Halloween in London 2016: The Cocktail GuideBy Angelica Malin
Halloween cocktails are my favourite. Better than candy corn any day; I’ll take the spooky margarita. You’ve seen our Halloween Foodie Guide, we’ve given you a Halloween Events Guide, and now it’s time for the drinks. Nothing says Halloween like a pumpkin cocktail, right? Slutty witch costumes at the ready, here’s where to get sipping this weekend:
Halloween Cocktails in London: Special Creations
Zombified Cocktails at Pennethorne’s
The Lowdown: This Halloween in London, Pennethorne’s, the sophisticated wine and cocktail bar in Somerset House, has paired with Veuve Clicquot to honour Champagne’s most celebrated widow: Madame Clicquot, the first lady of fizz. Transforming into a gothic wonderland for the night, stop in at Pennethorne’s to try the champagne paired with their delicious platters or their zombified cocktails. Costumes are optional, but there will be special Veuve Clicquot masks for those who’d like to get into the spirit of things.
The Venue: Pennethorne’s offers a rich, dark and elegant setting for drinks, with high ceilings, striking inky blue walls and navy leather and velvet banquettes. There’s dramatic lighting, antiqued bronze mirrors and subtle references to the architect Sir James Pennethorne to be found around the venue. Spooky.
The Food: Pennethorne’s will be offering two glasses of Veuve Clicquot Champagne, two ‘Zombified’ cocktails – sure to get taste buds going – and the choice of a cold meat or cheese sharing platter for £50 for 2 sharing.
Where: Pennethorne’s, The New Wing, Somerset House, London WC2R 1LA
Halloween Cocktails in London: Pumpkin Fun
The Black Widow at 100 Wardour Street
The Lowdown: Everyone’s favourite bar and restaurant, 100 Wardour St, has come up with a very special cocktail for Halloween, which will be available from the Thursday 27th to Monday 31st October. The perfect place to celebrate Halloween in London with a buzzing atmopshere; grab your friends and head down for a party.
The Venue: 100 Wardour St is a Soho restaurant and club, located at a legendary address, offering live music and cocktails over two levels in the restaurant. It’s got a seriously cool vibe – great for a bit of late night Saturday fun. Recently opened, the ground floor has been transformed into a stylish bar, which is open from lunch right through until late night cocktails and bar bites. Downstairs, the glamorous basement restaurant and club hosts live music five nights a week and serves spectacular sharing dishes until 2am, alongside contemporary cocktails.
The Cocktail: One of our favourite Haloween cocktails; for Halloween, 100 Wardour St have created the Black Widow cocktail – a mix of port, rum, spices and pumpkin. It’s sweet, spicy and delicious. Pumpkin in a cocktail? We’re listening.
Where: 100 Wardour St, Soho, London W1F
The Lowdown: Southbank restaurant and bar, Skylon, will be serving the specially created Sleepy Hollow cocktail this Halloween. Known for its stunning cocktails, Skylon is a sophtiscated option for those looking for a slightly more fancy Halloween this year.
The Venue: A super swish venue in the city, expect floor-to-ceiling windows, amazing river views and delicious food with Modern European touches at this restaurant. The food at Skylon is fantastic – try their new truffle dinner on the 24th November, which features 4-courses of pure truffle goodness.
The Cocktail: Made with Pink Pigeon rum, crème de cassis, apple juice, cucumber juice, half lime and elderflower cordial, the beauty of this cocktail is its layered presentation. Priced at £12, this is one cocktail you’ll want to try this Halloween.
Where: Royal Festival Hall, Belvedere Rd, London SE1 8XX
Halloween Cocktails in London: Party Vibes
Deadcool Cocktail at Dirty Bones
The Lowdown: The New York style Dirty Bones restaurants in Kensington, Soho, and Shoreditch will be shaking up the Deadcool Cocktail for guests throughout the Halloween weekend. What’s more, on Saturday 29 October, Dirty Bones Kensington will host the Dead Rapper’s Basement Party, with fancy dress, spooky decorations, Deadcool Cocktails and a live DJ playing all night long.
