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Haunted Orchard Cocktail is the cocktail of the holiday season, well the spooky season that is. Full of bright sparkling cider, fresh aromatic ginger, warm spiced cinnamon, and sweet apple, this cocktail is all you’ve ever wanted and more.
Forget the punch bowl, we’re getting a little bit more personal this time with these perfectly garnished slurpable delights. If you’re a hard core cider lover like myself, this cocktail is going to be right up your alley – cobblestone or not.
My secret addition today is tequila! No don’t run away now, you’re in too deep anyways! Believe me tequila gets a bad reputation that it’s only to be thrown back in a shot, but this concoction will open your mind up to all its delicious possibilities.
We take so much care crafting food for this blog, as well as on Jo Cooks, but today we’re going to turn that same care and affection towards something a little more sippable. Our ingredients are fresh, flavorful, and perfectly balanced – as all cocktails should be.
Ingredients
- Booze – Sparkling hard apple cider and silver tequila – strange combination on paper but oh so perfect on the palate.
- Lemon juice – Squeezed fresh as always, the juice from approximately 1 lemon.
- Cinnamon – Ground cinnamon, cinnamon sugar and dried cinnamon sticks. Some for garnish, rim, and flavor – yum!
- Cider – We’re going to double down on that apple cider flavor, so use regular apple cider as opposed to only hard cider. It will give us that apple flavor we’re looking for.
- Ginger – Fresh and grated for a powerful punch of flavor and heat.
- Apple – Freshly sliced for garnish. Be sure to slice them up right before they are added so that they don’t go brown being exposed to air.
- Maple syrup – This is what we’re going to use to sweeten up our drink, if you find you don’t like you’re cocktails too sweet feel free to use less! This can also be substituted with honey.
How To Make Haunted Orchard Cocktail
- Rim a cocktail glass with cinnamon sugar.
- Combine the cocktail: In a cocktail shaker combine the tequila, lemon juice, maple syrup, ginger, cinnamon and apple cider. Shake to combine. Strain into prepared glass. Top with hard cider.
- Garnish with a cinnamon stick and apple slices.
Not On Speaking Terms With Tequila?
We’ve all been there, some of us more than others – so I totally understand! This cocktail tastes just as good with a bit of vodka, rum, or brandy in place of the tequila. If you’re looking to go a little less boozy feel free to axe the spirits all together and just stick with the hard apple cider.
Booze Free
I guess it should be called a mocktail instead – and believe me it’s just as tasty if you’d rather keep it dry. Axe the tequila and use sparkling cider in place of hard cider. We will still achieve all those festive flavors!
What Spooky Treats Can I Serve With This Cocktail?
This is perfect to serve alongside some truly creepy, crawly treats! To create that nightmarish spread we’ve all been dreaming of, here’s some ghastly additions:
Storing Leftovers
Unfortunately as time goes on our cider will go a little flat, so it’s best to make this cocktail as you need it. Think of it like a pop that will lose its carbonation over time.
Craving Some More?
- Mulled Wine
- Mojitos
- Pina Colada
- Strawberry Margaritas
- Sangria Blanco
- Grenadine Sunrise
- The Perfect Lemonade
- Turmeric Latte (Golden Milk)
Haunted Orchard Cocktail
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoon tequila silver
- 2 tablespoon lemon juice fresh
- 1/4 cup apple cider
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon ginger fresh grated
- 1 pinch cinnamon
- 5 ounce sparkling hard cider
- 1 cinnamon stick for garnish
- apple slices for garnish
- cinnamon sugar for rim (optional)
Instructions
- Rim a cocktail glass with cinnamon sugar.
- Combine the cocktail: In a cocktail shaker combine the tequila, lemon juice, maple syrup, ginger, cinnamon and apple cider. Shake to combine. Strain into prepared glass. Top with hard cider.
- Garnish with a cinnamon stick and apple slices.
Tips & Notes:
- Unfortunately as time goes on our cider will go a little flat, so it’s best to make this cocktail as you need it. Think of it like a pop that will lose its carbonation over time.
nutrition facts
Recipe adapted from: Half Baked Harvest
It tastes like Fall! I love that it uses tequila instead of whiskey, which I see in most hard cider recipes. So good!
Yes! So glad you liked it!