halloween | Modern Tiki

Black Magic

Halloween is a time when I like to have even more fun than usual with my garnishes. Sometimes, that means lighting up a jack o' lantern in my drink. Other times, that means adding some menacing blood (or grenadine) to create a man-eating Banana Dolphin. Here, I'm getting a little…

Witch Doctor’s Brew

When you picture a witch's brew, you probably picture a cauldron that is bubbling over with smoke from either fire or dry ice. The witch doctor serves up his potions in a slightly more refined manner, replacing all that smoke with an egg white that gives this Witch Doctor's Brew…

Vampire’s Fang

Tiki drinks are always dressed up because, with a few exceptions, they take their garnishes to a level where other cocktails simply don't go. Halloween is one of our favorite holidays and it gives us an excuse to think outside of the box of "ordinary" garnishes and come up with…

How to Make a Pineapple Jack o’ Lantern

Last year, we carved some tiki-themed pumpkins for Halloween. This year, we wanted to bring even more tiki spirit into our Halloween festivities by carving turning some pineapples into jack o'lanterns! We carve out pineapples all the time using a handy pineapple corer, using the flesh of the fruit for cocktails and desserts, while turning…

Swamp Thing Swizzle

We came up with the name Swamp Thing Swizzle and knew that it was perfect for a Halloween drink. We don't usually start with the drink name and reverse-engineer its contents, but sometimes you have to do what you have to do. We wanted a green drink and started with…

Carving Pumpkins with a Tiki Twist

Carving pumpkins is one of the great joys of the Halloween season. It's a chance to get your hands dirty and create some art - which is something that a lot of us don't do the rest of the year. This year, we're going a little bit tiki with our…

Vampire’s Kiss

A few weeks ago, in the leadup to Halloween, we picked up a pack of amazing looking spiderweb drink umbrellas that were made by Wilton. They were just begging to be used to garnish a tiki Halloween drink of some kind. The problem with the umbrellas is that we wanted…

Pumpkin Daiquiri (Autumn Daiquiri #2)

We loved the idea of the Autumn Daiquiri that we tried from the Death & Co. book last week. It had a nice burst of apple-y rum flavor and a hint of spice. But while it was a good drink, it didn't quite capture the spirit of autumn the way…

How to Make A Flaming Jack O’ Lantern Tiki Garnish

The difference between the garnish that you find on a "regular" cocktail and the garnish that you find on a tiki drink is simple: flair. A tiki drink might come with a simple garnish from time to time, but you'll never see a "regular" cocktail piled high with pineapple wedges, sugar…

How to Make A Jack o’ Lantern Cocktail Garnish

Halloween is a fantastic holiday because people really go all-out with decorations and costumes. There are also lots of seasonal drinks that are served, from hot toddies to pumpkin spice lattes. It's very easy to garnish a spiced drink with a cinnamon stick, but it's not that exiciting. In honor…