From The Vault: Daphne’s Den of Darkness: 10 Drinks to Pair with Horror Movies

From the Editor: Just in time for the hot days of Summer, we rerun this cool ghoul article ~

Sometimes, I like to wind down from the day with a little horror movie and a nice drink to go alongside it. And, hey, did you know there are LOADS of recipes out there for Horror Addicts to try? Sure, you may have heard of The Zombie or The Vampire’s Kiss (and who hasn’t had a Bloody Mary?), but I found ten recipes that are a little off the beaten path.

The Lady in White
1½ oz gin
¾ oz triple sec
½ oz lemon juice
Shake with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
Pair with The Curse of La Llorona (2019)

Moonlight
2 oz apple brandy
¾ oz lemon juice
¾ oz simple syrup
Shake with ice and strain into an old-fashioned glass.
Pair with The Wolfman (1941)

The Obituary
2 oz gin
¼ oz dry vermouth
¼ absinthe
Stir with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
Pair with The Invisible Man (2020)

Satan’s Whiskers
¾ oz gin
¾ oz dry vermouth
¾ oz sweet vermouth
½ oz orange liqueur
½ oz orange juice
1 dash orange bitters
Shake with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
Pair with The Uncanny (1977)

The Victor (Frankenstein)
1½ oz gin
½ oz brandy
½ oz sweet vermouth
Stir with ice and strain into chilled cocktail glass.
Pair with The Curse of Frankenstein (1957)

Black Devil
2 oz light rum
½ oz dry vermouth
Garnish: Black olive
Stir with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Add the olive.
Pair with Drag Me to Hell (2009)

El Chupacabra
2 oz blanco tequila
¾ oz grapefruit juice
½ oz lime juice
½ oz Campari
½ oz simple syrup
1 dash Angostura bitters
Shake with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with lime.
Pair with Indigenous (2014)

Black Magic
1½ oz vodka
¾ oz coffee liqueur
¼ oz lemon juice
Shake with ice and strain into ice filled old fashioned glass. Garnish with lemon twist.
Pair with The Craft (1996)

The Headless Horseman
2 oz vodka
3 dashes angostura bitters
Ginger Ale
Pour vodka and bitters into a Collins glass, add ice, fill with ginger ale, and stir. Garnish with orange.
Pair with Sleepy Hollow (1999)

Little Devil
¾ oz light rum
¾ oz gin
½ oz lemon juice
½ oz triple sec
Shake with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass
Pair with The Omen (1976)

Do you have any drink recipes you want to share? Or maybe there’s a must watch movie that pairs well with one of these? Be sure to tell us in the comments!

Daphne’s Den of Darkness: 10 Drinks to Pair with Horror Movies

Sometimes, I like to wind down from the day with a little horror movie and a nice drink to go alongside it. And, hey, did you know there are LOADS of recipes out there for Horror Addicts to try? Sure, you may have heard of The Zombie or The Vampire’s Kiss (and who hasn’t had a Bloody Mary?), but I found ten recipes that are a little off the beaten path.

The Lady in White
1½ oz gin
¾ oz triple sec
½ oz lemon juice
Shake with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
Pair with The Curse of La Llorona (2019)

Moonlight
2 oz apple brandy
¾ oz lemon juice
¾ oz simple syrup
Shake with ice and strain into an old-fashioned glass.
Pair with The Wolfman (1941)

The Obituary
2 oz gin
¼ oz dry vermouth
¼ absinthe
Stir with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
Pair with The Invisible Man (2020)

Satan’s Whiskers
¾ oz gin
¾ oz dry vermouth
¾ oz sweet vermouth
½ oz orange liqueur
½ oz orange juice
1 dash orange bitters
Shake with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
Pair with The Uncanny (1977)

The Victor (Frankenstein)
1½ oz gin
½ oz brandy
½ oz sweet vermouth
Stir with ice and strain into chilled cocktail glass.
Pair with The Curse of Frankenstein (1957)

Black Devil
2 oz light rum
½ oz dry vermouth
Garnish: Black olive
Stir with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Add the olive.
Pair with Drag Me to Hell (2009)

El Chupacabra
2 oz blanco tequila
¾ oz grapefruit juice
½ oz lime juice
½ oz Campari
½ oz simple syrup
1 dash Angostura bitters
Shake with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with lime.
Pair with Indigenous (2014)

Black Magic
1½ oz vodka
¾ oz coffee liqueur
¼ oz lemon juice
Shake with ice and strain into ice filled old fashioned glass. Garnish with lemon twist.
Pair with The Craft (1996)

The Headless Horseman
2 oz vodka
3 dashes angostura bitters
Ginger Ale
Pour vodka and bitters into a Collins glass, add ice, fill with ginger ale, and stir. Garnish with orange.
Pair with Sleepy Hollow (1999)

Little Devil
¾ oz light rum
¾ oz gin
½ oz lemon juice
½ oz triple sec
Shake with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass
Pair with The Omen (1976)

Do you have any drink recipes you want to share? Or maybe there’s a must watch movie that pairs well with one of these? Be sure to tell us in the comments!

