Skulled Holiday Cider delivers a Halloween treat

It’s getting close to Halloween in Salt Lake City.  The frost is on the pumpkin, and there was ice on my pond this morning.  When an email arrived about making Halloween cocktails with Crystal Head® Vodka (yes, that’s the one that comes in a bottle that looks like a glass skull), it was obviously an idea whose time had come.  Crystal Head® Vodka (CS# 034152, $50) uses ancient glacial water from an aquifer in Newfoundland, Canada, and is filtered through 500-million year-old quartz crystals (known as Herkimer diamonds) after being distilled four times.  Created with the participation of screen legend Dan Aykroyd, Crystal Head contains “absolutely no additives.” It’s probably the purist Vodka around, and just about the smoothest I have had.  If you want to be impressed, read the legend of Crystal Head. 

One of my earliest memories of Halloween is going to a neighborhood Halloween party at the local FOP Hall where they served apple cider and powdered sugar doughnuts, so when I saw a cocktail recipe with apple cider in it, I was hooked.  Call it a nostalgia thing.  This drink is easy to make and surprisingly good, as a bonus, it will work as a summer cooler as well as a Halloween drink. The spiciness of the Ginger Ale plays off well against the vanilla liqueur, while the Angostura Bitters adds some depth.  Be sure to give this one a try.  If you enjoy your Skulled Holiday Cider, think of the Vodka Martini you could stir up with this great vodka.

Click here for all of my Halloween cocktails.

Skulled Holiday Cider

• 1 1/2 oz. Crystal Head Vodka
• 1/2 oz. vanilla liqueur
• 1 oz. apple cider
• Dash of Angostura Bitters
• Ginger Ale

Add the ingredients in the order listed to a highball glass filled with ice. Give a quick stir and garnish with an apple slice on the rim or inside the glass.