Forget margaritas, mojitos or cosmos - give me witches' brews! Finding, creating or Halloween-ifying cocktail recipes is one of the highlights of planning a Halloween party for me.
Each year I love brewing up something dangerously delicious for my guests to enjoy.
Over the years, I've served and enjoyed some fun cocktails with a Halloween twist. I trend towards liking tart drinks, so I'm always looking for ideas and recipes with that type of flavor. When I ran across Clinton Kelly's Vampire Punch recipe, featured on "The Chew", I fell in love.
Of course, I had to put my own spin on his drink and make it a little more boozy (which is an accomplishment if you know anything about Mr. Kelly's drink preferences on that show), but to this day the recipe featured in this post remains one of my favorite witches' brews I've ever made. My modified version is below!
My Favorite Witches' Brew:
Step-by-step photo directions are after recipe because I hate when you have to scroll to the bottom of a blog for the recipe, don't you?
My Favorite Witches' Brew
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 oz vodka
- 1 oz cherry liqueur
- 3/4 oz lime juice
- 3/4 oz cranberry juice
- 4 oz club soda
Instructions
- Combine vodka, cherry liqueur, lime juice, and cranberry juice in a glass and stir to mix.
- Add ice.
- Top with club soda, and mix.
Notes
Add pitted fresh cherries or maraschino cherries as a garnish.
how to make my favorite Witches' Brew, step by step:
First, grab all your ingredients. (As you can see from my semi-empty bottles...I'm not one of those picture-perfect bloggers with brand new everything - I actually USE this stuff!)
First we'll add one-and-a-half ounces of vodka.
Next is one ounce of cherry liqueur. The original recipe called for grenadine, which I don't tend to enjoy, so I swapped it out for a bit more booze here.
(I also love any excuse to throw Dr. McGillicuddy's into a drink - I love their products...and no, that isn't a sponsored mention. I genuinely love it...and need a refill!)
Add three-quarters of an ounce of lime juice. This is part of what makes this drink so deliciously tart! If you prefer drinks on the sweeter side, you can alter this to a half ounce or even just a splash for taste.
Add one ounce of cranberry juice.
And finally, add 3-4 ounces of club soda. If you want a sweeter drink, consider using lemon/lime soda. Don't enjoy the carbonation? Use water!
Mix it all up!
Add ice, and you have my favorite Witches' Brew!
In addition to loving the taste, I also love the color of this Witches' Brew.
I mean, it looks pretty cool when you throw it in my cauldron punch bowl, doesn't it?
As a bonus, you can also either add in pitted fresh cherries or maraschino cherries. I like to soak my cherries in straight vodka for at least 24 hours before adding them to the brew. If you're doing the same with maraschino cherries, dump the liquid in the jar and replace with vodka.
What can I say? I like a boozy drink!
Just remember...Witches' Brew can be potent! Drink responsibly.
