Halloween. Thanks to the influence of American TV and movies and culture, on October 31 you now run the risk of having your place egged by some aggrieved and gangly teenager who’s so high that he simply must have candy. It’s enough to make you want to drink.
So why not take some inspiration from this unique cultural event and just drink your way through it?
Like the Day of the Dead celebrations on the previous pages, Halloween can be another good excuse to go cocktailing.
We suggest diving into a hallowed recipe — with some serious flavour — like the Hemingway classic, Death in the Afternoon. Drink enough of them and you too could experience a Nobel and Pulitzer-prize-winning level of paranoia, just like Hem.
Then again, you could confiscate some eggs of some young punks and whip up the Death Flip? Spooky ingredients, yep. Does it work? Absolutely — it’s more a stairway to heaven than a highway to hell.
Or, for the more medicinally-minded among you, perhaps an Arsenic & Old Lace cocktail? Mmm, arsenic — good for what ails you. I’ll have a double, please.
Then again, if your idea of Halloween is to work a shift behind the stick and watch slutty nurses and inappropriate vampires suck face, perhaps you’ll just need a cold beer. Pumpkin ale, anyone?
Death in the Afternoon
30ml Green Fairy Absinth
120ml champagnePour absinthe into a chilled champagne flute. Top with champagne, and keep an eye out for the CIA.
Arsenic & Old Lace
50ml The Botanist Gin
7.5ml Green Fairy Absinth
7.5ml crème de violettes
20ml dry vermouth
1 dash of Gary Regan’s Orange BittersStir down all ingredients over ice. Garnish with a lemon and orange peel.
A similar drink goes by the name of the Atty Cocktail in the Savoy Cocktail Book, sans the orange bitters. We’ve adapted a recipe we found from Maison Premiere in NYC.
Death Flip
30ml Milagro Select Barrel Reserve Silver
15ml Yellow Chartreuse
15ml Jagermeister
Dash of sugar syrup
One eggDry shake all ingredients, then shake with ice and fine strain into a flip glass. Garnish with grated nutmeg.
Adapted from a Chris Hysted recipe, from his time at Melbourne’s Black Pearl..
Pumpkin Beer?
Who likes beer? Everyone! Well, everyone that counts.
But have you tried pumpkin beer? The Americans really have a thing for pumpkins — and pumpkin pie, well that’s just ace — and apparently they used to use it as a flavouring ingredient in beer back in the day. With the commercial event of Halloween it’s no surprise it’s made a comeback — though it can be hard to find here in Australia. Try the Rogue Farms Pumpkin Patch Ale if you can find it.
Tasting Notes
Green Fairy Absinth
Strong herbal qualities come through more intensely with some dilution. A subtle and pliable star anise presence throughout the palate. Inherent bitterness from the wormwood and hyssop is ever-present but does not overwhelm the palate. Southtrade
Milagro Select Barrel Reserve Silver Tequila
Select Barrel Reserve Silver is an estate-grown, 100% blue agave tequila. Unlike most silver tequilas, it is then mellowed in both American and French oak barrels for 30 days, resulting in a fine sipping tequila that is perfectly balanced and full-bodied.
William Grant & Sons