Make your Halloween and Bonfire Night celebrations that little bit extra special (Picture: Metro.co.uk)
The nights are getting colder, pumpkin spice is suddenly everywhere and you’ve even got your big coat out — autumn is well and truly here.
Whether you plan to get your scare on with a Halloween party or to ‘ooh’ and ‘ahh’ at a local fireworks display, you may want to enjoy a tipple or two over spooky season.
But you don’t need to settle for the standard drinks options of beer of wine: a signature cocktail can keep your gathering on theme while ensuring your guests feel the effort they put into their costumes was worth it.
Give these some autumnal cocktail recipes a go and make your Bonfire or Fright Night do one to remember long after the glasses have been drained.
Dark Storm
The perfect drink for a dark and stormy night (Picture: Diageo)
The perfect cocktail to bring in Daylight Savings time, Dark Storm utilises squid ink (which you can get hold of at larger fishmongers or online) to make your drink that perfect midnight black.
Dark Storm was created Sunday Brunch cocktail expert Pritesh Mody, and as well as being dead easy to make, we think it’s the perfect gothic drink to serve at your Halloween party.
Ingredients
50ml Seedlip Grove 42, Ciroc vodka, or Gordon’s gin (depending on your tastes)
20ml lime juice
¼ teaspoon of black squid ink
150ml ginger beer
Method
Dry shake the spirit, lime juice, and squid ink
Add ice and then continue to shake until cold
Strain the liquid into an ice-filled highball glass
Top the cocktail with ginger beer and garnish it with either a strip of nori seaweed or a lemon wedge.
Fruity Mix
Delicious, on-theme, and actually very good for you (Picture: Getty Images/iStockphoto)
This fruity mocktail devised by Wren Kitchens packs all your five a day into one tumbler. If you want to add alcohol, though, a measure of dark rum or warming cherry brandy thoroughly mixed through could go down a treat.
Ingredients
50g pumpkin or butternut squash
1 pear
250ml orange juice
1cm thick slice ginger
100ml water
Method
Peel, deseed, and cut your pumpkin or butternut squash into chunks.
Blend all ingredients until smooth.
Serve in tumblers with spooky plastic straws or whatever you want to use as a garnish
A Vampire’s Kiss
This drink has been described as sinfully crimson (Picture: Function Central)
This crimson concoction from Function Central works well as both a mocktail or vodka mix if you want that little extra kick.
Its deep red hue also looks striking with any Halloween props or a colourful sugar rim around the glass to serve.
Ingredients
75ml pomegranate juice
75ml ginger ale
25ml lime juice
Ice cubes
25ml vodka (optional)
grenadine
Method
Dry shake the pomegranate juice, ginger ale, and lime juice
Add 25ml vodka if you want to make the drink alcoholic
Skip the second step and just add ice cubes if you want the drink to be a mocktail
Add a little grenadine on the top for extra ‘blood’
Jack Fire Mule
This recipe is similarly warming and refreshing (Picture: Getty Images/iStockphoto)
If whisky is more your style, you’ll love Jack Fire Mules, which are nice and warming thanks to the cinnamon whiskey and ginger – ideal if you’ve been outside looking at the fireworks.
Ingredients
50ml cinnamon whiskey (Fireball or Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Fire are good options available in supermarkets)
200ml ginger beer
Ice
Lime wedge
Method
Fill a glass or copper mug with ice
Pour over the whiskey
Add the ginger beer and squeeze in the lime
Stir and serve
The Witch’s Watch
The Witch’s Watch looks like it has come straight out of a cauldron (Picture: Function Central)
Something wicked this way comes… Get in touch with your inner witch with this brightly-coloured elixir, which works both as a mocktail and an alcoholic beverage.
Ingredients
100ml apple juice
25ml lime juice
25ml tequila (optional)
Lychee
Grenadine
Method
Apply dry ice to glass for foggy effect (this could also be achieved by popping your glasses in the freezer for an hour before you get mixing)
Pour in the apple juice and lime juice
Add tequila (optional)
Add a lychee to the side of the glass mimic an eyeball
Add a splash of grenadine for a blood effect
Spooky Rum Stir
Serve your potion in a cauldron for maximum effect (Picture: Getty Images/iStockphoto)
This one looks great served in a highball glass, but you could also multiply the quantities for a rum punch (aka witches’ potion) that guests can serve themselves throughout the night. If you have a cauldron to use as your punch bowl, even better.
Ingredients
50ml raspberry rum
60ml cranberry juice
15ml Cointreau
10ml lime juice
3 strawberries
Ice cubes
Method
Add all the ingredients to a shaker and shake for 60 seconds
Serve in either a highball glass or cauldron
Bloody Martini
This bloody martini offers a spooky surprise (Picture: Function Central)
Give this party favourite a spooktacular twist with the help of crushed blackberries. The salt and sugar rim on the glass also adds a unique tang for your fangs.
Ingredients
15ml extra dry vermouth
75ml dry gin
60ml pomegranate juice
Ice
Blackberries
Method
Rim glass with salt and sugar
Dry shake the gin, vermouth, and pomegranate juice
Add ice
Crush blackberries and garnish
Bloody Lemonade
Garnish with as much raspberry ‘bloody’ as you want (Picture: Getty Images/iStockphoto)
Choose this one when life gives you lemons… and blood. A lot of blood. If you’d like to make it a hard lemonade, citrus vodka or gin pair well.
Ingredients
250ml lemonade
Raspberry syrup
Method
Pour lemonade into a glass
Add couple of drops of raspberry syrup
Drip the remaining raspberry syrup around the rim of the glass to create a runny blood drip effect
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Spooky sips to light your firework.