Fright night drinks to welcome the witching hour. If you're delving into the dark side this Halloween and are thirsty for a ghoulish treat or creepy cocktail, these spine chilling recipes promise a fiendishly good time...
Cointreau Fizz Halloween Cocktail
A mixologist's best friend, the sweet and bitter orange peel flavours in Cointreau Liqueur (£15, 50cl, Tesco) cry out for fright night when they come together in this fiery orange tipple full of spark.
Ingredients: 40ml Cointreau, 10ml fresh lime juice, 40ml blood orange juice, 40ml sparkling water.
Method: Fill a glass with ice, add the Cointreau, fresh lime juice, and blood orange juice. Top off with sparkling water and stir gently. Garnish with two slices of blood orange, shaped like horns.
Black Cow Trick
A smooth, creamy vodka, Black Cow (£24, 70cl, Sainsbury's) casts its spell with the milk from grass grazed cows. Beautifully balanced, Halloween candy is optional...
Ingredients: 45ml Black Cow, 20ml ginger wine, 15ml Monin Pumpkin Spice Syrup, 10ml lemon juice, 5ml pineapple juice.
Method: Half fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Add all the ingredients, shake vigorously and double strain into a chilled coupette. The pineapple will give it a slight foam. Garnish with a dried lemon slice and a little cinnamon dust.
Blood Orange Vampire
With a herbal bite from the vermouth and the zesty, fruity spice of Whitley Neill Blood Orange Vodka (£25.85, Amazon), this will look brilliant on the bar sat seductively alongside a carved out Jack-O'-Lantern.
Ingredients: 50ml Whitley Neill Blood Orange, 50ml sweet vermouth, 50ml cranberry juice.
Method: Fill a rocks glass with ice. Add all the ingredients and stir. Garnish with an orange wedge.
La Catrina aka Skeleton Dame
A mellow tequila that's ideal for mixing in cocktails, Cazcabel Reposado (£25.67, 70cl, Master of Malt) is aged in American oak and balances clean and earthy agave with aromas of toasty oak in this hauntingly good recipe that merits the same wicked grin as its namesake.
Ingredients: 50ml Cazcabel Reposado, 50ml orange juice, 50ml pomegranate juice, an orange twist or slice of orange peel.
Method: Fill a rocks glass with ice. Add the tequila and orange juice. Pour the pomegranate gently on top to layer. Add the orange twist and serve.
Screams of Whiskey
Devilishly delicious, The Pogues Irish Whiskey (£28.45, 70cl, The Whisky Exchange) is made in collaboration with the band and it's sure to raise the bar with its sweet and malty notes studded with nuts, citrus and a twist of black pepper.
Ingredients: 25ml The Pogues, 25ml Navy Rum, 25ml freshly squeezed orange juice, 15ml fresh lemon juice, 15ml fresh lime juice, 15ml agave syrup.
Method: Half fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Add all the ingredients. Shake vigorously and pour into a pewter tankard filled with ice. Garnish with a slice of orange, a mint sprig and one red bird's eye chilli.
Day of the Dead Paloma Cocktail
If you don't want the party to end, celebrate the iconic Mexican holiday on November 2 with El Jimador Blanco limited edition Day of the Dead tequila (£15 special offer until November 10, Asda, in-store only) and Mexico's answer to a G&T, The Paloma .
Ingredients: 50ml El Jimador Blanco, 200ml sparkling grapefruit (or fresh grapefruit juice, sugar syrup to taste, and soda water), fresh lime, ice.
Method: Pour into a tall glass over ice, stir and garnish with a grapefruit wedge.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here