Cooking Social Club: 3 Halloween Bourbon Cocktails to Make at Home

Need a drink for your Halloween party that looks as good as it tastes? These three bourbon cocktails come straight from our Halloween Mixology class: one cozy, one smoky, and one jet black.

Each recipe makes one drink, so scale it up for a crowd. Grab a bottle of bourbon and let's get spooky.

1. Fiendish Apple

A spiced apple cider Old Fashioned. Think fall in a glass, with brown sugar, cinnamon and a bourbon backbone.

Glass: rocks glass with one large ice cube

Ingredients

• 2 oz bourbon

• 1 oz fresh apple cider

• ¼ oz brown sugar cinnamon syrup (below)

• 2 dashes Angostura bitters

• Garnish: thin apple slice fan and a cinnamon stick

How to make it

1. Add the bourbon, cider, syrup and bitters to a mixing glass with ice.

2. Stir for 20 to 30 seconds until well chilled.

3. Strain over the large ice cube and garnish.

Brown sugar cinnamon syrup (makes about 1½ cups, enough for 20+ drinks): simmer 1 cup brown sugar, 1 cup water and 3 cinnamon sticks for 5 minutes. Steep off the heat for 20 minutes, then strain and chill. It keeps in the fridge for about two weeks.

2. Witch's Brew

A smoked maple bourbon sour with a silky foam and torched rosemary smoking right off the rim. This one's the showstopper.

Glass: chilled coupe

Ingredients

• 2 oz bourbon

• ¾ oz fresh lemon juice

• ½ oz pure maple syrup (smoked maple if you can find it)

• 1 egg white (or ¾ oz aquafaba for a vegan foam)

• Garnish: rosemary sprig

How to make it

1. Add everything to a shaker without ice and dry shake hard for 15 seconds. This builds the foam.

2. Add ice and shake hard for another 15 seconds.

3. Double strain into the chilled coupe and let the foam settle.

4. Torch the rosemary tips until they smoke, then lay the sprig across the rim.

Heads up: this uses raw egg white. Use fresh eggs, or swap in aquafaba (the liquid from a can of chickpeas). No torch? A lighter works fine.

3. Black Magic Fizz

A jet-black bourbon highball with lemon and ginger beer. It looks sinister, but it drinks crisp and refreshing. Yes, it's actually black. Yes, everyone's going to take a picture.

Glass: highball, filled with ice

Ingredients

• 1½ oz bourbon

• ¾ oz fresh lemon juice

• ½ oz simple syrup or ginger syrup

• ⅛ tsp food-grade activated charcoal powder

• 3 to 4 oz ginger beer, to top

• Garnish: lemon wheel and a mint sprig

How to make it

1. Shake the bourbon, lemon, syrup and charcoal with ice until the charcoal fully dissolves.

2. Strain into the highball over fresh ice.

3. Top with ginger beer and give it one gentle stir.

4. Garnish and serve.

Heads up: activated charcoal can make some medications less effective. If you take any, skip the charcoal; the drink still tastes great.

Hosting Tips

• One bottle goes far. A 750 ml bottle of bourbon pours about 16 drinks.

• Prep ahead. Make the cinnamon syrup and juice your lemons before guests arrive.

• Set up a station. Lay out the garnishes and let guests build their own Black Magic Fizz.

Learn It Hands-On

Want a chef to walk you through it? Our mixology classes teach you to shake, stir, dry shake and garnish like a pro, with food pairings from the kitchen. See upcoming classes at cookingskillsandsocial.com