The Thirteen Drinks of Halloween 2020 – Four

It is day 4 of The Thirteen Drinks of Halloween, it is 80-something degrees outside and not feeling fall at all. So, we are going with something a little lighter and more refreshing than your typical Halloween drink. Don’t worry, it is still spooky, booze forward and lovely. So, please join me now as we stand and make The Green Ghost.

This drink is kind of like the Blood & Sand, a classic that lends itself to our theme. It has been around for a while. It was created by J.B. Hurrell and first appears in the 1937, “Cafe Royal Cocktail Book”, created by the London Bartender’s Guild. I never realized how much I want to be part of a guild till I wrote that sentence. Maybe, some day. This one is a riff on The Last Word, which I love, so I am looking forward to trying it. Let’s make one together, shall we?

Grab your tins and pop in 2 ounces of gin, I used Corsair; 1/2 an ounce of that wonderfully herbal green chartreuse and 1/2 an ounce of freshly squeezed lime juice. Add ice and shake to the beat of “Superstition” by the inimitable Stevie Wonder. Now, that’s a good shaking song! When your tins are good and cold, double strain into some chilled stemware and garnish with a dehydrated lime wheel, because that looks all desiccated and spooky.

This one is very nice. I absolutely adore The Last Word and this variation captures a lot of what I love about it. The gin and chartreuse play really well together. In some ways this is more herbal and refreshing, but I still prefer the original. This is definitely a worthy variation though, and a great one for your”sophisticated” Halloween menu.

There you go ghouls and boys, a Halloween drink that actually tastes good and feels like a proper cocktail, because it is. You could do worse. Stay safe, stay hydrated and stay spooky, my friends.