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Spider Cocktail for Halloween with a Licorice Spider Drink Garnish

This spider cocktail is perfect for your next adult Halloween party. It has a licorice spider garnish that is equally spooky and tasty!

Using creative Halloween cocktail garnishes on holidays drinks is a great way to set the mood, and this spider cocktail for Halloween is no exception.

Since spiders are a symbol of Halloween, the licorice spider climbing over the edge of this vodka cocktail makes the drink fit in with any Halloween themed party!

Keep reading to get the recipe for this spider cocktail with step by step photos. To see a tutorial of this Halloween drink and spider cocktail garnish being made, you can watch this YouTube video.

Two spider garnishes sitting in a two martini glasses filled with red Halloween cocktails with black rim.

Spider cocktail recipe

This cranberry and vodka based cocktail is similar to a Cosmopolitan. The cranberry juice makes this cocktail sweet, tart, and delicious!

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To make this Halloween cocktail with vodka, you will need the following ingredients:

This drink doesn’t contain any ice, so to keep it cool, you’ll want to chill your martini glass before you make it.

When you’re ready to make this Halloween vodka cocktail, moisten the rim of your martini glass and dip it into some black sanding sugar. Give it a good swirl to create the black rim on your drink, as shown below.

Black sanding sugar on a plate, and a martini glass rimmed with the black sanding sugar laying on top of the glass.

Using a cocktail jigger, measure 2 oz (60 ml) of vodka and 2 oz (60 ml) of cranberry juice. Add them to a cocktail shaker and shake with ice. Then use a hawthorne strainer to strain the spider cocktail in your martini glass.

Once it’s in the glass, top with ginger ale, and the cocktail is complete. You’ll want to pour the ginger ale after you’ve shaken the other ingredients, so it doesn’t fizz up in the shaker.

All this spider cocktail needs now is its Halloween drink garnish.

Making the licorice spider garnish

To make this cute and spooky licorice spider garnish, you’ll need the following supplies:

A witch hat sitting behind the ingredients needed for making a Halloween drink garnish, which include black gel frosting, licorice wheels and edible eyes.

To make this Halloween cocktail garnish, unroll two licorice wheels so you can cut them into pieces. You’ll need eight pieces that are 4 inches long, and one piece that is 6 inches long.

Pinch four of the 4″ licorice strips together to create the spider’s legs on one side of its body. Then pinch together the other four 4″ licorice strips together to make the legs on the other side.

Overlap these two sets of spider legs and wrap the 6″ piece of licorice around them to hold the spider legs together and create the spider’s body.

Once you’ve wrapped the longer piece around, you can secure it by tucking it underneath one of the loops you’ve made on the underside of the spider’s body, as shown in the photo below.

A progress shot of making a licorice spider Halloween garnish, positioned in front of a decoration shaped like a witches hat.

Each spider will also have two edible candy eyes. You’re going to attach the eyes to the spider garnish with black gel frosting.

Add a little bit of the frosting on the back of each edible eye and center them on the spider’s body. This frosting will act as an adhesive.
A licorice spider garnish, with a tube of frosting and witch hat beside it.

With that, your Halloween garnish is complete! Place the legs of the spider over the edge of the Halloween cocktail so it looks like it is trying to climb out. So much fun!

This Halloween inspired cocktail is fruity and tart with a smooth finish. Making this spider cocktail is a fun way to set a spooky mood for Halloween!

Two red Halloween cocktails with spider garnishes, positioned beside pieces of Halloween decor which include a skull in a cage and a witches hat.

More Halloween cocktail ideas:

If you enjoyed this spider cocktail and garnish, you might like these other Halloween drink ideas with creative cocktail garnishes:

Share this Halloween spider drink on Twitter

If your friends also like making spooky Halloween cocktails with creative cocktail garnish ideas, share this post with the following tweet:

This Halloween drink has spooky black licorice spiders trying to climb out of it. See how to make the cocktail and the garnish at Always The Holidays. 👺🍸😈 Share on X

Pin this Halloween cocktail with vodka for later

Would you like a reminder of this spider cocktail with a spooky cocktail garnish? Just pin this photo to one of your Halloween drinks boards on Pinterest so that you can easily find it later.

Two red Halloween drinks with spider garnishes sitting beside a skull and witch hat with words vampire cranberry cocktail with spider garnish in red and black text below them.

Yield: 1 Halloween drink & garnish

Spider Cocktail for Halloween with a Licorice Spider Garnish

Vampire cranberry cocktail with licorice spider garnish

This Halloween spider cocktail is fruity and fun. Top it off with a licorice spider garnish to put your guests in a spooky mood.

Prep Time 15 minutes
Total Time 15 minutes

Ingredients

For the spider cocktail

  • 2 oz/60 ml vodka
  • 2 oz/60 ml cranberry juice
  • Splash of ginger ale

For the spider garnish

  • 2 licorice wheels
  • 2 edible eyes
  • 1/4 teaspoon gel black frosting
  • 1 tablespoon black sanding sugar

Instructions

To make the garnish

  1. Unroll two licorice wheels.
  2. Cut the licorice into 8 pieces, each 4 inches long.
  3. Then cut an additional 6 inch piece.
  4. Pinch four of the 4" strips together.
  5. Pinch the other four 4" strips together.
  6. Overlap the two sets of 4" strips to make the spider's legs.
  7. Wrap the 6 inch piece around the overlapping licorice to make the spider's body.
  8. Secure the garnish by tucking the end of the licorice under one of the loops of the body on the bottom.
  9. Place a dab of frosting on the back of each edible eye.
  10. Stick the eyes to the spider body, using the frosting as an adhesive.

For the spider cocktail

  1. Moisten the rim of your martini glass and dip into black sanding sugar.
  2. Add the vodka and cranberry juice to a cocktail shaker.
  3. Shake well with ice.
  4. Strain into your martini glass.
  5. Top with ginger ale.
  6. Add your Halloween cocktail garnish, positioning the spider legs over the edges of the martini glass.

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Nutrition Information:

Yield:

1

Serving Size:

1

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 297Total Fat: 1gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 73mgCarbohydrates: 40gFiber: 0gSugar: 30gProtein: 1g

Nutritional information is approximate due to natural variation in ingredients and the cook-at-home nature of our meals.

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