Easy Halloween Cocktails To Make at Home

By Gayot Editors

Best Halloween Cocktails for Spooky Drinks

Forget those sickly-sweet kiddie drinks with candy corn, marshmallow ghosts and chocolate dripping all over the place.

These hauntingly good Halloween cocktails are decidedly more sophisticated with flavors of the fall season (including pumpkin), yet they’re easy to make and ideal for Halloween or any time of year you feel like scaring up some tasty spirits.

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1. Black Cauldron

Black Cauldron

Scare up this brooding cocktail at Halloween or any time you want a moody libation.

The charcoal gives the drink its dark-as-night hue as well as a light, smoky flavor. Bwahahahaha!

INGREDIENTS:
– 1 1/2 parts Hornitos Black Barrel Tequila
– 3/4 part fresh lemon juice
– 1/4 part agave syrup
– 1/4 part sage simple syrup
– 2 dashes Angostura bitters
– 1 capsule activated charcoal

METHOD:
• Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice and shake vigorously.
• Strain into a coupe glass.
• Garnish with a lemon slice.

2. Blood & Sand

Blood and Sand

Named after the 1922 silent film where leading man Rudolph Valentino finds himself bleeding on the sand of a bullfighting ring, the morosely monikered Blood & Sand is a smooth and drinkable classic cocktail that withstands the test of time.

INGREDIENTS:
– 1 oz. Jack Daniel’s Single Barrel
– 1 oz. orange juice
– 3/4 oz. Cherry Herring Liqueur
– 3/4 oz. sweet vermouth

METHOD:
• Shake and strain over ice.
• Serve in a chilled martini or coupe glass.
• Garnish with flamed orange zest.

3. Corpse Reviver

Corpse Reviver

Ready for a drink so potent it can raise the dead?

Okay, so it might not be that serious, but this favorite first appeared in Harry Craddock’s Savoy Cocktail Book in 1930. Although most folks today enjoy this cocktail after dark, Craddock recommended imbibing before 11 a.m. or whenever a little energy boost was needed.

INGREDIENTS:
– 3/4 oz. gin
– 3/4 oz. Cointreau
– 3/4 oz. Lillet Blanc
– 3/4 oz. fresh lemon juice
– 1 dash absinthe

METHOD:
• Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass.
• Shake vigorously with ice and strain into a chilled coupe glass.
• Garnish with a brandied cherry.

4. Dark ‘N Stormy

Dark 'N Stormy

There’s only one official way to do a Dark ‘N Stormy and that’s with Gosling’s Black Seal Rum from Bermuda.

It’s perhaps the simplest drink to make, yet one sip and you’ll understand why this scary-good drink proves that less is more.

INGREDIENTS:
– 1 1/2 oz. Gosling’s Black Seal Rum
– Gosling’s Stormy Ginger Beer

METHOD:
• In a tall glass filled with ice add 4 to 5 ounces of Gosling’s Stormy Ginger Beer and top with Gosling’s Black Seal Rum.
• Garnish with a lime wedge.

5. The Jack O’Lantern Potion

The Jack O’Lantern Potion

Director of Nightlife and mixology expert Aidan Demarest from Riviera 31 at Sofitel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills created a spooktacular cocktail perfect for celebrating Halloween at home. The Jack-O’-Lantern Potion offers a magical trio of perfectly balanced citrus, bitter and sweet flavors.

INGREDIENTS:
– 1.7 oz. Jack Daniels (1 mini bottle)
– Fever Tree Ginger Beer
– .7 oz. of Liquid Alchemist Apple Spice Elixir (made with apple juice, ginger, lemon, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and cane sugar)
– Sweet spice mix (light brown sugar, ground cinnamon, dried ground ginger, ground nutmeg, ground cloves, ground cardamom).
– Dehydrated citrus wheel

METHOD:
• In a 12-oz glass, pour 1.7 oz. (50 ml) of Jack Daniels (the equivalent of 1 mini bottle).
• Add 1.7 oz. (50 ml) of Liquid Alchemist Elixir.
• Top with fresh Fever Tree Ginger Beer
• Add a pinch of sweet spice mix.
• Garnish with a dehydrated bitter citrus wheel.