The Venue: Dirty Bones is always good fun; the venue offers gourmet American dining and bespoke signature cocktails in their bar and restaurant. Think New York comfort food and cocktails, and great music, too. Come here for their filthy food; the beef short rib with salted caramel and burnt onion BBQ sauce with crispy shallots and spring onion cannot be missed.
The Cocktail: One of the coolest looking Halloween cocktails, the special Deadcool cocktail features a dark blend of Montelobos Mezcal, Belazar Rose, lemon, beetroot plum soda and ebony lime all served over crushed-to-death ice. The cocktail is £9 each, available 28th-31st October.
Where: Locations here
The Lowdown: This Halloween, from Thursday 28-Monday 31 October, join the team at Burlock in Marylebone for a line-up of frightful fun as the cocktail bar transports itself into the depths of Louisiana’s bayous. On Thursday and Friday night, live bands and DJ’s will play until late, with £5 special cocktails served throughout both evenings. On Saturday night the party continues with promoter Blood Lust taking over the space and DJ Colin StarRocker Pereira providing the beats.
The Venue: Opened on Duke Street between Mayfair and Marylebone in September 2016, Burlock is a cavernous bar rum bar with a party atmosphere, celebrating the Caribbean region’s most storied spirit. With over 200 of the world’s finest rums available under one roof, Burlock is one of the UK’s largest rum houses.
The Cocktails: Guests will be joined by Lao’s of the dead as well as cocktails from their favourite storied spirit, rum. Cajun inspired bites can be washed down with specially created creepy cocktails including Brijit’s Corpse serving two, Burlock’s take on the classic Zombie (gran anejo Guatemala, plantation Jamaica, Trinidad overproof, fresh lime juice, passionfruit shrub, Yuzu mix, homemade falernum, absinthe, grenadine, angostura bitters), Barons Brew (rum, cider punch), Cajun Bloody Mary’s and Vou-Juices.
Where: Burlock, 31 Duke Street, London W1U 1LG
Halloween Cocktails in London: Quirky Ones
For a Day of The Dead Cocktail: Three Six Six
The Lowdown: To celebrate Day Of The Dead, the magician-like mixologists at experimental cocktail bar Three Six Six have conjured up the ‘Ofrenda de Espolon’, a suitably Mexican marigold-infused tequila cocktail that recreates the traditional altars created to honour loved ones who have died.
The Venue: Selected for the World’s Best Bars 2016, Three Six Six can be found on the upper end of St John’s Hill in Battersea. The wonderfully eclectic interior mixes vintage and modern pieces, and boasts one of the finest collections of sprits, weird and wonderful homemade tinctures and incredibly inventive cocktails you’ll ever lay eyes on.
The Cocktail: Something different for Halloween cocktails this year, the ‘Ofrenda de Espolon’, which is available from 26 October to 3 November, was designed by Eduardo La Mora, who is from Mexico; it sees Espolòn’s smooth 100% blue agave Blanco tequila infused with dried marigold heads, highlighting the use of the bright orange flowers that are used to decorate graves during Day of The Dead celebrations in Mexico. Other items and ingredients include an edible chocolate spoon, a nod to the sweet foods left at the altars, and a sweet potato and all-spice puree, which reflects the aromas of the sweet foods cooked during the festivities.
Where: Bar Three Six Six, 126 St John’s Hill, Battersea, London SW11 1SL
The Lowdown: Samarkand has created a cocktail that’s perfect for Halloween as part of a new project – the D1 International Cocktail Exchange – where mixologist matchmaker D1 London Sprits has paired up nine UK cocktail bars (most based in London) with bars in South East Asia to swap signature cocktails, The spooky yet sophisticated cocktail that is Samarkland’s brain child is called Akkum Desert and features an amazing skull shaped ice cube as the focal point.
The Venue: Offering a treasure trove of flavours from the historic Silk Road, Samarkand is the first Uzbek restraint in London. Seamlessly blending the intriguing cuisine of Uzbekistan, with an exquisite collection of more than 40 vodkas, the decadent restaurant, complete with mezzanine bar, is ideally located in London’s stylish Charlotte Street. Signature cocktails are inspired by exotic flavours of the Silk Road.
