HALLOWEEN BEVERAGE TIPS

Serving a nice, flavorful punch along with your Halloween feast at your party always makes a big hit! Party-goers get thirsty and are always on the look-out for something good and cold to drink. make sure you have plenty of ingredients on hand to fill the punch bowl back up as needed.

Below you'll find a few of our favorite Halloween punch recipes. Check out the Punch Bowl page for display ideas. We came up with idea a couple years ago to add a very spooky effect to the way punch is served. Click here for our "how-to" on making a great looking lighted base to set your punch bowl on. You can use our lighted punch bowl base with any of these punches to give them an eerie glow!

By using juice instead of water to make ice you'll keep the punch cold and it won't get watered down. Dress the punch bowl up with some decorative ice shapes. You can use food grade plastic gloves to freeze for floating hands. Check out this page for our step by step instructions. You can also check with specialty stores for ball shaped ice cube trays. Fill with cranberry juice or fruit punch and they become floating blood clots!

HALLOWEEN PUNCH RECIPES

VAMPIRE PUNCH
This is a quick and easy punch that you can whip up fast. The up-side is that it tastes great, too! It can also be converted with alcohol to an adults only punch.

Ingredients:
1 can or bottle Red Fruit Punch (46 ounce size)
1 can or bottle Apple Juice (46 ounce size)
1 can or bottle Cranberry Juice (46 ounce size)
1 bottle Ginger Ale ( 2 liter size)
Crushed Ice (1 bag)

Directions:
Pour all ingredients together into a large punch bowl and add crushed ice. Stir well to mix juices and chill punch.
To make adult version, add 4 cups of any berry flavored vodka and a 1/2 cup of any orange liqueur.

INSTANT ZOMBIE PUNCH

This is an adults only punch that will kick your butt! Hence the name "Instant Zombie" punch. It's tasty, very sweet and spicy and they'll want to keep coming back for more so make sure someone keeps an eye on the bowl! You can make this one non-alcoholic by omitting the rum and vodka and increasing the amounts of orange juice to 5 Cups and pineapple juice to 3 2/3 Cups.

Ingredients for Spice Mixture:
2 cups water
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
3 tablespoons finely chopped and peeled fresh ginger root
2 tablespoons whole black peppercorns
1 teaspoon whole allspice berries
5 cinnamon sticks (food grade, not craft store kind)

Ingredients for Punch Mixture (alcoholic):
3 1/3 Cups vodka (one 750 mil. bottle)
3 1/3 Cups rum (one 750 mil. bottle)
2 cups orange juice
1/2 cup pineapple juice
1 bag of crushed ice (approx. 7 pounds)
1 lemon, thinly sliced

Ingredients for Punch Mixture (non-alcoholic):
5 cups orange juice
3 2/3 cup pineapple juice
1 bag of crushed ice (approx. 7 pounds)
1 lemon, thinly sliced

Directions:
Make this up the day before the party. In a large sauce pan, bring the water, brown sugar, white sugar, ginger, peppercorns, allspice, and cinnamon sticks to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Let cool. Strain the liquid through cheesecloth or a fine sieve into a container, removing the spice residue. Chill over night to let the flavors mix.

Pour the chilled spice mixture into a large punchbowl. Stir in liquid ingredients and ice. Add lemon slices to float as a garnish. You can substitute frozen ice hands for the crushed ice.

WITCHES BREW

Try our recipe for this witches brew with a nice autumn spice flavor! To give this punch a kick, you can add a cup of dark rum, for adults only! You can use the syrup recipe to spice up any beverage, like hot tea, as well. Just keep it in an air tight bottle in the refrigerator, it keeps for about a week.

Ingredients For Punch:
1 chilled 25.4-ounce bottle sparkling cider (about 3 1/4 cups)
1 chilled 1-quart bottle cranberry juice cocktail
1 chilled 1-liter bottle club soda or seltzer water
1 cup dark rum if desired

For Spice Syrup:
2 cinnamon sticks (food grade, not craft store kind)
3 tablespoons finely chopped and peeled fresh ginger root
5 whole cloves
1/3 cup water
1/3 cup sugar

Directions:
To make punch, combine all punch ingredients in a large punch bowl.

Autumn Spice Syrup:
In a small saucepan bring syrup ingredients to a boil, stirring until sugar is dissolved, and simmer, covered, 5 minutes. Let syrup cool. Strain syrup through a fine sieve or cheese cloth and put into punch. Syrup can be made 1 week ahead and chilled, kept in a covered container or bottle.

Stir punch and add lots of ice. Makes about 13 cups.

ORANGE OOZE PUNCH

Ingredients:
1 (6-ounce) package orange gelatin
2 cups boiling water
3 cups chilled pineapple juice
1 (2 liter) bottle chilled lemon-lime soft drink or ginger ale
1 bag crushed ice ( as needed to keep chilled)
 

Directions:
Pour the gelatin mix into a large bowl and slowly stir in the boiling water. Stir until the gelatin is completely dissolved, about 2 minutes. Let cool to room temperature, stir in the pineapple juice and ginger ale. Add a quarter to half a bag of crushed ice and stir well to chill. You can add 2 cups of chilled vodka to make it an adults only punch.

Freeze some cubes in an ice cube tray made of the mixed punch. Add some gummy worms or bugs to each cube before freezing to throw in the punch bowl when they freeze completely.

GREEN GHOUL PUNCH

Ingredients:
1 (6-ounce) package lime gelatin
2 cups boiling water
3 cups chilled pineapple juice
1 (2 liter) bottle chilled lemon-lime soft drink or ginger ale
1 bag crushed ice ( as needed to keep chilled)
 

Directions:
Pour the gelatin mix into a large bowl and slowly stir in the boiling water. Stir until the gelatin is completely dissolved, about 2 minutes. Let cool to room temperature, stir in the pineapple juice and ginger ale. Add a quarter to half a bag of crushed ice and stir well to chill. You can add 2 cups of chilled vodka to make it an adults only punch.

Freeze some cubes in an ice cube tray made of the mixed punch. Add some gummy worms or bugs to each cube before freezing to throw in the punch bowl when they freeze completely.