This drink smokes elegantly, changes from a calm blue to fuschia as it cools from room temperature to drinkably cold, and tastes like a dirty martini.

Dry ice is the sedate, well-behaved little brother of liquid nitrogen. Put some in a drink and it burbles away quietly, producing fog-filled bubbles that pop attractively. It won’t even freeze your drink. So how do you make a dry ice cocktail compete visually with the fierce crackling and raw cooling power of liquid nitrogen (as seen in The Ice-Worm Cocktail)? Read on… 

Step 1 Ingredients

You’ll need:

Gin (or vodka, for a vodka martini) ~ Vermouth ~ Dry Ice ~ Baking Soda ~ Red Cabbage 

Step 2 Red #$@%! Cabbage?

Yes. Red cabbage contains a water-soluble anthocyanin that is a pH indicator. At low pH (acid), it’s red. It’s purple at neutral pH, and goes blue then green as the solution becomes alkaline. You’re not going to see the full range here, because we want the drink to be, well, drinkable.

To get the indicator, chop up a cabbage leaf, put it in a bowl with some water, and microwave until it’s boiling (or just add boiling water and allow to steep). A purple pigment will stain the water.

Step 3 Build

Add a teaspoon of cabbage juice… I mean indicator solution - to the martini glass. Then add very small quantities of baking soda, just enough to turn the solution blue. Add gin (or vodka) and vermouth (~6:1) to the glass. You should have a pale blue clear liquid.

Step 4 Present

Give the recipient the drink. Tell them to watch closely, then add a chunk of dry ice. It will sink to the bottom of the drink, and bubble away happily, slowly cooling the drink. It will also neutralise the baking soda and change the colour of the martini. See it in action in the video below:

The Color-Changing Martini from Osmcann on Vimeo.

(that’s not me saying “wow, that’s wicked” by the way. This drink was mostly made as a way of keeping three small children entertained while their mother was out Christmas shopping. They liked the look of the cocktail, but thought the mocktail version was “really disgusting”. I did warn them that it was just salty, cabbage-flavoured water…)

Step 5 Taste

In the interests of science, I tried some of the baking soda/indicator mix straight. Baking soda tastes salty on its own, and rather overpowers the cabbage juice. The latter by itself doesn’t taste of much; a slightly sweet, vegetably taste, nothing like what its violent colour suggests. Overall, it flavours the martini in a way reminiscent of a dirty martini (martini with olive brine added). So you’ll only like it if you like dirty martinis, probably a pretty small constituency.

I didn’t initially regard this drink as spooky in any way, so was surprised to see it appear on various “Creepy Halloween Foods” lists (dabbled, neatorama, mentalfloss, etc). The lists were great and well worth checking out (they included some really effective eyeball recipes - see here for my version). 

Blog owners notes- I personally don’t think this one sounds that tasty, the author says it tastes like a dirty martini? And there were some suggestions of substituting blueberries for the cabbage for a better flavor.

Candy Corn Martini - I know some of you are going to say “ooh” and some are going to say “ewww”.

Trick-or-Tini
From Stirrings

1 part coconut cream
1 part tangerine flavored mixer (suggested, Stirrings Tangerini)
1 part banana liqueur
Splash of white rum 

1.Chill ingredients in fridge or freezer.
2.Once cooled, pour the first three ingredients, in the order listed above, slowly over the back side of a spoon into a martini glass.
3.Top with a splash of white rum.
Serves 1.

Ingredients:
2 oz Hypnotiq
1 oz super premium vodka
splash of lemon juice
glow stick for garnish

Preparation:
1. Pour the ingredients into a cocktail shaker filled with ice.
2. Shake well.
3. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
4. Garnish with a lit glowstick.

Vodka
Cranberry raspberry juice (or just cranberry)
Blue Curacao (Essentially Orange flavored liquor colored blue)
Raspberry simple syrup (optional but yummy)

Per drink: 3/4 parts vodka, 1/4 part cranberry juice, and splash of blue curacao.

How to make Raspberry Simple Syrup: bring 1 cup sugar and 1 1/2 cups water to simmer over stove, as soon as sugar is dissolved, add 1 cup fresh or frozen raspberries. Simmer one more minute, then off heat and let cool to room temperature. Strain berries and pour syrup into container. Store at room temperature in closed container. Makes good Italian Sodas too!

What’s better than pumpkin pie? Pumpkin pie with booze in it! This is an alcoholic spin on a traditional fall favorite that you can use throughout the holidays. You can pour the pumpkin mixture straight into cups, or use Keebler ready-to-use mini graham cracker crusts. You could even crush up some graham crackers and make mini crusts inside Jell-O shot cups. Because it has no eggs and little dairy, this recipe lacks some of the richness of regular pumpkin pie. We added some butterscotch schnapps to make up for that, and a dollop of whipped cream will do the rest.

