Halloween Feature, Day 1: The Nightwish
Some people do a costume a day until Halloween. We're doing a cocktail a day. Every morning through October 31, we're featuring one creative Halloween drink from the bartending world, with the full recipe and credit to the person who dreamed it up.
Day 1 is the Nightwish, and it's a great example of how a spooky drink doesn't have to be black or bubbling to feel a little haunted.
Who made it
The Nightwish was created in 2022 by bartender Kelsey Ramage for Black Lagoon, a Halloween pop-up bar concept. The version below is the adaptation published by Difford's Guide.
The recipe
1½ oz vodka
½ oz fino sherry
¼ oz banana liqueur
½ oz fresh lemon juice
⅓ oz rich simple syrup (2 parts sugar to 1 part water)
4 dashes cardamom bitters
3 dashes saline solution (or a tiny pinch of salt)
Shake everything hard with ice and fine-strain into a chilled coupe or Nick & Nora. Express a lemon twist over the top and skewer it, on a skull pick if you've got one.
Why it works
Vodka is a blank canvas, so everything else gets to talk. The fino brings a dry, nutty, almost salty edge. The banana gives a soft, ripe sweetness without tasting like a smoothie. Cardamom floats over the top like incense. A few drops of salt make every one of those flavors pop, the same way it does in cooking.
Bartender tip: "Fine-strain" means pouring through a small tea strainer as well as your shaker's strainer. It catches the ice chips and gives you that silky, glassy texture.
Come back tomorrow for Day 2. And if you'd like to learn to build drinks like this with your own hands, our November certification classes are open.