The Cocktail: The Akkum Desert was created by Fabio Immovilli. This cocktail, which is served in a stylish copper martini glass, blends D1 Potato Vodka, Pu-her tea-infused Americano Cochi, Campari, Tuaca and Prosecco. It’s served over the skeleton ice cube which has been flavoured with Aperol and has been cold drip percolated through desert sage.
Where: Samarkand, 33 Charlotte St W1T 1RR
The Black Rose at Discount Suit Company
The Lowdown: The Black Rose, a blood curdling mix of Calvados, cassis, lemon juice and nettle tea syrup will be available from Friday 28th October until the end of November at East London clandestine bar, Discount Suit Company, located in Jack the Ripper’s old stomping ground.
The Venue: An intimate sanctuary within the City, styled up to evoke its 1980s suit shop heritage and found behind an unmarked black door, down a narrow staircase and through a heavy black curtain, Discount Suit Company is the first bar from The Umbrella Project, a creative team of drinks industry insiders Andy Kerr, Stephen Thompson and Ally Tatton.
The Drink: The cocktail is named after one of his suspected victim’s Rose Mylett, known among friends and acquaintances in Whitechapel and Spitalfields by the name of ‘Drunken Lizzie’. Long live her proclivity to drink and may her soul RIP. Halloween cocktails don’t get much better than this.
Where: Discount Suit Company, 29A Wentworth Street, London E1
The Bloody Scotsman at Mac & Wild
The Lowdown: The creative cocktail features ingredients including tongue tingling Tabasco, red wine, port, mustard, whisky, tomato juice and a sharp squirt of lemon juice. The cocktail is blood red, perfect for those aspiring vampires among us and will definitely have you screaming for more!
The Venue: London’s favourite Scottish restaurant Mac & Wild where diners are taken on a journey to the Scottish highlands, enjoying the finest wild venison, game and seafood in a rustic setting.
The Cocktail: Tabasco, red wine, port, mustard, whisky, tomato juice and a sharp squirt of lemon juice = oh baby. It’s quite a strong, intense cocktail, but we’d expect nothing else on Halloween, right? Get it with a burger and thank us later.
Where: Mac & Wild, 65 Great Titchfield Street, W1W 7PS
Day of the Diablo at Hanger SW6
The Lowdown: Hanger is going Mexican for Halloween with a Day of the Diablo cocktail, their take on a day of the dead cocktail with tequila, cassis, lime, ginger and a cayenne salt rim. The fiery ginger paired with the citrus lime and the spicy hit of cayenne, too many of these deadly concoctions might even result in some spooky dreams.
The Venue: Below the Cut at Hanger sw6 The downstairs liquor bar will offer a hidden glimpse of a good old fashioned cocktail bar. The drinks list has been meticulously created with an emphasis on cocktails and a short, but innovative wine list and there will also be a well – crafted bar food menu to match.
The Cocktail: Day of the Diablo cocktail – their take on a day of the dead cocktail with tequila, cassis, lime, ginger and a cayenne salt rim. Again, a strong, full-flavoured cocktail, one which is perfect with Mexican dishes. Order it with some guacamole and forget all your weekday sins.
Where: Hanger SW6, 461 North End Rd, London, SW6 1NZ
Vampire Negroni at 400 Rabbits
The Lowdown: This Halloween, 400 rabbits are bringing you the Vampire Negroni for the ultimate taste of terror! This dangerously delicious drink is available only on the 31st October and is priced at just £3.50.
The Venue: Located in the heart of South-East London in Nunhead, 400 rabbits is perfect day or night. Come here for their amazingly good pizzas; cooked at around 400° in a wood fired oven, topped with San Marzano Dop tomatoes, Fior Di Latte mozzarella and seasonal British ingredients, they are seriously delicious. What’s more, they serve Gelupo ice cream – arguably the best ice cream in London – and you can have in, on its own, as a D.I.Y Sundae or to take away.
The Cocktail: Their signature cocktail has been ‘vamped up’ with Dolin red vermouth, Campari, Sipsmith gin and Hellfire habanero bitters to add bite and garnished with ruby grapefruit. Halloween cocktails for all!
Where: 143 Evelina Road, Nunhead, SE153HB