My Boozy Valentine

It is fun to make some special and romantic things for Valentine’s day but candy hearts felt chalky, I’m too lazy to bake and I am out of patience for pretty paper snips so I thought, why not DRINKS?? So here are a couple along with a special ‘recipe’ to kind of re-invent something very pretty with your own touch as well.

~CHEERS~

Faux-nique

Who has not seen VINIQ? It is beautiful, mesmerizing, and pretty darn tasty. If you can find it I DO urge you to try it just for the novelty and experience. It comes in 375 and 750ml bottles, I found a 375ml bottle of the original purple.

It’s a bit hard to find, especially outside the US, I did not realize this until speaking with a couple of international friends!
It comes in 3 colors and flavors only and is a little on the expensive side as well so…I got to experimenting thanks to some Youtube research. Shoutouts to The Tipsy Bartender as well as Lana’s Tails for ideas. Mine is flavored differently because I used concentrated flavoring oil rather than more flavored booze. VINIQ is 20% alcohol by volume so your mix will depend on your taste as well as the proof of your Vodka and Moscato. I will post the ingredients as a guide with the proportions I used but try other white wines if you prefer drier or different tastes than a Moscato, (using still not sparkling varieties) and DO mix your finished Faux-nique with some champagne in a cocktail…I call my blue one “Jewel of the Nile”. You can mix this about 2/3 to 1/3 of other clear ingredients before the shimmer dulls too much for my taste.  It’s all about the PRETTY, but a bit of tiny bubbles from sparkling wine lightens the taste nicely. I found club soda has ‘big’ bubbles and Perrier had an off taste so your mileage may vary.

Directions:

2/3 Moscato (I used Cupcake Vinyards)

1/3 Absolut Vodka

1/2 tube of shimmer gel icing

3ml LorAnn Raspberry flavoring oil (to taste, I was going for a sort of ‘blue raspberry’ vibe but there are many flavors)

Directions: Shake the gel and flavoring oil with the Vodka until the gel is completely dissolved (easier in batches), add the Moscato and admire.

Jewel of the Nile

3 oz Faux-nique

1-2 oz Freixenet Cordon Brut (or your fave sparkling wine)

Directions: Make sure both are chilled well. Add the sparkling wine slowly to the Faux-nique to preserve the bubbles.

 

And for the guys and just for funs, I give you the Fat Bastard!

Be warned, it has a kick!

Mine is even fatter because I use half and half instead of the 2% milk called for in the original.

2 oz Vodka (I used Absolut)
2 oz Godiva White Chocolate Liqueur

2 oz of half-and half

Directions: Add both chilled alcohols to 2 oz half-and half and stir (or okok, 2% milk if you really WANT to)

I mixed this one 1 oz of each so mine is a skinnier Fat Bastard but richer because of the half-and-half.

I mainly chose this cocktail so I could post a prettier photo than there is on the net so yeah, it’s also a Vain Fat Bastard.
fatbastard bonus audio

Finally, a pretty Martini  and the ‘sister’ Mocktail that is easy to make and delicious.

Raspberry White Chocolate Martini

1 oz Godiva White Chocolate Liqueur (many liqueurs and alcohols come in 375ml bottles btw if you do not want a full 750ml)

1-2 oz Vodka depending how strong you want it, I used 1 oz Absolut

1 oz heavy cream

2ml Lorann raspberry flavoring oil

Canned whipped cream

Fresh raspberries for garnish

Directions: Shake or stir vodka, flavoring oil and ice together, add other ingredients, shake or stir well. remove ice or strain and pour into Martini glass, garnish with whipped cream and pre-skewered fresh raspberries.

Warning, whipped cream melts faster on strong drinks so serve immediately or hold off on the whipped cream until the last minute.

For the Mocktail: leave out both of the alcohols, add an ounce of half-and-half and an ounce of water and some white chocolate syrup to taste. Torani, Ghiradelli and Monin all make one. Mix and garnish the same way.
Martini bonus audio

 

And what do we do with the left overs? Why put them in tasty Coffee Drinks the next morning, then have a Teriyaki Bloody Mary (recipe upon request with a COMMENT below) and keep the rest of the Vodka for another day…the Lorann flavoring oils are what I use to flavor my coffee and smoothies anyway without adding sugar. I use stevia instead.

 

 

1oz Godiva White Chocolate Liqueur in an Espresso Shot

 

I hope you have enjoyed this post, please drink responsibly, don’t drink and drive and if you make Faux-nique, show me your photo – I would love to see it!!

