Here’s the video clip of Greg making Halloween cocktails on The Morning Brew with Larry Ahrens in Albuquerque. I make a Black Martini and a Obituary.
Halloween Cocktails on the Morning Brew (Video)
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Category Archives: recipes
Floridita Cocktail
Named for the Floridita Bar in Cuba, this cocktail is a pretty interesting mix of five ingredients, mostly familiar to the rum cocktail drinker, except for that little dash of creme de cacao in the mix (a chocolate liqueur).
If you’re a Daiquiri drinker, or maybe you’re looking for something new to try in rum drinks, but especially if you prefer sweet over tart, you’ll likely enjoy this tribute to the 2-century-old bar:
Floridita
- in a shaker combine:
- 1 1/2 oz rum (I used Appleton Estate)
- 1/2 oz lime juice
- 1/2 oz sweet vermouth
- 1/8 oz white creme de cacao
- 1/8 oz grenadine
- shake well with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass
- garnish with a lime wedge
Pimm’s Cup
Pimm’s is an interesting liqueur if you’ve never had it before. It’s essentially an English Amaro, with gin as it’s base spirit. It’s a touch bitter, a little sweet, and sort of herbal, earthy and gritty. There have been as many as 6 varieties of Pimm’s over the years, but the original “No. 1 Cup” is the one that has stuck.
Here’s how you make the simple and refreshing Pimm’s Cup Cocktail:
Pimm’s Cup
- in a highball glass filled with ice, add:
- 1 1/2 oz Pimm’s No. 1
- top with ginger ale (or lemon-lime soda)
- garnish with cucumber
- serve with a straw
We taste Pimm’s and make a Pimm’s Cup on the Simple Cocktails Podcast, too. Listen here.
Black Martini
Last year, I made a Harry Potter-themed cocktail for Halloween: the Devil’s Snare. For several years, though, I’ve meant to make a Black Martini for Halloween, and now that I have a bottle of Sambuca, I can.
This is a two-ingredient cocktail that’s perfect for Halloween, though I will say, that if you’re not a black licorice fan, remember that Black Sambuca has a strong anise flavor, so if that’s not your cup of tea, maybe revert to last year’s cocktail.
Before you begin, you need to get a little messy. Make a small amount of Halloween sugar by adding some dashes of Angostura bitters to regular sugar.
Then wet your finger slightly with Sambuca (which is very sticky) and run that around the rim of the glass, then sprinkle the sugar on it. Let the glass sit while you make the drink:
Black Martini
- in a mixing glass, combine:
- 2 oz vodka
- 1 oz black Sambuca
- stir with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass rimmed with “Halloween” sugar
Enjoy…and happy Halloween!
We make a Black Martini on the Simple Cocktails podcast, too. Listen here.
Cocktails with Ciroc Coconut and Peach
Like I said in a post earlier this week, Ciroc’s flavors really caught me off guard. I was a pleasantly surprised that they weren’t sweetened (flavored vodkas almost always are). Since I liked them so much, I’ve been dreaming up some cocktails to use these Ciroc flavors with and so I’ve been digging around in recipe books for cocktails that would go well with flavored vodka. Here are some recipes I really liked with Ciroc Coconut and Ciroc Peach (pictured left to right):
Ciroc Coco Creme (by Greg Mays)
- in a shaker, combine:
- 1 1/2 oz Ciroc Coconut
- 3 oz coconut water
- 1/2 oz simple syrup
- 1/2 oz half and half
- shake with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass
*frozen blueberries are jucier when they thaw and squish up in the shaker better than fresh ones.
Our Stanley (from the Bartender’s Bible)
- in a mixing glass or pint glass, combine:
- 1 1/2 oz Ciroc Peach (the original recipe calls for regular vodka)
- 1/2 oz gin
- 1/2 oz triple sec (orange liqueur)
- stir with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass
Remember, you can get a free cocktail PDF book by registering for our email newsletter here.
Cocktails with Ciroc Pineapple
I confess to being totally alarmed at how much I liked some of the the Ciroc vodka flavors on a recent podcast episode, and again in my review. Since that initial tasting, I’ve been dreaming up with some recipes that I think will taste great with these Ciroc flavors. Here are 2 recipes — one that I came up with and one from a recipe book — to try with Ciroc Pineapple (pictured left to right):
Purpina (by Greg Mays)
- in a shaker, combine:
- 2 oz Ciroc Pineapple
- 1/2 oz fresh lime juice
- 1/2 oz simple syrup
- about 20 thawed, frozen blueberries*
- shake vigorously with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass
- garnish with a lime wedge
*frozen blueberries are jucier when they thaw and squish up in the shaker better than fresh ones.
