13 Halloween Cocktails for Adults Who Are Done Trick-or-Treating

At some point you aged out of trick-or-treating and into hosting. The upside: nobody is handing you fun-size candy anymore. The downside: you’re now the person who’s supposed to have drinks figured out by 7pm on a Saturday.

These are thirteen Halloween cocktails for adults — dark, bitter, smoky, or just very red. No food-dye-green anything, no drinks that require a costume to justify. A couple of them are real classics with spooky names that predate the holiday marketing; the rest lean into the season without being embarrassing to hand to a guest.

Jump to: whiskey (1, 2, 8, 12) · gin (3, 5) · rum (4, 10) · tequila (7, 11) · cognac (6) · batch punch (12) · zero-proof (13)

1. The Black Manhattan

Base: Rye

Start with the one that’s actually black. Rye, amaro, bitters — no dye, no gimmick, and it looks like it belongs on a bar in a house with a widow’s walk.

What you need

• 2 oz rye whiskey
• 1 oz Averna
• 1 dash Angostura
• 1 dash orange bitters
• Brandied cherry

How to make it

Stir with ice until cold. Strain into a chilled coupe. One cherry, sunk to the bottom.

2. Smoked Blood Orange Old Fashioned

Base: Bourbon

Blood orange juice is red enough to do the work for you. A smoked glass (a torched rosemary sprig under an inverted glass, 20 seconds) finishes it.

What you need

• 2 oz bourbon
• ½ oz blood orange juice
• ¼ oz demerara syrup
• 2 dashes Angostura
• Blood orange wheel

How to make it

Smoke the glass if you’re feeling it. Stir the rest with ice, strain over a big cube, garnish.

3. Corpse Reviver No. 2

Base: Gin

A hundred-year-old hangover cure with the best name in the cocktail canon. Bright, bracing, dangerous after two.

What you need

• ¾ oz gin
• ¾ oz Cointreau
• ¾ oz Lillet Blanc
• ¾ oz lemon juice
• Absinthe rinse

How to make it

Rinse a coupe with absinthe and discard. Shake the rest hard with ice. Double-strain.

4. The Zombie (adult-strength)

Base: Three rums

The 1934 original was limited to two per customer. Respect that.

What you need

• 1 oz white rum
• 1 oz gold rum
• 1 oz dark rum
• ¾ oz lime juice
• ½ oz falernum
• ½ oz grenadine
• 1 oz pineapple juice
• Dash Angostura

How to make it

Shake everything with crushed ice. Pour unstrained into a tall glass. Mint sprig. Sit down.

5. Blackberry Bramble

Base: Gin

The purple one. Crushed ice, a drizzle of crème de mûre bleeding down through it, and a handful of blackberries. Zero effort, looks like effort.

What you need

• 2 oz gin
• 1 oz lemon juice
• ½ oz simple syrup
• ½ oz crème de mûre (blackberry liqueur)
• Fresh blackberries

How to make it

Shake gin, lemon and syrup. Strain over crushed ice. Drizzle the crème de mûre over the top so it sinks. Blackberries on top.

6. Spiced Pear Sidecar

Base: Cognac or brandy

The drink you make for the guests who ‘don’t really do sweet.’ Pear and cognac are a natural pair; cinnamon sugar on the rim is the only concession to the holiday.

What you need

• 2 oz cognac
• ¾ oz Cointreau
• ½ oz lemon juice
• ½ oz pear nectar
• Cinnamon-sugar rim

How to make it

Rim a coupe with cinnamon sugar. Shake everything with ice, double-strain.

7. Activated Charcoal Margarita

Base: Blanco tequila

Jet black, tastes exactly like a normal margarita. A quarter teaspoon of food-grade activated charcoal is all it takes. Fair warning: it can interfere with medication, so mention it to guests.

What you need

• 2 oz blanco tequila
• 1 oz lime juice
• ¾ oz agave syrup
• ¼ tsp food-grade activated charcoal
• Black salt rim

How to make it

Rim with black salt. Shake everything hard. Strain over fresh ice.

8. Cinnamon Whiskey Cider (the Fireball one)

Base: Cinnamon whiskey

Someone is going to bring a bottle of cinnamon whiskey to the party. This is what you do with it.