What would the “7 Deadly Sins” Drink?

 

Since I have been busy personifying the 7 Deadly Sins in my mind, I was wondering what they might like to drink…do you think the drinks match the characters?

Pride goes to Starbucks. “I’ll have a venti, half-whole milk, one quarter 1%, one quarter non-fat, extra hot, split quad shots (1 1/2 shots decaf, 2 1/2 shots regular), no foam latte, with whip, 2 packets of Splenda, 1 sugar in the raw, a touch of vanilla syrup and 3 short sprinkles of cinnamon.    Garrick Saito on Quora

Sloth drinks milk from the carton or has a meal replacement shake. I guess if someone made them a cocktail they could be bothered to taste it but they might not like it.

Greed wants sets of Rainbow Shots!

Envy always has an Absinthe Cocktail but wonders if everyone else’s drinks taste better than theirs.

Lust has Sex on the Beach repeatedly, naturally!

Wrath slams double Whisky Sours with extra Bitters and sneers at everyone, killing the conversation.

Gluttony always brings their own Super Big Gulp of the current Mountain Dew limited flavor and has a 5 Hour Energy in their pocket for later.

 

Morbid Meals – Krampus drinks

Tis the season to make merry, and who better to get on your good side than Krampus? Here are a couple drinks to get into the spirit this season.

First off, a drink of my own invention…

The Flaming Krampus

1 oz spiced rum
2 oz cinnamon schnapps
2 oz applejack or hard apple cider
2 oz orange juice
splash of grenadine
1/2 oz 151 rum

Glass: Old-Fashioned

In an Old-Fashioned glass or similar, mix the rum, schnapps, apple cider, and orange juice. Add a splash of grenadine to give a fiery look. Over the back of a spoon, float the 151 rum on top and then ignite. When the fire goes out, it is ready to drink.

This drink was inspired by the traditional German New Year’s hot punch called Feuerzangenbowle. Here’s a recipe for that which you can make at home rather easily.

Feuerzangenbowle

EXAMINATION

Feuerzangenbowle (Flaming Fire Tongs Punch) is a hot punch made with red wine and rum that is traditionally served at German New Year’s and Winter festivities. Glühwein is another traditional German winter mulled wine. Feuerzangenbowle is essentially the same thing, but with FIRE! Krampus would approve!

ANALYSIS

Yield: 1.5 liters
Serves: 8

Ingredients

2 bottles of sweet red wine, like a Dornfelder (750ml each)
4 cloves
3 cinnamon sticks
2 whole allspice
2 cardamom pods
1 orange
1 lemon
1 Zuckerhut (substitute sugar cubes, or make one with 1 cup granulated sugar)
2 oz 151 proof rum

Apparatus

• Fluted glass or conical mold (if making a zuckerhut)
• Crock pot or large pot
• “Fire tongs” or a metal strainer or rack that reaches across your pot
• Lighter

Procedure

Making your Zuckerhut

1. If you can purchase a Zuckerhut sugar cone or just want to use sugar cubes, you can skip this step. However, it is easy to make your own.
2. In your measuring cup or a small bowl, add your granulated sugar and add 2 teaspoons of water, and mix well.
3. Using a cone-shaped glass or mold, pack sugar in tight. After about an hour, flip your glass/mold over and tap gently to release the cone onto a piece of waxed or parchment paper. Allow 24 hours to dry.

Making the mulled wine

1. In your crock pot, add your wine and spices.
2. Peel your orange and lemon to make spirals and add them to the pot. Juice the orange and lemon and add the juice to the pot. Chop up the juiced fruit and add to the pot.
3. Heat the mixture on High/Hot setting on your crock pot until it is warm, about an hour. Do not let it come to a boil. Once it is at the temperature you want, reduce your crock pot to “Keep Warm” or its lowest setting.

Lighting the sugar

1. Lay your fire tongs, strainer, mesh, or rack over the top of your pot.
2. Place the zuckerhut or sugar cubes on the fire tongs.
3. Slowly pour your 151-proof rum over the sugar allowing it soak the rum up but not dissolve it.
4. Carefully light the rum-soaked sugar. As the sugar caramelizes and melts, it should drip into your punch. You may need to keep adding rum, only a spoonful at a time, to keep the fire alight until all of the sugar is gone. Do not pour the rum directly from the bottle.
5. Using a ladle, serve the hot punch into mugs.

DISSECTION

By making this in a Crock pot, you can keep the punch warm without fear of boiling the punch. You can still prepare this in a covered pot kept over a medium low heat for about 30 minutes if you do not have a crock pot available.

On a historical note, this punch used to be prepared with the sugar cone sitting atop swords that were crossed over a kettle. How wicked is that?

