Lifestyle
Elderflower and gin vampire cocktail with a blood-red syringe
Syringes filled with grenadine are a classic Halloween party trick, letting guests plunge their own splash of "blood" into the drink.
It’s October, and that means it’s Halloween month! To celebrate, we’re running Halloween-inspired cocktail recipes each week. This one features gin, elderflower liqueur, and a splash of prosecco. St-Germain is the best-known elderflower liqueur, but other options also work well, including San Basile Elderflower Liqueur. For the gin, a classic London dry keeps things crisp and lets the elderflower shine, while a floral gin, with rose or citrus botanicals, gives the drink a more fragrant finish.
Prep time: 10 minutes | Servings: 2
Ingredients
For the cocktail:
- 100 ml gin
- 50 ml elderflower liqueur
- 200 ml chilled prosecco or soda water
- Ice, for shaking
For the syringe and garnish:
- 60 ml grenadine
- 2 food-safe cocktail syringes
- 2 small paper bat decorations for the rim
Method
- Fill a cocktail shaker with ice, add the gin and elderflower liqueur, and shake for about 10 seconds until well chilled.
- Strain evenly between two chilled coupe glasses.
- Top each glass slowly with prosecco or soda water.
- Fill each syringe with 30 ml of grenadine.
- Rest a filled syringe across the rim of each glass, plunger end up, so it looks like it’s floating in the drink.
- Clip a paper bat onto the rim of each glass.
- Serve and let your guests plunge the syringe themselves .
