There's something in the air, and we don’t just mean the leaves blowing off the trees. Spirits seem to swirl around us in October. Or maybe it’s the spirits we’re stirring up here, in our roundup of Halloween cocktail recipes. We asked bartenders to tell us about their favorite cocktails for the spookiest time of year. Replicate them if you dare!
One-Eyed Willy Halloween Cocktail Recipe
At Borracha in Nevada's Green Valley Ranch Resort and Spa, mixologist Mike Monrreal channels the famous pirate in his Day of the Dead-themed bar.
2 ounces Botran Reserva Rum
1 ounce Cruzan Aged 151 Rum
1 ounce Pineapple Juice
1 ounce Fresh Lemon Juice
1 ounce Funkin Passion Fruit Puree
¾ ounce Monin Hibiscus Syrup
½ ounce Giffard Orgeat Liqueur (almond flavored liqueur)
Add all ingredients to cocktail shaker. Add ice and shake vigorously. Strain into a skull-shaped glass over crushed ice. Garnish with a pineapple top and a hollowed out lime half filled with 151 rum. Light the rum on fire for spectacular effect.
The One-Eyed Willy from Borracha in Hendersonville, Nevada (Photo credit: Joe Janet)
The Spiked Tootsie Halloween Cocktail Recipe
Coyote Café in Santa Fe, New Mexico builds on its city's history for its Halloween cocktail. Santa Fe was the first place Mexico exported its tequila, up the old El Camino Real trail to the Spanish Colonial seat of power. Coyote Cafe Owner John Quinn created the Spiked Tootsie cocktail, which looks and tastes like Halloween in a glass.
2 ounces Patron XO Cafe Coffee-flavored Liqueur
3 ounces Fresh Orange Juice
Pour the coffee liqueur in a glass. Pour the orange juice carefully over an upside down spoon to create a layer over the liqueur. Garnish with an orange twist.
The Spiked Tootsie cocktail from Coyote Cafe in Santa Fe, New Mexico (Photo credit: Coyote Cafe)
Booberry Sidecar Mimosa Halloween Cocktail Recipe
FireFlies Restaurant in Alexandria, Virginia offers the Booberry Sidecar Mimosa – a spin on the classic sidecar cocktail. Daniel Barrios, general manager and craft bartender, says this sidecar is special because the citrus liqueur is made in-house. (But you can substitute Cointreau in its place.) This mimosa also features a blueberry juice ice cube that flavors the drink as it dissolves.
1 ounce Courvoisier VSOP
1 ounce House-made Citrus Rujero Liqueur or Cointreau
½ ounce Fresh Lemon Juice
¼ ounce Fresh Orange Juice
Blueberry Juice
Add blueberry juice to an ice cube tray and freeze. Once frozen, mix together Courvoisier VSOP, Cointreau, lemon juice, and orange juice. Pour the mixture over one blueberry juice ice cube and top with Muscanti Brut sparkling wine. Finish with a lemon twist. Rim the glass with sugar.
Booberry Sidecar Martini from FireFlies in Alexandria, Virginia (Photo credit: FireFlies)
Candy Corn Martini Halloween Cocktail Recipe
Located in the Santa Fe Sage Inn in Santa Fe, New Mexico, the Derailed Restaurant serves up the Candy Corn Martini as the ultimate adult Halloween treat.
1 ½ ounce Skyy Vanilla Vodka
3 ounce Sweet & Sour Mix
2 ounces Pineapple Juice
½ ounce Grenadine
Whipped Cream
First, pour grenadine into the bottom of the martini glass. Next, shake the vodka, sour mix and pineapple juice together over ice and strain. Pour the mixture over an upside down spoon to create the yellow layer. Top with whipped cream.
Candy Corn Martini from Derailed Restaurant in the Sante Fe Inn in Santa Fe, New Mexico (Photo credit: Derailed, Santa Fe Sage Inn)
The Sleepy Hollow Halloween Cocktail Recipe
Head Bartender Marti Cassinerio from Local Chop and Grill House in Harrisonburg, Virginia created the Sleepy Hollow to evoke the spirits of the season. The restaurant prides itself on its use of local and seasonal ingredients.
