitters, apple butter and bourbon. Shake to combine.
Strain into your prepared glass filled with ice. If desired top with ginger beer. Garnish with cinnamon and apples.
This story was originally published on Oct. 29, 2018.
