If on every Halloween you inevitably find yourself snatching some of the amassed loot from the trick-or-treaters in your life—come on, admit it, we’ve all been there—we urge you to instead mix up one of these libations, inspired by favorite Halloween treats. Sweet, sour or chocolaty, we’ve got you covered, no costume or candy snagging required.
Warhead Pisco Sour
Recipe courtesy Stefan Trummer, owner and mixologist, Trummer’s on Main, Clifton, VA
This riff on the classic South American cocktail gets a tart-and-tangy kick from syrup infused with hurts-so-good sour lemon and apple Warhead candies. Trummer suggests experimenting with other flavors, like watermelon and cherry, depending on your preferences.
12 lemon Warheads
12 apple Wearheads
2½ ounces Macchu Pisco
1 ounce fresh lime juice
1 ounce WARHEAD-infused syrup
Dash cream
Sour neon gummy worms, for garnish
Combine ½ cup water with the lemon and apple Warhead candies, and boil until the candy is dissolved. Keep boiling until the liquid is reduced to a simple-syrup texture. Set the syrup aside to cool, and store in the refrigerator until ready to use.
Add all ingredients, except the garnish, to a cocktail shaker. Add ice and shake until the drink is well chilled. Strain it into a chilled cocktail glass and garnish with the sour neon gummy worms.
Candy Corn Craft Cocktail
Recipe courtesy Adrian Trudeau, mixologist, and Shanna O’Hea, chef, The Kennebunk Inn, Kennebunk, ME
A kitchen-and-bar collaboration resulted in this playful libation inspired by Halloween’s most famous treat. “We developed this cocktail because we wanted something fun and candy-like for the Halloween season that also had a whimsical side for our inn’s haunted history,” says O’Hea.
½ cup sugar
Zest of 1 orange, reserve juice
½ cup carrot juice
Dash of orange bitters
1 carrot-orange ice cube
3 ounces Absolut Vanila Vodka
1 ounce fresh lime juice
Cotton candy, for garnish
¼ cup dehydrated corn, processed in a spice grinder to form a powder, for garnish
Combine the sugar, ½ cup water and the orange zest in a saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil, then remove the orange-infused syrup from the heat and chill. Blend the orange-infused syrup with cup carrot juice, orange juice and dash of orange bitters. Pour the mixture into a pyramid-shaped ice cube tray and freeze.
Place the carrot-orange ice cube in the bottom of a cocktail glass. Add the vodka and lime juice to a cocktail shaker. Add ice, shake until chilled and pour the mixture over the carrot-orange ice cube. Garnish with the cotton candy and sprinkle with the corn dust.
Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Martini
Recipe courtesy Brian Confair, beverage manager, The Hotel Hershey, Hershey, PA
The bars and restaurants at The Hotel Hershey offer sips inspired by some of their most popular desserts. “What else would you expect from ‘The Sweetest Place on Earth’?” asks Confair. Here, Castries Peanut Rum Creme provides true-to-life peanut flavor that plays off the chocolate vodka and liqueur.
2 ounces Castries Peanut Rum Creme
1 ounce 360 Double Chocolate Vodka
1 ounce Marie Brizard Chocolat Royal Liqueur
Dash chocolate syrup
Reese’s™ Peanut Butter Cup Miniatures, for garnish
Add the rum, vodka and chocolate liqueur to a cocktail shaker. Add ice and shake until chilled. Squeeze a small amount of chocolate syrup into a chilled cocktail glass, then strain the cocktail into the glass. To garnish, place one or several mini peanut butter cups on a skewer and set it on top of the cocktail glass.
Hershey’s Special Dark Martini
Recipe courtesy Brian Confair, beverage manager, The Hotel Hershey, Hershey, PA,
Though admittedly not the most popular Halloween treat with the school-aged set, nothing beats the enticing bitterness of Hershey’s dark chocolate. This chocoholic’s dream gets its cocoa kick from no less than four kinds of chocolaty booze.
Chocolate syrup and cocoa powder, for garnish
Hershey’s Special Dark Miniature bar, for garnish
1 ounce 360 Chocolate Vodka
1 ounce Marie Brizard Chocolat Royal Liqueur
1 ounce Jacquin’s Creme de Cacao Dark
1 ounce Thatcher's Organic Artisan Dark Chocolate Liqueur
Rim a cocktail glass with chocolate syrup, dip the glass in cocoa powder, and place a mini chocolate bar in the bottom of the glass. Add the remaining ingredients to a cocktail shaker, add ice and shake until chilled. Strain into the cocktail glass.