Cover image from my forthcoming Edgar Allan Poe cocktail book. I’m not making this up.
Well, here we are–on the cusp of another October with its promise of spooky decorations, pumpkin beer, and, ultimately, All Hallow’s Eve. And you know what that means: it’s the month that I turn over this blog to 31 days of Halloween-related content. In past years we’ve had reviews of Halloween snacks, Halloween candy, Frankenstein movies, my own serialized horror story, and other thematic content.
This is truly a magical season, as the weather (at least in my neck of the woods) changes from hot and dry to cool and misty. The days shorten, the sun hangs lower on the horizon, and wood smoke fills the air. The hub, not to mention the bub, of the so-called Winter Holidays is (barely) held in abeyance while we make this transition into fall. It’s my favorite time of year. And that’s why this blog celebrates the season through the whole month of October.
So, what’s on tap for this year’s October blog? I’m glad you asked. Beginning tomorrow, we’re going to present 31 Edgar Allan Poe tales, each paired with a bespoke cocktail related to the story. In each post I’ll give you a short excerpt from Poe’s original tale, a synopsis of the plot, a recipe for making the cocktail, and a “Poe-script” with some related trivia. I’ll even provide a link to the full text, just in case you’re such a Rube that you don’t already own a compendium of Poe’s works. This way, you can read the tale while sipping on your specialty cocktail.
Try one when you’re weak and weary…
One word of warning: I am not a trained mixologist. In fact, I’m pretty much groping in the dark with these recipes. All I can say is that I’ve created, tested, and refined each one until it is deemed drinkable…by me. (By way of full disclosure I should admit that most if not all of these drinks have earned a thumbs down by my wife. But she likes neither whiskey nor gin, so clearly her credibility in these matters is lacking.)
Try it–you’ll like it!
So, starting tomorrow, I invite you to spend the month enjoying my curated list of 31 Poe stories along with their associated, custom cocktails. As always, I welcome your thoughts, reactions, and hangover nostrums. If you’re not already subscribed to this blog, you can sign up below. And if you are already subscribed, spread the word! Make all your friends’ October Poe-tastic!
Certainly I must be the first person to notice the double meaning of the word “spirits” around Halloween….
Uh, I had this graphic specially commissioned for this blog…
Anyway, it’s finally October, when I traditionally turn over this blog to a series of 31 posts on a particular Halloween-related theme. And as I revealed a few weeks ago, the theme this year is Halloween cocktails. Now, I should admit that I’m not much of a mixologist, but I’m thinking that Halloween cocktails, with their scary and creepy vibe, would be more forgiving than the those rather punctilious drinks you’d have around, say, Christmas. It also provides me with an excuse to stock my bar with a bunch of the more epicene liqueurs that I normally eschew. I’m looking at you, Tempus Fugit Liq De Violettes.
Each day I will make a different Halloween cocktail, drink it, and rate it. Such is the kind of self-sacrificing behavior I’m known for. Then, I will rate the drink along three dimensions:
(1) Appearance–i.e., to what extent does it evoke the Halloween season? Up to 4 points.
(2) Taste–i.e., is it even drinkable? Up to 4 points.
(3) Name–i.e., does it at least have a cool moniker? Up to 2 points.
Thus, each drink can score up to 10 points. At the end of the month I’ll summarize the top picks, and maybe add one final surprise.
So let’s get to it! Our first drink is a Pumpin Martini.
Pumpkins, more than anything else, symbolize Halloween–or at least they have since the mid-19th century. Before that time, the English-speaking world was carving turnips for Halloween (I’m not making this up). It thus fell to the Americans to introduce the larger and much easier-to-carve pumpkin for making Jack O’Lanterns. It’s yet another example of American ingenuity.
For today’s cocktail, we use actual pumpkin innards, which certainly sounds promising. I used canned pumpkin puree, but if you want to be really authentic, just use some of the scoopings left over from carving your jack o’lantern.
The recipe: Combine 2 oz vodka, 1/2 oz heavy cream, 1/2 oz pure maple syrup, 2 Tbsp pumpkin puree, and 1/4 tsp of pumpkin pie spice in a shaker with ice. Shake and serve in a martini glass. You can coat the rim of the glass with graham crackers if you like, and that sounds like a great addition, but alas, our cupboard was bare.
Shaken, not stirred.
The ratings: From the outset, let me acknowledge that someone who shall remain nameless (but his last name is Boilard and he is about 32 years younger than me, and he shares half of my DNA) warned me that I couldn’t allow pumpkin-flavored drinks to qualify as “Halloween spirits,” because in my Halloween candy blogs last year I lambasted fall-themed candies for being not properly Halloween themed. OK. Maybe I was a little hasty last year. But more to the point, pumpkin-based drinks are highly evocative of Halloween. One of my most potent Halloween memories is the rich, pungent, musky smell of a jack o’lantern after the lid has been charred by a candle flame all evening.
Somehow, this Pumpkin Martini brings back those memories. For me, at least, pumpkin sightings were limited almost exclusively to the week leading up to Halloween. We’d carve our pumpkin with a kitchen knife, and Mom would toast the pumpkin seeds in the oven, which Dad would then consume by the handful while he watched Warriors basketball on our cheap, portable TV. A few days later my brother and I would don homemade costumes (invariably a “hobo”) and collect literally tens of thousands of calories worth of candy from homes displaying a lit jack o’lantern. This was of course the Golden Age of Halloween.
Brother Dave at left front, with me standing behind him.
Anyway, the point is that pumpkin-based cocktails are a legitimate expression of Halloween spirits.
So, on a scale of one to four, I give the appearance of this Pumpkin Martini a solid three points out of four. This is mainly due to the authentic orange color, which, while lightened by the whipping cream, still has the unmistakable pumpkin hue. In addition, the obvious creamy texture, evident by the slight undulations on the surface of the drink, scream (as a Halloween drink should!) that this is a festive and fun libation.
How it’s supposed to look. (Photo c/o A Couple Cooks.)
For taste, I give this drink 3.5 out of 4 points. It’s got honest pumpkin flavor, and the consistency is rich and velvety. The pumpkin pie spice adds depth and interest. However, upon the second or third sip (or in my case, upon the second drink) the taste becomes a little cloying. I do wonder if a healthy coating of graham crackers would have lengthened the staying power of this drink?
For the name, I give it 1 out of 2 points. I mean, it’s not really a martini (though it’s in a martini glass). But it’s definitely pumpkin, and the name “pumpkin martini” is playful and contrarian.
In sum, this is a worthy kick-off for our month of Halloween cocktails.
OVERALL SCORE: 7.5 points.
Reminder: I’m still soliciting recommendations for Halloween drinks to test-drive this month.
Chasing Phantoms 