How about a fun & deliciously dangerous Halloween Cocktail? Enjoy The Poison Frog as a cocktail or as a shot for a festive offering at any Halloween gathering big or small!
Meet my Halloween Cocktail – The Poison Frog!
Disclaimer…There were no actual frogs harmed in the making of this cocktail 😉
Halloween lets us get a little crazy with creative and spooky foods and cocktails. I just love it! Some people really get into it (oh you know who you are) and throw parties with every possible Halloween concoction they can bring to life! It’s so fun!
We have had our share of costume parties over the years since my son’s birthday falls just before Halloween.
This year, we have a couple parties to go to and one thing I always like to bring is a cocktail of some sort. I wanted something green and I thought why not throw a little “blood” into it! So I did!
This is a perfect Halloween Cocktail – The Poison Frog is a shot but you can easily convert it to a cocktail by topping off ice filled glasses with a bit of Sprite or club soda. Tinker around with that idea. The flavor of this is Green Apple.
This is simple to make, and people will think you worked harder than you actually did…Gotta love that!
The Poison Frog Cocktail/Shot is easy to make. Grab Granny Smith Apples, chop them up, throw them in a pot with water and Dixie Crystals Granulated Sugar, then bring it to a boil. Mash it up, strain it and there you have your Green Apple Simple Syrup. Let it cool (You can make this days ahead and it will keep in a sealed jar in your fridge for a week or more). Then add in Everclear and DeKuyper Green Apple Schnapps and you are good to go! The color alone will get people wondering!
If you want to make your shots even more fun, make some blood for the rims or put a drop or two into the shot just before people tilt it back for a cool effect.. This blood is sticky sweet and simply made with red food coloring and corn syrup!
How Do I Make This Halloween Drink?
- Start by making an apple simple syrup using apples, sugar and water.
- Once your Apple Simple Syrup is cooled, strain it and set it aside for up to a week in advance sealed in your refrigerator.
- When ready to make this, gather your simple syrup, Everclear or vodka, Apple Pucker, Ice and and garnishes and mix it up in a pitcher or an easy way of refilling the shots.
- Serve on a tray of black sugar or whatever idea you have to make it festive and enjoy!
How Did I Make The Edible Blood Rim On The Drink?
To make the Blood, simple combine a few drops of red food coloring with a TBS of corn syrup, mix vigorously until combined. Just tinker with it until its the consistency you desire. If you want it thicker, just add in quarter tsp of cornstarch and stir vigorously until blended. I like to dip it, hold it upside-down for a minute or so, dip again and quickly place on a try in the refrigerator until ready to fill.
Expert Tips:
Make this cocktail/shot in advance in a pitcher or in large mason jars. Either place in the freezer or in the fridge, if its not super cold already, use a cocktail shaker to make the shots cold and pour into glasses.
You can also choose to turn into a cocktail, topping it off with club soda and adding ice if you like (or serve as a martini).
What Variations Can I Make?
You can also use vodka for this. You may want to use less simple syrup if using vodka since typically the proof (alcohol content) in vodka is less potent than grain alcohol.
Simple syrup is typically a 1 to 1 ration. Meaning 1 part water to 1 part sugar. So 1 cup of water plus 1 cup of sugar. Often I make it less sugary by using either 3/4 cup sugar to 1 cup water or 1/2 cup to 1 cup water. Tinker around with it until its to your liking.
I also made some black sugar, by combining red, blue and green food coloring. Two drops of each did the trick. then I stirred the sugar briskly, shook it up on a mason jar and let it dry out on a paper towel. Black sugar is that easy, now just think of all the uses for Halloween! It was a fun accent to the serving tray!
If you like Halloween as much as I do, check out my “All Things Halloween” Pinterest Board for more ideas and also check out the recipes from this years #TheHalloweenProject from my foodie friends below (I will update the list as their posts go live). And for something super fun to do with the kids outside of Trick-or-treating, check out my post on how to do Halloween Boo-ing! It’s such a fun tradition!!
You may also like my Edible Eyeballs. All the kids look forward to them each Halloween!
Or this fun Edible Brain, which is really a Mexican Dip.
Happy Halloween!
I use a WordPress App to calculate nutrition for recipes. The app could not identify the DeKyuper Sour Pucker, so you would need to add in an additional 30 calories or so per 3 ounce shot.
Post originally published September, 2016. Updated October, 2021.
Halloween Cocktail - The Poison Frog
Ingredients
- 3 Green Granny Smith Apples
- 2 cup Sugar
- 2 cups water
- 2 cup vodka
- 2 cup DeKuyper Sour Apple Pucker
Instructions
- Wash apples, cut and chop, leaving skin on.
- Place apples into a medium sized pot.
- Add in the sugar and water, stir and bring to a boil. Boil for 6 minutes or so, just until the apples start to become tender.
- Using a potato masher, mash the apples. Let the mixture sit for 30 minutes or until cool.
- Strain out the liquid, pressing on the solids to get every drop out.
- At this point you can place the Green Apple Simple Syrup into a sealed jar and store in your fridge until ready to use.
- When ready to assemble the drink, combine the Green Apple Simple Syrup, the vodka and the DeKuyper Sour Apple Pucker in a pitcher or pot and stir until combined. Use a 1 to 1 to 1 ratio. 1 cup of each for example. adjust to your preference of sweetness or alcohol strength.
- This will have a light green hue from both the Green Apple Simple Syrup and the Pucker. If you want it a bit more vibrant, take 1/2 cup of the mixture and add to it 2 drops of green food coloring, stir vigorously until combined. Strain that back into the jar/pitcher and mix until combined.
- Taste and adjust.
- This is strong, it's supposed to be. It's not really a cocktail, its more of a fun shot or a martini. For a cocktail, serve it over ice and top with club soda.
- Chill and serve in shot glasses. I like it in the freezer an hour or so before serving. You could also use a cocktail shaker filled with ice and shake and pour. Your call.
Liz says
What a fabulous Halloween cocktail!! The bloody garnish is perfect!!
The Food Hunter says
Oh how fun…makes me want to have a party!
Faith (An Edible Mosaic) says
Love that you made apple simple syrup for this – yum! And that “blood” is the perfect touch!
Stephanie says
Sounds delicious and looks creepy. Perfect!
Erin @ Texanerin Baking says
What a fun and creepy drink! And I love those creepy eyeballs from last year. Looks like you’re prepared for Halloween. 🙂
Heather | All Roads Lead to the Kitchen says
That color! This is so much fun and so perfectly presented.
Lora @savoringitaly says
That looks almost too spooky to drink…but I would have to try it!! Love the flavor combo (and those eyeballs!!)
Jessica @Savory Experiments says
What a fun and festive cocktail! I’d love to serve this at my Halloween party!
Brandy | Nutmeg Nanny says
GAH! That’s an awesome looking drink! Love this!
Amy Brooks says
Wow – this is so unique! I shared it with a friend on Facebook 🙂
B says
You might try melting down some red hearts and using them on the room to add a cinnamon apple taste to it
B says
You might want to melt down some red hots to use for blood on the rim
B says
Melt down some red hots To use for blood on rim it will add a cinnamon to your apple shots
Colleen says
Yummy!