Firefly (from the Bartender’s Bible)
- in a highball glass full of ice, add:
- 2 oz Ciroc Pineapple (the original recipe calls for regular vodka)
- 4 oz fresh grapefruit juice
- drizzle 1 tsp of grenadine over the top
- do not stir
- serve with a straw
Remember, you can get a free cocktail PDF book by registering for our email newsletter here.
Aperol Spritz
I’ve been meaning to make this cocktail for quite some time, but because I’m a cocktail/liquor guy and not a wine guy, I don’t have as much access to Prosecco, an essential ingredient to the Spritz.
Prosecco is a popular Italian sparkling white wine, and I got a hold of a bottle of Mionetto Prosecco DOC recently (which runs about $15/bottle), and I made an Aperol Spritz right away. The Spritz is a refreshing, yet dry (not too sweet) fizzy cocktail. Here’s how you make it.
Aperol Spritz
- in a balloon glass filled with ice, add in this order:
- 4 oz Prosecco DOC
- a splash of club soda (probably about 1/2 oz)
- 2 oz Aperol
Because 2 of the 3 ingredients are bubbling, the cocktail basically stirs itself. Enjoy!
Chila Orchata
There’s no denying the RumChata has been a big hit in liquor stores over the last 2 years, particularly around the holidays. It’s no surprise then that a major liquor company – in this case, Sazerac – would enter the fray with their own Horchata liqueur.
Chila ‘Orchata is familiar, then: rum, cream, and cinnamon and spice, at a $20 price point, and at 14% alcohol. We decided to taste Chila side-by-side with RumChata, since those are likely to be side-by-side on your liquor store’s shelf.
We really like both these Horchata liqueurs. The rum in the Chila ‘Orchata stands out just a tad more, and makes it taste marginally spicier as a result. Going back to RumChata, it was a touch milkier, but to be really frank, they’re nearly identical, and they both taste very good, even drunk by themselves on ice. Take from this what you will, but of the group of us that tasted it, the guys leaned toward Chila ‘Orchata, and the gals favored RumChata a little more.
I made a tasty winter cocktail with Chila ‘Orchata. Try this one out:
It’s Chila Outside (by Greg Mays)
- in a shaker combine:
- 1 1/4 oz Chila ‘Orchata
- 1 1/4 oz vanilla vodka (I used Smirnoff)
- 2 dashes of Aztec Chocolate Bitters
- shake with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass
We taste Chila Orchata on the Simple Cocktails Podcast, too. Listen here.
Amaretto Sour
One of the first bottles I ever bought when I started Simple Cocktails was amaretto, an almond liqueur. I made a few drinks with it, then it collected dust in the back of my liquor cabinet for months. When the bottle ran out, I never thought of it again.
Recently, I was trying to figure out a good cocktail for dessert time, and Lisa (my wife and podcast co-host) recommended Amaretto Sours, a drink I haven’t made in at least 3 years. I grabbed some amaretto, some lemons, and the Amaretto Sours were the hit of the party! I’ve since almost finished the bottle making them for Lisa and others at the home bar. Here’s the recipe:
Amaretto Sour
- fill an old fashioned glass with ice and set a cherry on top, then set that glass aside
- in a shaker, add:
- 2 oz amaretto
- 1 oz lemon juice
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 egg white
- dry shake the mixture (don’t add ice) vigorously
- add ice and shake again to cool
- strain into the old fashioned glass that you’re prepped
A quick note about egg whites. There is a tiny risk of salmonella from raw eggs (about 1 in 20,000 may have it), but alcohol kills germs, right? Plus I’ve had several of these in the last few weeks and have yet to contract salmonella. Adding some nice fresh, local eggs will add a richness to cocktails that’s pretty amazing, and it’s getting popular again to add them to Sours.
We make an Amaretto Sour on the Simple Cocktails podcast, too. Listen here.
Gin and Milk
Alright.
I’ve had the book Old Man Drinks for over a year, and it took me this long to get up the nerve to make one the the signature cocktails in that book: Gin and Milk.
Being a simple cocktail, Gin and Milk is totally qualified to be a featured recipe on this blog, but frankly, I’m not much of a milk guy. I don’t even drink my cereal milk after my bowl is through – I just dump it down the sink.
Being a gin lover, though, this cocktail interested me. It seems like it’d really work as we approach fall and winter, the nutmeg on top is a great addition to the flavor, but I’ll just tell you: it tastes like a moderately boozy glass of cold milk. But that’s ok, right?
Gin and Milk (from Old Man Drinks)
- in a shaker, combine:
- 2 oz gin
- 1 cup milk
- fill with ice and shake until very cold
- pour into a chilled Collins glass
- top with a shake of nutmeg