I made the recipe scalable so that you can make this with just one bottle of wine (divide all ingredients in half) or up to as large as you need.

POST-MORTEM

It might seem cliche, but this drink really tastes like Christmas to me. My grandmother never made this, to my knowledge, but her house at Christmas always smelled like this. The flaming sugar brings a little extra festive spectacle to an already delicious mulled wine.

Morbid Meals – Holiday Spirits

When it comes to the holiday spirits, I’m not talking about the Ghost of Christmas Past, or that chain-rattling spectre of Jacob Marley. No, I speak of something even more frightening: Holiday Hooch!

As the song goes, “Baby, it’s cold outside.” One sure way to stay warm is with a little nightcap. It’s no surprise that many drinks this time of year are heated up. Hot buttered rum, egg nog, mulled wine, just to name a few. Hot apple cider and hot cocoa shouldn’t be missed either.

So in keeping with the intoxicating tradition, I am sharing three of my favorite drinks that will make the season, and your nose, bright. Just stay safe, my fellow Horror Addicts. We want to see you have a prosperous new year.

Thirsty Humans, Hungry Ghosts!

~~~

A Lookbook of Spooky Cocktails and Nosh with the Dead

from The Japanese Gothic & Lolita Bible

 

 

Layered Drinks 

Angel’s Kiss

Ingredients

¼ oz Crème de cacao (white)

¼ oz Sloe Gin

¼ oz Brandy

¼ oz Light cream

Directions

Pour carefully, in order given, into cordial glass so that each ingredient floats (layers) on the preceding without mixing.

Serve immediately.

recipe courtesy of Cocktail Wikia

~~~

The Vampire’s Eclipse

The Vampire Eclipse is a special treat created just for you by the count himself deep in the castle’s lair.  The Count worked feverishly to capture the essence and magic of the suns eclipse.  A dark river of grenadine rests on the bottom of the glass, while repelling the suns burst of orange energy, trapping a cherry between day and night.  The light rum entombs this moment forever.

The Vampire’s Eclipse
1/2 ounce grenadine
1/2 ounce orange juice
1 ounce light rum (Bacardi)
1 maraschino cherry

Gently pour grenadine in shot glass first.  Then slowly pour in the orange juice (pour down the side of the glass to avoid mixing your layers).  Slowly lower the cherry through the orange juice to rest on the grenadine.  Lastly, add rum pouring it down the side of your glass.

Original recipe developed by Chad of The Slow Roasted Italian 

 

 

 HUNGRY GHOSTS

In Japanese Buddhism, two such creatures exist: the
gaki and the jikininki.

Gaki (餓鬼) are the spirits of jealous or greedy people
who, as punishment for their mortal vices, have been
cursed with an insatiable hunger for a particular
substance or object. Traditionally, this is something
repugnant or humiliating, such as human corpses or
feces, though in more recent legends, it may be virtually
anything, no matter how bizarre.

Jikininki (食人鬼 “people-eating ghosts”) are the spirits
of greedy, selfish or impious individuals who are cursed
after death to seek out and eat human corpses. They do
this at night, scavenging for newly dead bodies and food
offerings left for the dead. They sometimes also loot the
corpses they eat for valuables. Nevertheless, jikininki
lament their condition and hate their repugnant cravings
for dead human flesh.

5 Low Sugar Drinks for Halloween

I’ve always really loved this song by Don Hinson and the Rigamorticians because, I have so many allergies, if I were a vampire, it would be my luck that I would be allergic to blood.

Whether you are allergic or watching your sugar for a medical reason, or just looking for low sugar alternatives to serve at your Halloween bash, these are sure to be a hit.

1. No Sugar Added Cider:
   Get out your crockpot and add a gallon or two of no sugar added or low-sugar apple juice along with a sliced orange and one scoop of mulling spices. Leaving on high for a large portion of the day.
2. No Sugar Added Hot Cocoa:
   Swiss Miss makes the best No Sugar Added Hot Chocolate. Add a little non-fat milk to make it extra creamy. Add a couple drops of red food coloring to make it darker. If you are into a more Latin taste, add a dash of cinnamon.
3. Pumpkin Tea:
   Great thing about tea is most of them don’t contain sugar. Non-sugar sweetener and a dash of cinnamon adds specialness to this boiled water.
4. Sparkling Water Non-Alcoholic Sangria:
   Choose your favorite non-sugar, sparkling water and add your favorite freshly cut fruit. Raspberries, strawberries, or grapes add a succulent taste and will be sweetened naturally.
5. Bloody Good Pomegranate Cherry Mixers:
   This is one of my favorite drinks year around, but it’s color lends itself to the Halloween season. Mix Sprite Zero and Crystal Light Cherry Pomegranate drink mix into a large glass of ice.

Have a favorite sugar-free drink you enjoy? Please share it with us below.