Spooky cocktails to make trick-or-treating even more fun this Halloween
We made it, people. It's the spookiest day of the year.
As a kid, Halloween meant hours of trick-or-treating. My friends and I would rove around our neighborhood like a feral gang, scoping out the good houses and coming home with pillow cases full of candy. It was a very Steven Spielberg representation of childhood. I trick-or-treated well into high school, and I'm not at all ashamed of that. Honestly, if I could get away with trick-or-treating now, at 26, I would do it. I've seriously considered having children for the sole purpose of keeping the dream alive.
Alas, I have no children, and I don't think my neighbors would humor me with candy if I tried trick-or-treating on my own. So, I have a new fun tradition: drinking and giving out candy.
My tiny street gets a ton of trick-or-treaters, and my neighbors have all embraced a similar tradition. This means that we all sit outside on our stoops, drinks in hand, and watch while kids get the crap scared out of them by the corner house's scary decorations. Nothing bonds neighbors together like terrified children.
We stuck with wine last year, but this year I asked Nick to come up with some spooky cocktails for us to sip while handing out candy. If you want to join in the fun, try one of the ~spOoKy~ drinks below.
Death in the Afternoon
No, absinthe won't make you hallucinate. But it does make an appropriately spooky drink. My personal favorite is Philadelphia Distilling's Vieux Carre.
1 1/2 oz absinthe
Champagne (to top)
Pour absinthe into a flute glass. Slowly add very cold champagne to fill. The drink should be nice and cloudy. Garnish with a lemon twist.
Wine Spritz
What's scary about a wine spritz, you may ask? Not much, but it is a beautiful orange color that's perfect for the season. Measurements don't have to be exact for this one, as long as the parts are correct.
Dry white wine
Aperol
Club soda
Pour one part dry or semi-dry white wine to three parts Aperol in a wine glass. Add a splash of club soda to top.
Pumpkin Spiked Coffee
PSL + alcohol = your perfect Halloween drink. Bonus, this is a great option if you don't want to be blatantly drinking in front of children.
4 oz hot coffee
3 1/2 tsp pumpkin spice mix*
1/4 cup pumpkin puree
1 1/2 cup water
1 1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 oz whiskey
To make the pumpkin simple syrup:
Mix water with sugar on medium heat until sugar is dissolved. Once dissolved, turn the heat down to low and whisk in the pumpkin spice along with the pumpkin puree. Simmer for eight minutes, stirring occasionally. You don't want the mixture to actually boil. Remove from heat and strain through a cheese cloth. Once the liquid is strained, add the vanilla extract.
Combine the hot coffee, the whiskey and ½ ounce of the pumpkin simple syrup.
*You can buy pumpkin spice, but it's really easy to make your own. Just combine:
3 tbsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp ground nutmeg
1 1/2 tsp ground allspice
1 1/2 tsp ground cloves
Happy Halloween!
Also check out: Spookiest Halloween novels; Best pumpkin products in Philly
