It may be best to leave the trick-or-treating to the kids (your neighbors probably wouldn’t find it quite as endearing if you rapped at their door demanding candy), but there are plenty of grown-up ways to carve out a slice of the Halloween fun. Give your sugary spoils an extra bite with some amazing Halloween candy-liquor pairings, complete with party-perfect recipes.
Candy: Candy Corn
Pairs well with: Vodka
Halloween cocktail: Children of the Corn
Have your candy, and drink it too! No other candy is so ingrained in Halloween tradition as candy corn. And while these honey-based confections have graced the toppings of just about every Halloween-themed baked good imaginable, this recipe takes things to
a whole new level, boozing up these classic candies with a vodka infusion. This drink is hauntingly good, as well it should be considering its origins. It was first concocted by Yael Vengroff, bar director of The Spare Room [1], located in one of the world’s most famous haunted places, The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. The luxurious hotel is said to be the eternal home of the spirits of some of Hollywood’s finest, including Montgomery Clift, Carole Lombard, and Marilyn Monroe.
Ingredients:
2 oz. candy corn-infused vodka* (instructions here [2])
3/4 oz. lemon juice
3/4 oz. cinnamon syrup (recipe here [2])
Seltzer water
Lemon wheel for garnish
Candy corn skewer for garnish
Directions:
1) Pour the vodka, juice, and syrup into a cocktail shaker filled with ice.
2) Shake for 10 seconds.
3) Strain over fresh ice into a highball glass.
3) Top with seltzer.
4) Garnish with a lemon wheel and skewer of candy corn.
Candy: Hershey’s
Pairs well with: Dark rum
Halloween cocktail: Black Devil Martini
Hershey’s bars are a mainstay when it comes to Halloween treats. The buttery, smooth texture of dark rum complements these sweet cocoa candies perfectly. The Black Devil Martini, courtesy of The Cooking Channel, is as easy to make as it is to enjoy.
Ingredients:
2 oz. dark rum
½ oz. dry vermouth
Black olive
Orange sugar
Directions:
1) Stir and strain into a chilled martini glass rimmed with orange sugar.
2) Garnish with olive.
Few Halloween trick-or-treating expeditions end without at least a few Tootsie Rolls. This timeless candy meets a fellow tried-and-true classic in Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey. This recipe comes courtesy of Damon Dunay, Regional Beverage Director at the Empire Hotel [3]. Though the drink can be enjoyed any time of year, the garnish is what makes it perfect for Halloween. Because you’ll be wielding a knife to carve a mini citrus jack o’ lantern, it might be a good idea to try this one out early on in the night.
Ingredients:
1 oz. Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey
½ oz. Lucid absinthe
Orange bitters
2 sugar cubes
Carved orange for garnish
Instructions for garnish:
1) Cut a circle into the pith around the face.
2) Remove the peel circle from the orange.
3) Carve a small slit in the bottom of the circle so it can rest on the rim of the glass.
For the drink:
1) Pour absinthe into an old-fashioned glass and swirl it around to coat the inside.
2) Place the two sugar cubes into a mixing glass and saturate with a few drops of orange bitters.
3) Muddle the cubes until crushed.
3) Add whiskey and ice; stir well.
4) Strain into the absinthe-rinsed glass over fresh ice cubes.
5) Place the garnish on the rim and serve.
Candy: Junior Mints
Pairs well with: White tequila
Halloween cocktail: El Diablo
Junior Mints, with their creamy minty centers encapsulated in a cocoa shell, meld perfectly with the salty, slightly sweet nature of white tequila. The El Diablo Cocktail is a classic, having appeared in Trader Vic’s Book of Food and Drink as early as 1946. Aside from its drinkability, this cocktail is a favorite because it can easily be made by the pitcher-full. This recipe yields 12 servings, making it a perfect choice for your next Halloween party.
Ingredients:
1 can (12 oz.) frozen limeade concentrate
1 ½ cans (18 oz.) tequila blanco
⅔ can (8 oz.) creme de cassis
½ can (6 oz.) water (still, not soda or tonic water)
1 ½ cans (18 oz.) ginger beer
Directions:
1) Mix the limeade, tequila, cassis, and water together in a large pitcher, using the limeade can to measure the other ingredients.
2) Immediately before serving, add the ginger beer.
3) Serve over ice. Optional: garnish with blackberries.
Candy: Sour Patch Kids
Pairs well with: Vodka (Bonus: also pairs well with tequila)
Halloween cocktail: Sour Patch Kids Vodka Shots
Sour Patch Kids may not seem like a natural complement for alcohol, but these vodka-infused Sour Patch Kids shooters (recipe courtesy of PopSugar [4]) are sure to make your mouth water—and pucker, too. As with the candy corn-infused vodka, these require a little advance preparation. But the result is as beautiful as it is delicious.
Directions:
1) Fill clean, airtight glass jars, halfway with Sour Patch Kids. Top with vodka, then seal. Allow to infuse over a week, shaking the jars periodically. If you’re in a rush, you can speed up the process by running the jars through a dishwasher on a standard cycle with no soap. Just be sure the jars you’re using are airtight.
2) Once the Sour Patch Kids have turned white (this signals that all the color and flavor is infused), strain each of the colors separately through cheesecloth or a coffee filter to eliminate all remaining particles, starting with yellow, then orange, then red. Use separate filters for green and blue. Discard the gummies (trust us, it’s not worth it; they taste terrible). Wash the bottles and return the strained Sour Patch Kids vodka to the bottles. Cool in the fridge or freezer.
3) To serve, pour each color into shot glasses and enjoy! Obviously this list isn’t comprehensive. There are dozens more Halloween candy and liquor combinations out there!
Have some favorites you’d like to share? Comment below!
These are great ideas. I may enjoy Halloween a little bit more this year!