It’s officially October, and that means the month comes with a slew of spooky cocktails to try. Seriously, it’s kind of obligatory.
I gathered two of my friends to help me out. We tested three drinks and ranked them in three categories: General Spookiness (i.e. Halloween vibes), Taste, and Look (i.e. how scary did it look). The rankings were based on a 1-5 scale of skulls, with 1 skull being the worst, and 5 skulls being the best.
Without further ado, here are the top 3 terrifying drinks to try when you want to chill out.
Bloody Mary
Coming in at number 1 in terms of spookiness was the Bloody Mary. We’ve all heard variations of the legend behind the popular bathroom incantation, so we knew that trying the cocktail was a must.
Spookiness:
Alice: ⅘ skulls. It looks creepy and kind of like blood.
Adam: ⅗ skulls. It looks like a witch’s brew and you can’t beat that name (Bloody Mary).
Lauren: 5/5 skulls. The very concept of this drink terrifies me.
Taste:
Alice: ⅕ skulls. Not a fan AT ALL. Tomato juice and alcohol should not/do not mix.
Adam: ⅖ skulls. It's a Bloody Mary. Tastes like tomato, hot sauce, salt, pepper, alcohol lmao. Appropriately smoky but I’d prefer it paired with food.
Lauren: 0/5 skulls. Listen, nothing but the vodka in this should be drunk, I’m not drinking this.
Look:
Alice: ⅗ skulls. Visually, it’s appealing. It’s like Adam said, it looks like a witch’s brew.
Adam: ⅗ skulls. It looks kinda muddy, to be honest. Outside the spooky aesthetic, I don’t find it to be terribly visually appealing.
Lauren: ⅕ skulls. To be honest, it looks like well water you’re not supposed to drink.
Overall, this sinister cocktail excelled on being spooky and perfect for the season. But when it came to tastes and looks, it flopped directly into the grave.
Sweet Poison Cocktail
An overwhelming winner in terms of looks, the Sweet Poison cocktail will make you feel like you’re drinking and/or serving up looks fit to kill.
Spookiness:
Alice: ⅕. It’s really just a Blue Hawaiin…
Adam: ⅕. Same comment as Alice.
Lauren: ⅕. More summer than spooky.
Taste:
Alice: ⅘. Overall, it’s really good but I can taste the coconut. I don’t like coconut.
Adam: ⅘. It's basically a blue Hawaiian but hey it’s good! The orange cuts the coconut taste. It’s sweet and cool with that alcoholic heat, all in all, a tasty drink.
Lauren: ⅕. *Note: Lauren thinks all alcohol tastes like bug spray* So like coconut/orange bug spray.
Look:
Alice: ⅘. It does look cool. Electric almost.
Adam: ⅘. It’s probably gonna be the coolest looking one since we don’t have anything smoking, haha.
Lauren: ⅘. Gotta love a bright blue drink
In summary, this drink has a glorious color. It seriously looks like something you might find on the shelf of a mad scientist’s laboratory.
Pumpkin Fright Old-Fashioned Cocktail
Yeah, this one was the least terrifying thing any of us have ever seen. True, we told the bartender to not worry about the garnish (a pumpkin orange peel garnish), so that one was on us.
Spookiness:
Alice: ⅕. Without the garnish, it’s not spooky at all. Even with the garnish, it isn’t adding much.
Adam: ⅕. Perhaps it’s our fault in choosing, but [this is a] pretty standard cocktail, haha.
Lauren: ⅕. Not spooky.
Taste:
Alice: 5/5. I really like that. It’s bitter, but I don’t know. I like bitter coffee sooo that might play into it.
Adam: ⅖. I’m personally not into whiskey, but it is nuanced and refreshing.
Lauren: ⅖. Very bitter.
Look:
Alice: ⅘. it looks good. Old fashion-y. The ice isn’t melting too fast.
Adam: ⅗. An old fashioned is inherently sexy, you know how it be. Nothing special, but nothing wrong with a tried-and-true classic.
Lauren: ⅗. I mean it looks fine.
Old fashioneds scream of the 1930s, heists, or Bonnie and Clyde. It does not, however, scream Halloween. I’ll let the ratings speak for themselves.
While there are a plethora of cocktails to try this Halloween, we limited ourselves to the three we knew our local bar had the ingredients for. Here are our winners in each of the three categories.
Spookiness: Bloody Mary
Taste: Pumpkin Fright Old Fashioned
Looks: Sweet Poison
While these cocktails may seem underwhelming, I wouldn’t pass them up. They each deserve the chance to shine. Remember, if you do plan to go out this holiday to a bar or wherever, make sure you’re wearing that mask. Also, taking the necessary precautions is a must! We wouldn’t want to see anyone put in harm's way.