8 Keebler mini graham cracker crusts
1 envelope Knox gelatin
1 cup water + 1/4 cup for later
1/3 cup canned pumpkin
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice
½ cup vodka
½ tbsp heavy cream
2 tbsp butterscotch schnapps
Whipped cream topping

Sprinkle gelatin over cold water in saucepan and let sit a few minutes. Heat over low heat while stirring until the gelatin is dissolved. Add the pumpkin, sugar, and spice and continue stirring over low heat until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture is smooth. Remove from heat and cool for 30 minutes. Combine liquors, ¼ cup water, and cream in a bowl. Whisk in the pumpkin mixture and pour into pie crusts or shot cups. Chill and serve with whipped cream.

Ingredients

To make approximately 28 oz. of shot mixture:

2 cups boiling water

6 oz. package of Jello

6 ounces cold water

10 ounces chilled alcohol 

Cut oranges in half. Use a spoon to remove the pulp, leaving just the rind of half an orange. Fill the halves with gelatin shot mixture. Refrigerate until firm. Cut orange halves into thirds. Make these at least the night before, as they gel up in a few hours, but when you slice they can fall apart. Also, you may find that one half works better than the other, because one end always leaks

tips from czechmetz’s: I highly recommend using a melon baller to scoop out the pulp of the oranges. I froze the orange slices a bit before transferring them to the refrigerator in hopes that it would prevent leaking when I cut them and indeed it did.

Sweet Bones 
6 large egg whites 
1 1/2 cups sugar 

Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Put egg whites and sugar in the heatproof bowl of an electric mixer. Set bowl over a pan of simmering water; whisk constantly until sugar is dissolved and mixture feels warm to the touch, about 5 minutes. 
Return bowl to mixer, and fit mixer with the whisk attachment.Beat on high speed until very stiff peaks form, about 8 minutes. 
Transfer meringue to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/2-inch plain round tip, such as a Wilton #1A. Pipe bone shapes, each 5 to 6 inches long, onto two baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Pipe by making one long (not as curvy) S shape, followed by another mirrored S shape atop the first. The pictures below should help. Bake until crisp throughout, about 1 hour. Let cool completely on a wire rack. 

Blood Red Hot Chocolate
5 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped 
5 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped 
4 cups whole milk 
1/4 cup sugar 
1 1/2 teaspoons red gel-paste food coloring 

Bring milk and sugar to a simmer in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring until sugar dissolves, about 7 minutes. Pour over chocolate, and let stand. When chocolate begins to melt, stir until combined. Whisk in food coloring. Serve immediately with marshmallow bones.

Ingredients
Black decorating sugar, for the glass 
Juice of 1 lime, plus 1 lime wedge 
1/4 cup dark rum 
1/4 cup ginger beer or all-natural ginger ale 
1 black gummy spider
Directions
Spread out the black sugar on a small plate. Rub the lime wedge around the rim of a rocks glass; dip the glass in the black sugar, then fill with ice. 

Combine the rum and lime juice in a cocktail shaker. Fill with ice and shake well. Carefully strain into the glass, minding the sugar on the rim. Top the drink with ginger beer and add the gummy spider.

Ingredients
For the infused vodka: 
1/2 cup candy corn 
1 1/2 cups vodka 
For the cordials: 
2 ounces orange liqueur 
Juice of 1/2 lemon 
1 large egg white 
Candy corn, for garnish
Directions
Infuse the vodka: Combine the candy corn and vodka in an airtight container; set aside for at least 3 hours, then strain. 

Make the cordials: Add 4 ounces of the candy corn vodka, the orange liqueur, lemon juice and egg white to a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake vigorously for at least 30 seconds. Strain into 2 chilled martini glasses and garnish with candy corn.

5 oz black vodka such as Blavod (or vodka + black food coloring)
1/2 oz Pernod
Sugar Spiderweb (recipe at bottom)
Licorice Spider (recipe at bottom – or just use a gummy spider!).
Fill a cocktail shaker halfway with ice. Add black vodka and Pernod. Shake vigorously for 5 to 10 seconds. Strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with Sugar Spiderweb and Licorice Spider, if desired. 

Sugar Spiderweb Garnish
1-1/4 cups sugar
1/3-cup light corn syrup
1/4 cup water.
Spray 2 large sheets of parchment paper with nonstick cooking spray; set aside. In a small heavy-bottomed saucepan, combine sugar, corn syrup, and water; cook over medium-high heat, occasionally brushing down sides with water to prevent crystallization. Continue until mixture reaches 320º on a candy thermometer. Remove from heat. Working quickly, drizzle caramel with a spoon onto prepared parchment paper, forming spiderwebs. Cool completely or until set. Using a small offset spatula, carefully remove web from parchment paper, and place on top of glass..

Licorice Spider Garnish
1 black licorice wheel.
Unroll a 9-inch strip from licorice wheel*. Using kitchen shears, cut strip in half lengthwise along scored line. Cut each strip into 3 (3-inch) pieces, creating 6 legs. Reserve remaining part of licorice wheel for spider body..

On a flat surface, place licorice wheel. Using tweezers, insert 6 strips in center of reserved licorice wheel, bending strips to form spider legs. Carefully place Licorice Spider on top of Sugar Spiderweb. Serve immediately..
*Look for licorice wheels at Whole Foods Market..