Nothing screams Halloween more than goblins, ghouls, and blood! This Blood Cherry Cocktail is a potent Halloween cocktail with a mix of tart cherry juice, vodka, simple syrup, and kombucha. Rimmed with blood syrup, this festive cocktail is perfect for Halloween parties!
Spooky season screams everything festive and fun. And even though it’s 84 degrees here in Miami, other parts might need a drink to warm them up! Enter this Cherry Blood Cocktail for a festive drink. I wouldn’t say I like dressing up, but I love the season and seeing others’ creativity in their costumes. Even the pumpkins are getting into the festivity!
Before the cocktail, a brief mention to discuss food dye Red 3. I am not opposed to having a treat on Halloween. However, I would be on the lookout for Red 3 as it has been shown to cause cancer and should be avoided whenever possible. Red 3 can lurk in your festive candies, cakes, and other foods. Synthetic food dye was banned in 1990 from cosmetics and topical drugs. However, the FDA never followed up to ban its use in food. California recently banned foods that contain Red 3 along with three other additives, which will take effect by 2027. CSPI is and has been the nutrition watchdog, advocating for Red 3 to be removed. In the meantime, as a consumer, please remember that Red 3 should be avoided when possible.
Back to festive and fun! Creating a new drink for the different holidays has been fun and creative for me (as I finish up my master’s). Instead of the traditional food dyes, I used these natural food gels. While not as vibrant and a little more pink than red, this will help you steer clear of Red 3.
Ingredients: Blood Cherry Cocktail
- Tart Cherry Juice: I’ve been wanting to make a drink with tart cherry juice; however, I know that pomegranate juice could be used as well, as they are both quite tart!
- Vodka: Opting here for a more neutral liquor, however, you could even leave the vodka out and make this a mocktail.
- Cointreau – is a type of triple sec, that is an orange liquor that helps balance out the vodka (even if it is high quality, it makes it smoother). If you don’t have Cointreau, you could use Grand Marnier in a pinch, but know that is a tad stronger in flavor. Add just a tad less if using Grand Marnier.
- Sparkling Water or Kombucha: A great way to extend the beverage and make it less strong. Add as little or as much as you like. I used a red flavored one for this concoction!
- Simple Syrup: yes, this will make it a ‘sugary beverage’, however, as the cherry juice is tart, you’ll want a little sweet to balance the tart. Add as little or as much as to your liking.
- Garnishes: Red Gel Color + Corn Syrup for a blood-stained rim; black sanding sugar for the rim
How To Make Blood Cherry Cocktail
- Rim: First things first, let’s start with rimming the glasses with ‘blood’ syrup. Optional, but highly recommended if you’re celebrating the holiday! You can keep the glasses in the fridge to help keep the gel set and the stains lasting longer. I didn’t measure the corn syrup, however, it was about 1/4 cup of corn syrup and then you can add as many drops of the food coloring as you like. Mine is more ‘pink’ in color than red as it is a natural food coloring. Place the black sanding sugar in a shallow dish or saucer. Wet the rim of the glass with the corn syrup/red gel mixture and dip the glass into the black sanding sugar, coating the top edge.
- Add cherry juice, Cointreau, vodka, and simple syrup to a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake until combined, about 15 seconds.
- Strain shaker into your glass. Top off with sparkling water and/or Kombucha.
- Garnish with eyeballs, Dracula teeth, spiders, or whatever else that’s festive!
- Enjoy! Cherry Blood Cocktail is ready to serve, sip, and enjoy this Halloween!
- Batch the cocktail: Place all of the ingredients into a pitcher, except the sparkling water and/or kombucha and stir until mixed. Hold off adding ice until your ready to serve. Prepare the glasses separately, then add about 2/3 cup to each glass and then top off with the sparkling water and/or kombucha. Garnish with eyeballs, Dracula teeth, or spiders!
Absolutely! Leave the vodka out and simply add more sparkling water and/or kombucha. Festive for kids or people who prefer no alcohol, this will still be a festive and fun Halloween drink that looks like blood!
While it is best made fresh, you can definitely prepare the ‘batch’ ahead of time and rim your glasses. Right before serving add the ice and sparkling water and/or kombucha so the fizz remains.
You definitely could. However, the idea here is to limit the red food dye, and Grenadine, unfortunately, has red food dye. As mentioned, so many products have red food dye, and the idea here is to limit the amount of foods and/or products we’re consuming that contain it. Regardless, you can still have a fun and festive drink sans red food dye!
Snacks for Halloween
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Cherry Blood Cocktail
Nothing screams Halloween more than goblins, ghouls, and blood! This Cherry Blood Cocktail is a potent Halloween cocktail with a mix of tart cherry juice, vodka, simple syrup, and kombucha. Rimmed with blood syrup, this festive cocktail is perfect for Halloween parties!
- Total Time: 5 minutes
- Yield: 1 1x
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 ounces Vodka
- 2 ounces Tart Cherry Juice
- 1/2 oz Cointreau
- 1/2 ounce Simple Syrup
- 2 ounces sparkling water or Kombucha (Red)
- Garnishes: corn syrup, natural red food dye, Dracula teeth, bats, spiders
Instructions
- Rim: First things first, let’s start with rimming the glasses with ‘blood’ syrup. It’s optional, but highly recommended if you’re celebrating the holiday! You can keep the glasses in the fridge to help keep the gel set and the stains lasting longer. I didn’t measure the corn syrup. However, it was about 1/4 cup of corn syrup, and then you can add as many drops of the food coloring as you like. Mine is more ‘pink’ than red as it is a natural food coloring. Place the black sanding sugar in a shallow dish or saucer. Wet the rim of the glass with the corn syrup/red gel mixture and dip the glass into the black sanding sugar, coating the top edge.
- Add cherry juice, Cointreau, vodka, and simple syrup to a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake until combined, about 15 seconds.
- Strain the shaker into your glass. Top off with sparkling water and/or Kombucha.
- Garnish with eyeballs, Dracula teeth, spiders, or whatever else that’s festive!
- Enjoy! Cherry Blood Cocktail is ready to serve, sip, and enjoy this Halloween!
- Batch the cocktail: Place all of the ingredients into a pitcher, except the sparkling water and/or kombucha, and stir until mixed. Hold off adding ice until you’re ready to serve. Prepare the glasses separately, then add about 2/3 cup to each glass and top off with the sparkling water and/or kombucha. Garnish with eyeballs, Dracula teeth, or spiders!
- Prep Time: 5
- Category: Drinks
1 thought on “Blood Cherry Cocktail”
SO festive and fun! Almost looks like ‘witch’s brew’ with that swirl on top!