This Halloween, here’s how you can scare guests with cocktails
Bubbling dry ice
Hyderabad: It is the most yellow drink you’ll consume. If not for that overpowering citrusy aroma, a limoncello could seem like just a glass full of egg yolk powdery yellow and opaque.
Limoncello is an Italian lemon liqueur mainly produced in Southern Italy. Traditionally, it is made from the zest of Sorrento lemons. Lemon zest, or peels without the pith, is steeped in rectified spirit until the oil is released.
The resulting yellow liquid is then mixed with simple syrup. Varying sugar to water ratio and temperature will affect the clarity, viscosity, and flavour.
Opaque limoncellos are the result of spontaneous emulsification (otherwise known as the Ouzo Effect) of the sugar syrup and extracted lemon oils. Limoncello is a popular addition to cocktails because it imparts a strong lemon flavour without the sourness or bitterness of pure lemon juice.
It is traditionally served chilled as an after-dinner digestif. Along the Amalfi Coast, it is usually served in small ceramic glasses that are also chilled.
Spooky spirits:
The best thing about Halloween is that it gives bartenders professional and amateur a great excuse to get weird with their drinks. And why not? When Halloween-themed parties are increasingly gaining steam in India, it only makes sense that the drinks are just as coordinated with the rest of the ambience.
Obviously nobody will be serving a glass of blood (we hope, and pray), but it would be a great deal of fun if one could create that spooky effect. It’s gimmicky and fun and designed to evoke a reaction. You don’t always judge a book by its cover, but you can surely let the look of a drink be a talking point at your Halloween party.
You don’t need to be a bartending pro to try out some of these cocktails. What’ll elevate your drink is the customised garnish you toss into your cocktail. One bartending favourite for Halloween is to cut an orange peel in the shape of a bat (like the Batman logo).
Orange peels are served in a lot of classic cocktails so all it takes is a little art and craft to garnish the drink better. If you’re serving a smoked cocktail, you could go a step further and smoke the orange peel too the orange and black hues can look quite menacing.
Another Halloween staple is to use a carefully plucked pomegranate to make it seem like a bloodied mouth. Too gross? Well another favourite is the eyeball painted green olive. Paint the green part white and use red to make the veins pop.
Do take care to use edible paint. The idea of Halloween is to seem scary, not create a gastronomic scare on a night that celebrates indulgence and decadence. Among the cocktails that are a big hit is the classic tequila hit El Diablo. The sweetness of the blackcurrant-flavoured cassis takes some of the bite out of the ginger beer and both fair well with the spiciness of the tequila.
Liberal usage of spirits like Campari (for the blood-red look) and Absinthe (for its spooky green) ensures that even the drinks look scary in isolation.
Bubbling dry ice:
Since Halloween is a lot more about effect than the drink itself, an exciting effect that can be used is in the form of the fizzy dry ice. However, for all the excitement surrounding it, it’s prudent to keep a few things in mind.
Since dry ice is so cold, it can cause major damage, like frostbite, if it comes in direct contact with your skin. Be sure to use tongs to place it in your drink. Also, remember that dry ice tablets themselves are not meant to be consumed.
If you’re going to make one drink at a time, you only need a very small piece of the substance to create the effect. Drop them in right after you’ve poured and garnished the drink, before you serve it to your guests. The dry ice will sink to the bottom of the glass and stay there.
The drinker will be forced to wait until it dissipates and the steam effect subsides. If you’re making a punch bowl, make sure you drop in some more of the dry ice chips to create a witch’s bubbling cauldron effect.
Remember to ladle the drink to check for chunks before it is consumed. You don’t want to be corroding your throat. Also, dry ice does not alter the taste of the drink, so rest assured that it isn’t diluting it in any way.
( Source : ernest d’souza/ gaurav desai/ dc correspondent )
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