In my house, we have a saying. It gets deployed year round, but takes on additional sincerity around mid-August, when the air hasn't cooled down even slightly and pumpkin spice is still weeks away from ruining everyone's coffee. Someone will pause, look at the other person, and say it with complete sincerity:
"It's almost Halloween."
It's always almost Halloween if you want it badly enough.
I wrote a cocktail book about that feeling. It's called Consuming Spirits: A Halloween Guide to Potions and Punches, and it's exactly what it sounds like — a collection of cocktail recipes built for the season. Smoky, spiced, visually striking drinks designed to be the centerpiece of a Halloween party or quiet company on a dark October night.
Every recipe in it is road-tested. Not in a test kitchen — in my living room, during an annual event called the Spookeasy.
Here's the deal with the Spookeasy: every October, my home opens its doors to a rotating cast of friends, acquaintances, and mystery guests, all in costume, all ready for a night underpinned by jazz, good drinks, and the particular kind of camaraderie that only happens when everyone in the room has committed to being someone else for the evening. It's part cocktail party, part haunted house, part excuse to build elaborate decorations I have no room to store the other eleven months of the year.
The drinks in Consuming Spirits were forged in that room. Each one has been mixed, tweaked, argued over, and perfected across multiple Spookeasy seasons. They've survived the most honest test a cocktail can face — a crowd of people in costume who will absolutely tell you if a drink isn't worth the second sip.
Are there black cocktails? Yes. Halloween punches? Obviously. A gummy worm garnish or two? I'm not above it. But every recipe is built from the drink out — the flavors come first, the theatrics come second. These are cocktails you'd actually want to drink on a Tuesday in October when the windows are open and the neighborhood is finally dark at a reasonable hour. The fact that they also look incredible on a Halloween table is a bonus, not the point.
The book hit #1 in New Releases for Wine & Spirits on Amazon, which I'm still a little surprised by — but then again, a lot of people apparently agree that Halloween deserves better than boxed wine and candy corn.
So if you're the type of person who thinks October is the best month, who starts planning their costume in July, who believes the right drink can set the mood for an entire evening — this book was made for you. And if you're not that person yet, it might convert you.
Pick up a copy here.
It's almost Halloween.
— Clint