This fall cranberry cocktail is perfect for Thanksgiving. It’s light enough that it won’t compete with a plate full of turkey and mashed potatoes. But the unique mixture of cranberry, honey, bourbon, green tea and ginger ale is full enough to satisfy the taste buds.

Grateful Cranberry Cocktail

1 1/2 oz. bourbon
1 oz. cranberry-honey syrup (recipe below)
Green tea flavored ginger ale
Frozen cranberries
Crushed ice

Fill collins glass three-quarters full with crushed ice and frozen cranberries.  Pour in bourbon and syrup, then top off with ginger ale.

Cranberry-honey syrup

Boil equal parts water, honey and cranberries. Strain out solids, then refrigerate the liquid syrup.

more Holiday Cocktails & Punches
more Drink of the Week cocktails

New from Mr. Boston, it’s Holiday Cocktails, a collection of seasonal drinks from top mixologists. Contributes include Gary Reagan, Jeffrey Morgenthaler, Dale DeGroff, Jamie Boudreau, David Wondrich, Neyah White and many others.

Mr. Boston Holiday Cocktails will help entertain like a pro this Holiday Season. The books covers party basics, supplies lists, and has 78 recipes ranging from ‘Hot and Steamy’ to ‘Party Punches’. In addition, ‘Trade Secrets’ from bartenders are sprinkled throughout the book. If your planning a holiday cocktail party or you are a just cocktail book collecting geek like me, Mr. Boston, Holiday Cocktails is worth checking out.

Mr. Boston Holiday Cocktails

more Holiday cocktail books …

The holidays are time for gatherings and warmth … and a little booze. This spiced punch can be served hot or cold. It’s a tasty way to welcome guests and stay warm.

Spiced Tea Holiday Punch

3 cups water
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 tbs. vanilla extract
10 whole cloves
10 cardamom seeds
2 tbs. ginger
2 tea bags (black tea)
1 bottle red wine
1/4 cup dark rum
Boil water, honey, sugar, spices and vanilla in a large saucepan, stirring frequently until honey and sugar are dissolved.

Remove from heat and add tea bag, steeping for five minutes. Strain it into a bowl and add wine and rum.

Can be served hot or cold. If serving it hot, simmer mixture until warm again. If serving cold, chill mixture in refrigerator then serve over ice. Garnish with a cinnamon stick.

more Holiday Drinks & Punches

Along with 101 Halloween Cocktails and Punches we’ve assembled some handy links for your ghoulish enjoyment.

- From Serious Eats a Halloween recipe collection of Ghostly Goodies and Devilish Dinners.
- 10 Horror Films You Can Watch For Free Online This Halloween - Mashable.com
- Halloween Costumes 2009: 15 Funny Ideas
- For the coolest in pumpkin designs - ExtremePumpkins.com
- Our guide to Pumpkin Liqueurs
- Quick last minute costume ideas from Halloween.com
- A killer Halloween drinking game

Be safe, respect others, have fun!

Happy Halloween

If on Halloween you and your guests want to ingest more than candy and cocktails, here are some tasty Halloween recipes.

Dessert
Halloween Cake Balls

Brain Cupcakes

Caramel Apples

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

Light appetizers
Screaming Hot Peanuts

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
Chipotle Deviled Eggs

Eyeball Caprese 

Savory Pumpkin Puffs

Heavy Appetizers/Main Course
Pumpkin Stuffed with Bread and Cheese

Pumpkin Gratin

Pumpkin Curry

Halloween cocktail and punch recipes

Related articles

• Oh Nom Nom Nom: Cupcakes for Zombies (geeksaresexy.net)
• Halloween Costumes 2009: 15 Funny Ideas! (PHOTOS) (huffingtonpost.com)
• Ghoulish goodies for a grown-up Halloween (nationalpost.com)
• How to Create a Fog Effect for Your Halloween Punch (drinkoftheweek.com)
• Pumpkin Caipirinha (drinkoftheweek.com)

The Domaine de Canton Apple Bob is a spicy play on the traditional Halloween game. Green apple puree gets a kick with Domaine de Canton Ginger Liqueur, tequila and Cointreau. The cocktail is perfect for the chilly nights surrounding Halloween and will make you happy you grew up past sticking in your head in a bucket of water in order to get an apple treat.

Domaine de Canton Apple Bob

1 oz. Domaine de Canton
1 oz. Reposado Tequila
1 oz. green apple puree
1/4 oz. Cointreau
1/2 oz. fresh lime juice

Rim a cocktail glass with cinnamon sugar. Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into the cocktail glass. Garnish with an apple slice.

more Halloween Cocktails and Punches
Recipe & photo courtesy Domaine de Canton

Related articles

• Jack-o-Lantern Punch
• Berry Scary Sour
• Spirted Punch

Halloween means one thing, OK, maybe more that one thing, but one is certainly - Candy! And what is the most popular? Candy Corn.

Invented in the 1880s at the Wunderle Candy Company, candy corn os meant to mimic a whole kernel of corn. Today candy companies produce nearly 35 million pounds of the corn candy each year.

How big is candy corn? So big it needs it’s own day, so as not compete with Halloween. So Candy Corn Day is October 30!

So spot on, one sip of this cocktail might make you forget you aren’t actually eating candy corn…

Candy Corn

1 1/2 oz. Kettle Corn-infused Bombay Sapphire Gin*
1/2 oz. Moscato wine (sweet dessert wine)
3/4 oz. home-made citrus peel grenadine syrup**

Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker with ice and shake very well.  Strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
Garnish: 3 candy corns

*to make Kettle Corn-infused Bombay Sapphire: for every 750ml bottle of Bombay Sapphire, add in 1 cup kettle corn and allow to infused in an airtight container for approx. 24 hrs.  Fine strain kettle corn and re-bottle.  Store in fridge.

**to make grenadine syrup: for every 1 cup of POM wonderful pomegranate juice, dissolve 1 cup granulated sugar over stove top.  Once dissolved, add in the skins of 1 orange and 1 lemon and simmer for 10 mins.  Remove skins and chill syrup.

more Halloween Cocktails and Punches
Recipe created by Jonathan Pogash, Cocktail Guru
Recipe & photo courtesy Bombay Sapphire Gin

Related articles

• Halloween Cocktails from Skyy Infusions (drinkoftheweek.com)
• Spider’s Kiss (drinkoftheweek.com)
• Vampire Ritual (drinkoftheweek.com)