Last Updated on November 29, 2021 by Heather Wibbels
You don’t need dry ice or food coloring to get your creep on for a great-tasting and intriguing Halloween cocktail – just a stick a mustache on your glass and grab a great bottle of whiskey. Adding both apple brandy and whiskey to cocktail with some cinnamon syrup and fun fall bitters and you’ve got an easy, batchable cocktail to entertain whiskey and cocktail lovers alike.
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What Makes a Great Halloween Cocktail?
The perfect Halloween cocktail needs to taste wonderful, celebrate the flavors of the season, be colorful OR have a fun garnish/presentation, and have a fun name.
You don’t need a specific base spirit, but I’ll always use whiskey as my first preference for a cocktail. If you’re not a whiskey drinker, this works exceptionally well with the entire base made of apple brandy, although it is a tad sweeter. Or you can opt for a great rum to pair with the apple brandy.
In this case, I’m use a simple cinnamon stick garnish because I want to add a mustache to the glass and perhaps a plastic spider to the presentation for my non-arachnophobe friends.
Flavors in Great Halloween Whiskey Cocktails
The easiest way to celebrate the flavors of Halloween is to stay seasonal. Apples, pumpkins, maple syrup, cinnamon, vanilla, pear and citrus all peak in the fall. I pulled several of the flavors for this cocktail from that list.
Many people want to stick with chocolate cocktails for Halloween, so you might check out these chocolatey recipes that would be perfect to hand out to adults accompanying small children. They may need a little strength for the coming sugared-up hours.
- Chocolate Old Fashioned
- Reese’s Peanut Butter Manhattan
- Chocolate Mojito – if your Halloween weather’s going to be warm
- Salted Caramel Manhattan
- Chocolate Sazerac
- Salted Caramel Orange Hot Chocolate
For this Halloween Whiskey Drink I’ve added bourbon, applejack (a form of apple brandy), rye whiskey to add a bit of clove and pepper spice to the drink, a touch of cinnamon syrup, some fall bitters, and tiny bit of floral pear brandy.
It’s a riff on an Old Fashioned, but one that uses apple flavors from Laird’s applejack with rye’s spice to make something that tastes a bit closer to cooked spiced apples with a healthy dash of whiskey strength behind it.
How to Make this Halloween Cocktail
Because this cocktail has just spirits, syrup, and bitters in it there’s no need to shake. Get out your mixing glass, barspoon and a strainer to make this one.
1. Put a fun mustache on your rocks glass and put a large ice cube in the glass to temper while you make the cocktail.
2. Add the whiskey, applejack, cinnamon syrup, pear brandy and bitters in the mixing glass and fill with ice.
3. Stir for 30 seconds, then strain into your prepared mustache glass.
4. Garnish with a cinnamon stick. And a plastic spider.
Tips and Tricks to Make the Incognito Halloween Cocktail
There are a few tips and tricks to making this cocktail taste as good as it can:
- Make sure to add the mustache to the glass before you chill it. Once condensation forms on the outside of the glass the mustache won’t stick.
- Use your favorite apple brandy and adjust the cinnamon syrup as needed. If you decide to use calvados or more traditional apple brandy the cocktail will taste sweeter. Start with ¼ oz cinnamon syrup and add more as needed to your flavor preference.
- I added a pear brandy, but the brand I’m using, Belle de Brillet has a strong floral note that can overwhelm cocktails when used in large amounts. If your pear brandy has more subtle notes increase the ratio as needed.
- If you are not a fan of pear, other liqueurs like orange, caramel, pecan or almond are fantastic flavor additions to this drink.
Other Cocktails You Might Enjoy
Recommended Bar Tools
You don’t need every slick, beautiful bar tool out there, but there are several I’ll recommend. (As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. However, that does not affect the cost of the items below.) My favorite pieces usually come from the Cocktail Kingdom section of Amazon:
You may already have these bar essentials, but just in case:
Incognito Halloween Whiskey Cocktail
Ingredients
- 1 oz Southern Distilling double rye whiskey
- 1 oz Laird’s apple jack
- 1-2 barspoons of pear liqueur
- 1/2 oz cinnamon syrup
- 3 dashes Scrappy’s Orleans bitters
- Garnish: fake mustache, cinnamon stick, plastic spider
Instructions
- Combine ingredients in mixing glass and add ice.
- Stir for 30 seconds, until well-chilled.
- Strain into prepared, chilled rocks glass and garnish with a cinnamon stick.
- And a creepy crawly, if desired.
Notes
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup sugar
- 4 cracked cinnamon sticks
