Spooky Halloween Drinks for Adults

Man's hand holding smoking red cocktail

It’s that time of year again. You’ve got your costume picked out. You’ve carved the pumpkins. Now, it’s time to go trick-or-treating for your adult version of “candy”—in other words, it’s time for some delicious Halloween party alcoholic drinks.

Whether you’re throwing an epic Halloween party, having a small get-together with friends, or spending a quiet night in, these ideas for Halloween drinks for adults will be just what you need to get in the spirit (pun intended). 

Whether you choose to wear a costume while enjoying them is totally up to you.

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#1 Graveyard Smash

When making a Halloween cocktail, one thing to remember is not to let the theme overwhelm the goal: the drinks need to taste good.

With that in mind, let’s start by putting a spooky spin on a classic.

The smash cocktail has been around since the 1800s and has several varieties.1 For our version, we’ll be using vodka as our base spirit and raspberries to give the drink a blood-red color.

First, assemble your ingredients:2

  • 1-1/2 ounces vodka
  • 1 or 2 SLIQ Spirited Ice Vodka Lemonade Pops 
  • ½ ounce lemon juice
  • ½ ounce simple syrup
  • 6 fresh raspberries
  • 6 fresh mint leaves
  • Seltzer water

Then, do your very own version of the monster mash to assemble the cocktail: 

  • Crush your alcohol ice pops – A smash is typically served over crushed ice. To crush, simply place your pops in your cocktail shaker, grab your muddler, and get those forearms working. Once you’ve broken up the ice, scoop it into a rocks glass.
  • Prepare the cocktail – Put your raspberries, mint, lemon juice, and simple syrup into the same shaker and muddle again. Once your fruit is muddled, it’s time to add some extra vodka. Once it’s in the shaker, add some more ice, and shake it up. 
  • Strain and enjoy – Strain the drink into your waiting rocks glass, top with seltzer, then add a mint sprig to garnish.

Easy Variations

Drink a bit too tart? Switch to any of these vodka ice pops, namely SLIQ Blue Raspberry, to subtly amp up the drink’s berry profile. Either way, when you take a sip of this drink, you’ll surely think it is one of the best vodka cocktails

#2 Black Magic Margarita

Not a vodka person? Not a problem. This spin on the margarita is delicious and has a dark color that will make it a hit during your Halloween celebration. It certainly fits the bill for a spooky Halloween cocktail.

Remember the witch’s chant double, double, toil, and trouble? The drink provides just that with a delicious SLIQ Margarita ice pop and extra tequila. Gather the following: 

  • 2 ounces silver tequila
  • 1ounce triple sec
  • ½ ounce lime juice
  • 1 SLIQ Spirited Ice Agave Classic Margarita Pop
  • Red food coloring
  • Blue food coloring
  • Green food coloring3

Then, it’s time to brew:

  • Make your own witch’s potion – Combine your tequila, triple sec, and lime juice in a shaker. Add ice (but not your SLIQ pop). Shake. Strain into a glass.
  • Add some color – Time to show off your artistic skill. Slowly add the food coloring until you create a color that brings to mind bubbling cauldrons and Frankenstein’s monster.
  • Cool it down – Once you’ve achieved the perfect color, it’s time to add your SLIQ Spirited Ice pop as a floater. This will help keep the drink cool and slowly replenish it as the pop melts (win, win).

Easy Variation

This recipe is for one drink, but can easily be scaled up for a party. Simply multiply the amounts. Just be sure you have plenty of pops ready to put in all those drinks.

#3 Zombie

Rum brings to mind tiki bars, sandy beaches, and luaus—but how about Halloween? There happens to be a classic rum drink with the perfect name for the occasion. Enter the Zombie.

This Halloween-ready twist includes:2 

  • 1 ounce white rum
  • 1 ounce spiced rum
  • 1 ounce dark rum
  • 1 ounce fresh lime juice
  • 1 ounce fresh lemon juice
  • 1 ounce pineapple juice
  • 1 ounce passion fruit syrup
  • 3 dashes orange bitters
  • ½ ounce grenadine
  • 1 SLIQ Spirited Ice Rum Pineapple Daiquiri Pop

Okay, so that’s a lot of ingredients. Thankfully, once you have gathered them all, things get easier:

  • Shake it up – Put everything except the grenadine into your shaker and shake. Once done, pour into a large glass.
  • Down here, we all float – In our case, only the grenadine will float. Put an overturned spoon above your drink and slowly pour the grenadine over the back of the spoon. This should give you a nice, red float on top.

Other Halloween Essentials

Not all Halloween guests are adventurous enough to try these unique cocktails. Better stock up on other alcoholic drinks, such as black vodka, martini, gin, ginger ale, ginger beer, apple cider, tequila, rum, etc., to cater to their palate. And if there are kids around, also prepare a virgin Halloween punch that the little ones can enjoy (other substitutes are kid-friendly cider, cranberry juice, orange juice, pineapple juice, pumpkin juice, and pomegranate juice). Whatever drink you serve, stick with the spooky cocktail theme by putting some in either syringes or fake-IV bags. And If you can, place some treats on the side to keep the tiny tots preoccupied, such as candy corn, Halloween sugar cookies, candied apples, ice cream, etc.

Impress your Halloween guests not just with your drink selection but also with the overall ambiance. Make your place more spooky with some artificial fog. All you need is some dry ice and a container full of hot water. Turn your serving table into a graveyard with some crushed chocolate cake, gummy worms, and some fake headstones. Of course, don’t forget to carve out your pumpkin to a jack-o’-lantern to really complete the set-up.

Add SLIQ to your Halloween Celebration

Hopefully, these Halloween drinks for adults give you some ideas to enjoy your personal favorite spirit with the help of SLIQ’s alcoholic ice pops

Remember, SLIQ Spirited Ice is for good times only, so get creative, get spooky, and have a good time while you create your adult Halloween candy. Enjoy!

Sources: 

  1. Imbibe. History of the Smash. https://imbibemagazine.com/history-of-the-smash/ 
  2. Riegl Palate. Raspberry-Mint Vodka Smash. https://www.rieglpalate.com/raspberry-mint-vodka-smash/ 
  3. Delish. Black Magic Margaritas. https://www.delish.com/cooking/recipe-ideas/recipes/a55953/black-magic-margaritas-recipe/ 
  4. A Couple Cooks. Zombie Cocktail. https://www.acouplecooks.com/zombie-cocktail/