1 ounce Rhum Barbancourt
3/4 ounce Domaine de Canton Ginger Liqueur
3/4 ounce Housemade Spiced Pumpkin Shrub (Make your own or use this alternative)
1 Egg White
Shake all ingredients (besides bitters) to allow egg to create a foam. Add ice and shake again. Pour into a glass. Add soda water and two dashes of Angostura Bitters. Pour bitters into a spray bottle Place a leaf-shaped stencil over the glass and spray the bitters through the stencil onto the foam.
The Sleepy Hollow from Local Chop and Grill House in Harrisonburg, Virginia (Photo credit: Katie Schmidt from The Pinwheel Collective)
Midori Lemon Gin Fizz Halloween Cocktail Recipe
According to Dell Cove Spice Co. from Chicago, Illinois this Halloween cocktail not only looks elegantly spooky, but it also tastes great.
2 ounces Gin
2 ounce Fresh Lemon Juice
1 oz Midori Melon Liqueur
2 Egg Whites
Honey or Simple Syrup for Moistening the Rim
Black salt, Such as Dell Cove’s Black Lava Sea Salt, for the Rim
Rim chilled glasses with honey or simple syrup, then dip in black salt. Fill glasses with ice and set aside. Pour gin, lemon juice, melon liqueur and egg white into a cocktail shaker and fill with ice. Cover and shake vigorously for one to two minutes. Strain into salt rimmed glasses and serve. Want to add a playful touch? Clip on a plastic Halloween spider ring or other toy to the glass rim. (Please don't eat this, though!)
Midori Gin Fizz (Photo credit: Dell Cove Spices)
Which of these Halloween cocktail recipes would you dare try? Let us know in the comments below!
This story was originally published in 2016 and updated in 2017.
About Paige Conner Totaro, The Startup Travel Mama
Those sound so good! I really love your presentation, too. Nothing is more Halloween than drinking from a skull!
Yes! I think something with smoke would look nice, too.
These are all such fun and festive Halloween themed cocktails. I love the Boo Berry one, it looks so elegant and sounds like something I would actually drink.
That one surprised me. It wasn’t at all what I was expecting. I was thinking of the cereal….
All of these cocktails look phenomenal. We live just a short drive from Green Valley Ranch here in Nevada and I need that skull glass in my life.
You do. You really do.
Oh these are fun! I should definitely plan to make a few different cocktails for Halloween. The Candy Corn Martini looks good!
Isn’t that one pretty? That was the one that inspired this post!
Halloween and cocktails has my hubby’s name written all over it. I should make him the Candy Corn Martini or the Sleepy Hallow Cocktail. He’d love them both, I’m sure!
Of course he would! I just love the way the Candy Corn Martini looks in the glass.
What fun ideas for a Halloween party, such fun colors. Love that bright green one!
I’m a little leery of ingesting something that color, to be honest.
All these drinks look gorgeous! Halloween is one of my favorites because of fun cocktail choices!
Did you make any this year? Don’t leave us hanging!
These are all stunning! They look great and I bet taste just great too! Yum! Perfect for halloween!
Mmmm hmmmm. Delish.
This all look so tasty and I’m equally impressed with the presentation! So much party inspiration here. Thank you!
Please tell me you made one! Or several!
The Sleepy Hollow one looked like it could be my favorite. I wouldn’t mind trying each one!
That is part of the fun of writing these articles!
wow, I love the creativity of each one. We will have to make time for an adult Halloween moment 😉
Indeed. I love Halloween as a child but there are many more fun things about it as an adult.
I’ll take a One Eyed Willy! Looks tasty.
And maybe a little scary?
These are all so beautiful! I will share with my friends so we can decide what we will drink on halloween!
What did you choose?
Such a great article! Thanks for sharing! I’m the importer for Rujero singani (the infused spirit in Fireflies cocktail). Singani is a 500-year-old Bolivian tradition that we’re just introducing to the US, beginning with DC last Spring! If you’d be interested in learning more, I’d love for the opportunity to tell you about our start-up!
Fascinating! I’d love to know more.
These recipes look cool. I will try them.