This Witches Blood Halloween Cocktail is perfect for whipping up in a big batch for a crowd. An easy to make cocktail that mixes vodka, whiskey and lemon together to create a twist on a whisky sour recipe, but with the added sweetness of cherry.
Serve a pitcher of this at your Halloween party, or add it to a punch bowl with some plastic spiders floating in it for a simple creepy effect. Or serve in a sugar rimmed martini glass for a dramatically spooky sip. The possibilities are frightening!
Can I use black vodka in this cocktail?
You sure can, in fact black vodka gives it a much spookier and dramatic feel. I tried this with black vodka and I loved the affect. You can see from the pictures below that black vodka really deepens the color, it is truely a witches blood color!!!
But I wanted to ensure this was easily accessible and that everyone could easily make this so I have left the black vodka as optional, as it is still quite hard to find here.
It was a bit of a boozy afternoon 😉 whilst I tested out the black vodka and took the photos....I'm surprised they are in focus - no really I did finish the photos before I drank the final batch.
How do you rim the glasses?
If you are serving this witches blood cocktail to a small group then you can serve it in the sugar rimmed glasses. I chose martini glasses as they always make me feel like it could be a movie. But a small tumbler or whisky glass would work too.
To rim the glasses, run a cut piece of lemon around the top of the glass, then dip the wet glass into a saucer of sugar. I used black sanding sugar here, but red would be wonderful too.
You will need a wedge of lemon and approximately ½ tsp of sugar for each glass.
I can't find colored sugar for my glasses!
If you don't have coloured sugar then try this trick that I used last year with my Witches Brew Halloween Cocktail.
- Squeeze some lemon juice into a saucer
- Add some food coloring, be generous you want the colour to be quite intense.
- Mix it with a cocktail stick.
- Dip the glass into the saucer.
- Dip the coated glass into a saucer of fine sugar.
- The food colouring will seep into the sugar giving it an coloured hue.
Enjoy x
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Witches Blood - A Halloween Cocktail
Ingredients
To make a smaller quantity use the slider above to reduce the quantities
- ½ cup cherry schnapps
- ½ cup vodka - see note 1
- 1 cup whiskey
- ⅓ cup fresh lemon juice
- 4 cups cherry soda - see note 2
Instructions
- Pour the cherry schnapps, vodka, whisky and lemon juice into a pitcher.
- Stir well with a cup of ice.
- Gently pour in the cherry soda and stir carefully to combine.
To serve:
- Either pour into punch bowl for guest to help themselves or serve in sugar rimmed glasses with a spooky spider garnish. (see note 3)
Notes
- If you can find black vodka it would be great here, it makes the color much more dramatic. You could add a drop of black food coloring to normal vodka if you want the darker color. (see post for pictures)
- The darker your cherry soda the darker your cocktail will be. I bought a black cherry soda for these photos.
- How to sugar rim a glass:
- Squeeze some lemon juice into a saucer
- OPTIONAL STAGE: Add some food coloring, be generous you want the colour to be quite intense.
- Mix it with a cocktail stick.
- Dip the glass into the saucer.
- Dip the coated glass into a saucer of fine sugar.
- The food colouring will seep into the sugar giving it an coloured hue.
Nutrition
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Jordan Allori says
I am wanting to do this but I cannot find cherry schnapps or cherry brandy anywhere. Not much cherry anything, really. I already have everything else and don’t want to make something else, do you have any recommendations for what to use instead??
Claire McEwen says
I think maybe a sweet sherry could work instead of the cherry schnapps/brandy.
It would change the taste, but I think it would still be delicious.
Hope that helps
Cx
Jennifer D says
The only cherry schnapps I can find is Sour Cherry schnapps. Is this going to work for the recipe?
Claire McEwen says
I think it will work still, but it will have a tarter flavor.
Pam says
Looked high and low and googled. Can’t find anyone who makes Cherry schnapps. Dekyper makes cherry pucker or cherry bandy. Any chance it’s a miss print?
Claire McEwen says
Hi Pam, I find cherry schnapps here in Australia, but my sister makes it with a cherry brandy in the UK and says it tastes amazing. So you can definitely swap that out.
Hope that helps 🙂
Cx
Agatha Lungi says
Hi, I found your recipe and I want to make this for my Halloween party... I was surprised to whiskey being mixed with vodka, and I just wanted to know the whiskey of choice? I don't drink much of that so I am unsure of what to buy..
Thanks
Claire McEwen says
Hi Agatha,
It is a bit of a heady mix! Think a Long Island ice tea strength cocktail.
For this recipe I just buy a basic blended whisky (or bourbon)
In the US I would say something like Evan Williams or Rebel Yell would be a good cheapish option.
I do know a friend that made it with Jack Daniels and was very happy. But I would go for a cheaper option as the flavor is masked by the cherry soda somewhat.
Hope that helps.
Cx
Joe says
What whiskey would you recommend?
Thank you