Drinks, Holiday Recipes

Devil’s Cocktail

October 15, 2021 by Jennifer

It’s October and while that means there’s a chill in the air and the trees have started to shed their leaves, it also means that Halloween is right around the corner. This is the time of year when you start seeing green and orange cocktails or drinks that are smoking thanks to a little dry ice.  While I could have created some creepy cocktails for you, I have more fun uncovering classics that would also be perfect for this spooky time of year. Today’s cocktail isn’t just a classic from the Prohibition, it’s also blood red, making it perfect for this chilly, creepy month.

Like a lot of classic cocktails, this one has a weird history. While I couldn’t find who created it, I know it’s from at least the 30’s because  it was listed in my Mr. Bsoton cocktail book from 1935. But I bet it’s older than that. I think it’s from Prohibition since that was when people had to hide their imbibing and in doing so, created some unusual drinks.

This cocktail is pretty simple to throw together as it only takes 3 ingredients which you probably already have in your liquor cabinet: port, lemon juice and dry vermouth. I’d go with a sweeter port for this drink as the tart lemon juice needs something to temper it. But overall it’s a nice, low ABV drink that suits this terrorizing time of year. I mean, it’s red. A deep, blood red. Can’t you just see yourself dressed as either a witch or vampire, sipping on a blood red drink from a vintage cocktail glass? It’s perfect!

But the best thing about this cocktail, is as I said, it’s low ABV (alcohol by volume). That means you can enjoy a few of them and have a nice buzz without going to that dark, blackout-drunk place. That’s win win in my book, especially on a night when you really should have your wits about you in case an axe-wielding psychopath comes knocking at your door… or kids looking for candy. It’s Halloween, so who knows.