Posts Tagged ‘Halloween’

Halloween cocktail: Red Zombie

We conclude our week of Halloween cocktails with the eye-bulging Red Zombie, a favourite of mine because of my devotion to all things Romero.

As I've stated to death (get it? to death? tee hee) I'm a huge fan of the horror genre and zombies are my favourite. Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead. Shaun of the Dead. Shock Waves. 28 Days Later. Evil Dead Trilogy. Dead Snow. Return of the Living Dead. The list goes on and on and on.

So jack up your DVD player with any of those or your personal fave, and whip up a drink. After all it's Devil's Night tonight...

Red Zombie

1.5 oz SKYY Vodka
3 oz tomato juice
1/2 tsp finely grated horseradish
1 tsp barbecue sauce
3 dashes Worcestershire sauce
3 dashes Tabasco sauce
1/2 tsp finely chopped chipotle en adobo
Pinch of kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Generous squeeze of lemon juice
Pinch of celery seeds
1 celery stick
2 large green olives
2 lychee fruits

Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake vigorously and strain into martini glass. Garnish with green eye balls, laid across the rim of the glass*.

*Cut the end of a stalk of celery so it measures 5-6 inches long and split the stick in half lengthwise. Slide the green olives into two lychee fruits to make eye balls and push the thin celery stick through both as garnish.

Halloween cocktail: Black Widow

You need a steady hand to get the web drawn on the side of the martini glass in this photo. I tried it last year and it was a bit messy. An artiste I'm not. Still, heading to the door to hand out Halloween candy to the neighbourhood kids was pretty cool with my hands covered in blood... I mean raspberry syrup. BWAH-HA-HA-HA!

As for scary movies featuring spiders (I'm a bit of a horror buff for those just tuning in), try Tarantula (1955) if you don't mind black and white oldies where the special effects are so bad, they're good. Ditto for Earth vs. the Spider (original, 1958). Personally I enjoyed the campy fun of Eight Legged Freaks a lot and my all-time fave has to be Arachnophobia with Jeff Daniels and John Goodman.

Black Widow

1 oz SKYY Vodka
1/2 oz triple sec
1/2 oz Sour Puss Sour Raspberry
2 oz pomegranate juice
Squeeze of fresh lemon juice
Raspberry syrup

Draw a spider web on the inside of a chilled martini glass with raspberry syrup. Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake vigorously and strain into chilled martini glass. Garnish with plastic spider.

Halloween cocktail: Vampire's Elixir

Here's another Halloween cocktail inspired by vampires.

By the way, I'm a diehard horror fan, much to the confusion and consternation of my friends and family. And although I'm more of a zombie and slasher type, I admit that I've enjoyed many an entertaining moment watching bloodsucking vampires do their work.

For the record, I choose:
Fright Night over The Lost Boys.
True Blood over The Vampire Diaries.
Bordello of Blood over Interview with The Vampire.
30 Days of Night over Blade.
Let the Right One In over Twilight. Definitely.

Agree? Disagree? Let me know your faves. I can talk about horror movies all day and all night. Especially at night. BWAH-HA-HA-HA!

On to today's cocktail:

Vampire's Elixir

1 oz SKYY Vodka
1/2 oz Cassis
3/4 oz white chocolate liqueur
1 oz half and half cream
Strawberry syrup

Dress strawberry syrup on the inside and rim of a chilled martini glass. Combine all other ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake vigorously and strain into martini glass. Garnish with vampire teeth.

Jack-O-Lantern

Here's another cool looking Halloween cocktail for your pleasure, my trick or treating friends. Anyone have any ideas about where I can pick up a glass like the one in the photo? Seems like it wouldn't be quite as wicked looking without that awesome presentation.

For the record, this particular cocktail was shared with me by the folks at Skyy Vodka.

Jack-O-Lantern

1 oz. SKYY Vodka
1/2 oz. triple sec
1 oz. mango juice
1/2 oz. orange juice
1/2 oz. fresh sour (combine 1/4 oz fresh lime juice and 3/4 oz simple syrup)

Combine all of the ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake vigorously and pour into a goblet glass and garnish with a slice of orange and a mint leaf laid flat on top.

Bloody Rum Punch

Our week of Halloween cocktails continues with a great big bowl of blood red party punch. Featuring rum and red wine, this party punch should be a real party pleaser.

Bloody Rum Punch

1 bottle (750 ml) of DonQ Cristal rum
1/2 bottle red wine
6 oz fresh lime juice
6 oz triple sec liqueur
6 oz simple syrup
2 limes, sliced in thin wheels
2 red oranges, sliced in thin wheels

Add all ingredients into a large punch bowl and place in the refrigerator for at least two hours before serving.

Serve over ice in a punch glass.