6. The Lingering Spirit

The mixologists at Agents Only, the bar & lounge at Hotel Dena in Pasadena, CA, have created this ghoulish cocktail, perfect to put you in the Halloween spirit.

INGREDIENTS:
– 2 oz. Fords Gin
– 0.75 oz. garden syrup
– 0.75 oz. lime juice
– 1 vial of coconut charcoal
Ice: large cube
Garnish: black spider

METHOD:
Glass: DOF.
• Shake.
• Strain.

> Pasadena fun fact: This cocktail references the lingering spirits believed to reside within Pasadena’s Gamble House. One of the most famous craftsman homes in Pasadena, the Gamble House is rumored to be filled with spiritual energy. In Psychic Readings of the Gamble House, David Fenster explores the property and reads the words and thoughts of the lingering spirits of the home.

7. Oaxacan Trails

Oaxacan Trails

This creepy critter cocktail was created by Eric Johnson of Juniper & Ivy in San Diego, California.

You can use any mezcal of choice, but the recipe recommends La Niña del Mezcal Espadin. That might leave a bit more of a dent in your wallet, but Johnson assures the sweet, citrus and spicy notes pair perfectly with the toasty cricket bitters and crisp bite of the celery syrup.

INGREDIENTS:
– 2 oz. mezcal
– 1/4 oz. celery syrup
– 5 dashes of Critter Bitters

METHOD:
Add the mezcal and syrup to a dry mixing glass.
• Fill the glass with ice and use a bar spoon to stir until the mixing glass feels ice cold (about 20 to 40 seconds).
• Strain into a rocks glass over fresh cubed ice.
• Add 5 dashes of Critter Bitters to the top of the drink, and enjoy the toasty aroma as you take your first sip.

8. Peach Smash

A festive sweet, savory and spooky Halloween cocktail recipe below by Guillotine Vodka and previously served at Tesse Restaurant in West Hollywood, CA.

INGREDIENTS:
– 2 oz. Guillotine Originale
– 1/2 lemon squeezed
– 1/4 peach sliced and muddled
– 0.75 oz. simple syrup

METHOD:
• Pour all ingredients into a shaker filled with ice and shake it up.
• Strain.
Pour.
• Garnish with peach slices, a mint sprig and lemon for zest 
• Best served with crushed ice.

9. Spiced Pumpkin Pasadena Martini

This cocktail is brought to you by Agents Only, the bar & lounge at Hotel Dena in Pasadena, CA, serving attention-grabbing cocktails, small bites and live entertainment.

INGREDIENTS:
– 2 oz. vodka
– 1 oz. Monin Cold Brew Concentrate
– .5 oz. Monin Spiced Pumpkin Syrup
Garnish: Fresh grated nutmeg, candied orange on a stainless steel skull cocktail pick

METHOD:
Glass: Cocktail.
• Shake.
• Strain.

10. Spiced Orange Pumpkin Bowl

Spiced Orange Pumpkin Bowl

It wouldn’t be a proper Halloween cocktail list without a pumpkin drink. Impress at any party with this orange ale that’s squashingly better than the PSL.

INGREDIENTS:
– 1 medium size pumpkin
– 4-8 bottles of Crabbie’s Spiced Orange Alcoholic Ginger Beer
– 2 oranges, sliced
– 2 tablespoons cinnamon
– 1/4 cup sugar
– 1 tablespoon allspice

METHOD:
Hollow out a medium size pumpkin and fill halfway with ice.
• Depending on the size of your pumpkin, pour in 4 to 8 bottles of Crabbie’s Spiced Orange Alcoholic Ginger Beer.
• Top with sliced oranges.