Drink Spooky with Me
Double, double, toil and trouble; Fire burn and cauldron bubble. For the latest in our cocktail series, I could think of no better way to celebrate Halloween than by brewing up a couple extra spooky concoctions to celebrate our haunting season. Using just a few secret ingredients, you can elevate your night with these extra spooky delights.
Featured Cocktails:
Franken-rita
When Frankenstein’s monster first leaped off the big screens in 1931, he immediately captivated audiences everywhere with his larger-than-life stature. I wanted to pay tribute to the famous creature and the mark he left on the world of horror cinema by crafting the Franken-rita.
Utilizing activated charcoal to darken the drinks color without changing its flavor, the charcoal turns the signature margarita into a dark shade of green and black, just like the monster, himself.
2 oz Patron Gran Platinum or Tequila Blanco of Choice
1 oz Freshly Squeezed Lemon Juice
3/4 oz Simple Syrup
1/4 oz Cointreau
Pinch of Activated Charcoal
Method:
Combine all ingredients including the activated charcoal into a shaker tin. Shake until well chilled and strain. Serve in a rocks glass, on the rocks. Garnish with a preserved hibiscus flower.
Witches’ Brew
Punches are some of the most fun drinks to make, and in fact, are often seen as the very first cocktails. In this witches’ brew we are incorporating the use of both butterfly pea flower extract and dry ice.
Butterfly pea flower extract is an enchanting substance that will add a magical effect to your beverages. Wizardry I would say! The extract is naturally a deep hue of blue, but when in contact with citrus it becomes pink or purple (depending on the pH level of the citrus). This is a great way to impress your guests, by preparing a punch or cocktail and allowing them to see the color of the drink evolve as the extract is added.
Dry ice is the solid form of carbon dioxide, being frozen into a solid at a very low temperature. As dry ice melts, it returns to its original gas state, giving us a consistent, ghostly smoke. Dry ice is not safe to the touch, but it is safe to be added to drinks or food without altering taste as it is flavorless.
There are many different ways you can go about introducing the effects of these chilling ingredients into the presentation of the punch, but I will show you what I believe to be the most theatrical way to put on a hair-raising show for your guests.
(For the sake of this example we will prepare a punch for 8 guests yielding about 4 oz per serving)
16 oz Green House Gin
6 oz Lime Juice
6 oz Simple Syrup
2 oz Water
16 Drops Butterfly Pea Flower Extract
FOR AN INDIVIDUAL SERVING:
2 Parts Green House Gin
3/4 Parts Lime Juice
3/4 Parts Simple Syrup
1/4 Parts Water
1 Drop Per oz of Combined Ingredients of Butterfly Pea Flower Extract
Method:
Place enough dry ice in your punch bowl to cover the bottom, add remaining ingredients, except for the lime juice, in the following order: butterfly pea flower extract, water, gin, simple syrup. As soon as you begin to add the liquids the dry ice will begin to evaporate, creating a smoke show. Stir all the content until the butterfly pea flower extract is fully diluted, then slowly pour the lime juice into the punch and watch the color magically change. Stir and serve over ice.