What you need

• 1½ oz cinnamon whiskey
• 4 oz hot or cold apple cider
• Squeeze of lemon
• Apple slice

How to make it

Build over ice (or in a mug if it’s cold out). Stir. Done in 30 seconds.

9. Candy Corn Shot — but make it decent

Base: Vanilla vodka

Layered, orange and yellow, unapologetically dumb. It’s Halloween.

What you need

• ½ oz orange juice
• ½ oz vanilla vodka
• ½ oz Licor 43 or vanilla liqueur
• Whipped cream to top

How to make it

Layer OJ, then vodka, then liqueur over the back of a spoon. Whipped cream on top. Yes, really.

10. Dark & Stormy, Extra Dark

Base: Dark rum

The name does the marketing. Use a genuinely dark, funky rum and a fiery ginger beer.

What you need

• 2 oz dark rum (Gosling’s or similar)
• 4 oz spicy ginger beer
• ½ oz lime juice
• Lime wedge

How to make it

Fill a highball with ice, add ginger beer and lime, then float the rum on top so it sits dark over light.

11. The Sleepy Hollow

Base: Reposado tequila

Cranberry, tequila, cinnamon sugar, a splash of sparkling. Tart and red and easy to make eight of.

What you need

• 2 oz reposado tequila
• 2 oz unsweetened cranberry juice
• ½ oz lime juice
• ½ oz simple syrup
• Sparkling water
• Cinnamon-sugar rim

How to make it

Rim the glass. Shake tequila, cranberry, lime, syrup. Strain over ice, top with sparkling water.

12. Witches’ Brew Punch (the batch one)

Base: Bourbon

One bowl for the whole party. Dry ice optional; if you use it, keep the chunks big and don’t let anyone drink until they’ve stopped fogging.

What you need

• 1 bottle (750ml) bourbon
• 32 oz apple cider
• 16 oz cranberry juice
• 8 oz lemon juice
• 8 oz cinnamon syrup
• 1 bottle sparkling wine, added last
• Apple and orange slices

How to make it

Combine everything but the sparkling wine in a punch bowl. Chill 2+ hours. Add the sparkling wine and fruit right before guests arrive.

13. The Designated Driver: Blackberry Ginger Fizz

Base: Zero-proof

Purple, fizzy, and nobody at the party can tell it isn’t a Bramble.

What you need

• 6 blackberries
• ½ oz lemon juice
• ½ oz simple syrup
• Ginger beer to top
• Rosemary sprig

How to make it

Muddle blackberries with lemon and syrup. Fill with crushed ice, top with ginger beer, garnish.

Questions people actually ask

What is a good Halloween cocktail?

The Black Manhattan (#1) is the one to make if you want something that looks the part without tasting like a gimmick. For a crowd, the Witches’ Brew Punch (#12). For the guest who wants a joke, the Candy Corn Shot (#9).

What drinks are good for a Halloween party?

One batch punch, one stirred whiskey drink you can make fast, one tall fizzy thing (the Dark & Stormy or the Sleepy Hollow), and one non-alcoholic option that isn’t soda. That covers everyone who walks in.

What alcohol should I get for Halloween?

A bourbon and a rye will make most of this list. Add a dark rum and a blanco tequila and you’ve covered all thirteen. Ginger beer, cranberry juice, cider and lemons are the mixers that show up again and again.

How do I use dry ice safely in cocktails?

Only in the punch bowl, never in an individual glass. Use food-grade dry ice in chunks big enough that they can’t be scooped into a cup, handle it with tongs, and don’t let anyone drink until the fog has stopped. It sinks and dissipates in about 10 minutes.

The other kind of trick-or-treating

If the best part of Halloween is the door and the porch and the bag of good stuff, there’s an adult version: a basket shows up on someone’s doorstep with a bottle and a stack of snacks. Browse the gift baskets, pick a bottle from the list above, and let the delivery driver do the walking. Whiskey people get whiskey, the driver gets the non-alcoholic one.

Adult signature required on delivery. Order early enough for ground shipping if you want it there by the 31st.