Halloween Witches Brew Cocktail #HalloweenTreatsWeek
Like a colorful Tom Collins, this Witches Brew Cocktail combines Blue Curacao, Empress Gin and Lemonade for a fun, layered, Halloween drink.
I’ve always wanted to try my hand at layered cocktails. They’re the drinks you may have seen with different bands of color–and of course a really fun vibe.
Now these drinks are often designed for a specific holiday. You might see red, white, blue for the 4th of July. Or the sea-toned mermaid cocktail for a fun summer vibe.
Or todays blue, teal, and purple Witches Brew–all dressed up for Halloween. It was inspired by the blog The Flavor Bender but simplified because, well, who couldn’t use an easier, umm… everything!
With flavors of gin and lemonade, plus hints of light bitter orange taste from the curacao, it’s a fun and refreshing drink to celebrate Halloween! And be sure check out the end of the post for more Halloween fun!
Why You’ll Love This!
Flavorful. Like a nuanced boozy lemonade, this drink is way more refreshing than it looks!
Easy. I had the pouring technique down after less than 10 minutes of experimentation.
Fun. This will be the hit of your Halloween party food! Or make a couple for you and your spouse for Scary Movie Night!
Layered Cocktail Techniques
(That Aren’t Intimidating)
The principle behind layered cocktails is simple. You put the heaviest layer on the bottom and the lightest on the top. This is possible because sugar is heavy, alcohol is light and water is in between.
So in this case, Blue Curacao is sugary and goes on the bottom. Lemonade (ideally diet, though regular can work) is neutral and goes in the middle. Finally, light boozy Empress Gin goes on top. All you need to do is pour very gently and you’ll keep the layers with a small blur in between.
I managed gentle in a couple different ways. First, when I used ice, pouring onto the ice “broke the fall” of the liquid so kept the layers intact. And when I didn’t use ice, dribbling the liquid slowly down the side (think pouring a beer gently) also worked.
Now sometimes people will buy a special layering tool to help them pour gently, but that’s not needed here.
Variations
What if I don’t like gin? I get it, gin was an acquired taste for me too. Yes, there’s a good reason that a Vodka Collins exists alongside a (gin-based) Tom Collins.
An easy alternative would be to get some Butterfly Pea Flower tea, then soak some blossoms in vodka to turn it purple. That’s where the color in Empress Gin comes from too!
Can I make Witches Brew shots? I started testing this by making shots, since the smaller size seemed better for practicing! Happily it worked right away (see the pic below)! Just use about a half ounce of Blue Curacao, an ounce of lemonade and a half ounce of Empress Gin.
Just one caveat, if I were to do shots again, I’d chill them before serving.
Tips and FAQs
The glass in these pictures is only about 7 ounces, so this makes a small cocktail. You can always use more ice though this impacts how the layers look.
After serving you might suggest that your guests stir before drinking. This is typically what is done with layered drinks and improves flavor.
In order to create nice layers, I needed to use more than a single cocktail’s worth of alcohol in this drink. While I’ve read the alcohol in blue curacao can vary, counting this as two drinks is probably fair.
I have made this with homemade lemonade and with True Lemon (stevia sweetened) diet lemonade. The diet lemonade produced a nicer middle layer (probably because it was lighter weight) but both were successful. And so much fun!
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!
Welcome to 2025’s #HalloweenTreatsWeek event!
This is our 8th year doing #HalloweenTreatsWeek … has it really been 8 years? Wow!
#HalloweenTreatsWeek is a Halloween blogging event that is hosted by Angie from Big Bear’s Wife every October. This event is an online, week-long event that is filled with some amazingly wicked Halloween treats and recipes from some fantastic Halloween-loving bloggers!
Make Sure to check out all of the fun Halloween recipes that we’re sharing this week!
-
- Mummy Chicken Pot Pies from Big Bear’s Wife
- Marshmallow Ghost Dip from Semi-Homemade Recipes
- Mozzarella and Tomato Eyeball Skewers from Southern Halloween Queen
- Halloween Margarita Mocktail from Jen Around the World
- Black Cocoa Raven Cookies from Savory Moments
- Mummy Meatballs from Karen’s Kitchen Stories
- Eyeball Cookies from Jolene’s Recipe Journal
- Skull Gnocchi from The Spiffy Cookie
- Beetlejuice Bramble from A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures
- Franken Berry Crumb Cake from Sweet ReciPEAs
- Beetlejuice Movie Night Snack Mix from For the Love of Food
Witches Brew Cocktail
Ingredients
- Ice
- 1 1/2 ounce blue curacao
- 3 ounces diet lemonade ideally, though regular lemonade may be substituted
- 1 1/2 ounces Empress Gin
Instructions
- Place ice (more or less to taste) in a small drinking glass (around 8 ounces)
- Pour the blue curacao into the bottom of the glass.
- Gently top with the lemonade (pour slowly onto ice or side of glass) to minimize mixing with lower layer.
- Gently top with the Empress Gin (pour slowly onto ice or side of glass) to minimize mixing with lower layer.
- Serve, then have guests stir their own drink.
Wow! What a gorgeous drink- and so refreshing too!
Mark and I love how blue curaçao affects cocktail recipes. I am planning a post on one soon. Your Witches Brew sounds wonderful!
The colors are amazing! I’ve never attempted a layered cocktail before but now I definitely want to try it.
I love Empress gin. The flavor is wonderful. Your cocktail is gorgeous.
Thanks Karen! Yes, I also did an Empress gin and tonic 🙂