Witches Brew Orange Rum Cocktail

Thrice the brinded cat hath mew’d. Thrice and once, the hedge-pig whin’d. Harpier cries:—’tis time! ’tis time! Round about the caldron go;  In the poison’d entrails throw.—  Toad, that under cold tone, Days and nights has thirty-one; Swelter’d venom sleeping got, Boil thou first i’ the charmed pot! 

Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn, and caldron bubble. 

Fillet of a fenny snake, In the caldron boil and bake; Eye of newt, and toe of frog, Wool of bat, and tongue of dog, Adder’s fork, and blind-worm’s sting, Lizard’s leg, and owlet’s wing,— For a charm of powerful trouble, Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.  

Double, double toil and trouble;  Fire burn, and caldron bubble. 

Scale of dragon; tooth of wolf; Witches’ mummy; maw and gulf Of the ravin’d salt-sea shark; Root of hemlock digg’d i the dark; Liver of blaspheming Jew; Gall of goat, and slips of yew Sliver’d in the moon’s eclipse; Nose of Turk, and Tartar’s lips; Finger of birth-strangled babe Ditch-deliver’d by a drab,— Make the gruel thick and slab: Add thereto a tiger’s chaudron, For the ingrediants of our caldron.  

Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn, and caldron bubble. Cool it with a baboon’s blood, Then the charm is firm and good.

From Macbeth

It’s Halloween week! I’ve got some spooky treats lined up for you all as perfect additions to your scary celebrations. This will be a series of three (yep three!) recipes—two sweets and one drink—to round out that frightening table of yummy haunts. I’ll reveal the snacks one by one, so follow along each day (Tues-Thurs). Well let’s jump to it then! Or should I say, let’s soar through the air on a broom to it! Nope that doesn’t sound quite right… Okay I’ll stick to the recipes.

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The best way to liven up any Halloween party? A smashing (terrifying in this case?) drink. This is a delicious take on a childhood favorite—orange creamsicle. An orange simple syrup mixed with bubbling seltzer water and a dark spiced rum topped with a splash of heavy cream will add a bit of a dramatic element. (Cue the thunder sound effect here)

When a heavy cream is added to a cocktail, it’s a balancing act because liquor does not play nice with cream. The cream will curdle a small amount giving your cocktail a wicked appearance before it melds back into the mixture. Voila! Witches brew orange rum cocktail. Serve alongside a horrifying novel like Coraline (one of my favorites!) for a real scare if you’re staying in this Halloween.

You may know this if you’ve made creamy cocktails, but it’s the alcohol that causes the cream to curdle. Alcohol will actually cause proteins to change their orientation. Back to biochemistry briefly, proteins are made of strings of amino acids. When alcohol is added to their environment, the amino acids will dissociate and unfold. This causes the proteins to lose their solubility. Essentially, this is a shock effect that happens the second you pour that heavy cream into the glass. Once it spreads out, the alcohol effect will lessen, and the proteins will become soluble once again. The cold temperature of the cocktail ingredients will also help with this (though this explanation gets a lot more complicated, so we’ll save that for another time).

If you spike this cocktail too much, the heavy cream will coagulate and cause a rather icky skin at the top. If you’re really trying to get smashed at this Halloween party, drink some sips of the rum in between drink refills. 😉

This cocktail is rather easy to make virgin—simply omit the rum. You won’t get the spooky effect, but it will still be delicious!

And don’t forget to follow along with all of the recipes from this Halloween series!

See Wednesday’s Frightening Jagged Glass Threads

And Thursday’s Ghostly Glowing Haunted Cupcakes

Witches Brew Orange Rum Cocktail

Orange Simple Syrup

Adapted from Serious Eats

Makes about 1 ¾ cups syrup, enough for about 9 cocktails

2 navel oranges

1 cup sugar

1 cup water

1. Zest and juice the oranges making sure to avoid the white pith. Your juice should come to ½ cup. Add water if your oranges are not juicy enough, and take juice away if it exceeds ½ cup. Strain any pulp.

2. Add the zest, juice, sugar, and water to a saucepan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and continue to slowly simmer for about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool.

3. Bottle and refrigerate until ready to use.

Creating the Cocktail

For one drink:

(let’s make this fun shall we?)

1 ½ ounces goblin goo (orange syrup)

4 ½ ounces foaming cadaver juice (plain seltzer water)

1 ounce sweat of the werewolf (spiced dark rum)

Floating eye of newt (Ice cubes)

A splash ghoul puss (heavy cream)

Optional: troll skin (orange twist) for garnish

1. Combine the orange syrup, seltzer, rum, and ice into a cocktail shaker (or a large glass). Stir your ingredients together for about 20 seconds. Pour into your serving glass. If desired, add your garnish now.

2. Add your splash of heavy cream, and watch the witches brew come together.

Large scale preparation:

For each cup of orange syrup, add 3 cups of seltzer water and 2/3 cup of rum. Pour into glasses followed by a splash of heavy cream.

Spooky ooky! Mad Science.