The Murderqueen Cocktail: a Dark Cocktail for Halloween

This original cocktail was developed by Tonga Tim Harnett of Tiki Underground bar in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. It was featured last week on Spike’s Breezeway Cocktail Hour on YouTube, named in honor of Spike’s girlfriend Larissa – otherwise known as the Murderqueen. Check out the video on YouTube, and then check out the amazing surf/horror single “Theme from The Murderqueen” that Spike put out a couple years ago on Hi-Tide Recordings.

The Murderqueen Cocktail by Tim Harnett
1½ oz Pink Grapefruit Juice
½ oz Solerno Blood Orange Cordial
¼ oz Orgeat
¼ oz Passion Fruit syrup
½ oz Raspberry syrup
1 oz Plantation OFTD Overproof Rum
1 oz Rum Bar Overproof Rum
4 heavy dashes Peychauds Bitters
Shake with ice and garnish with three dark cherries

I subbed Liber for the Blood Orange Cordial, and Chambord liqueur for the raspberry syrup. I used Latitude 29 Orgeat and Small Hand Foods Passion Fruit Syrup.

Despite the grapefruit juice and heavy rums, this cocktail is actually pretty easy to drink. It has a real nice set of flavors and seems timely for Halloween season.

Glassware: new Halloween Mai Tai glass from Trader Vic’s, available for sale online.

Blood Lapu Lapu

I tried this Chief Lapu Lapu riff with my remaining Blood Orange juice. This was far more satisfying than the Paradise Cooler, thanks to the heavier rum included. The recipe calls for Passionfruit Syrup but since I was out of that I substituted some of Pearl’s Hideaway Fancy Falernum instead. This was quite good.

Blood Lapu Lapu
1½ oz Blood Orange Juice
¾ oz Lime Juice
½ oz Simple Syrup
½ oz Falernum
¾ oz Dark Jamaican Rum (Worthy Park 109)
¾ oz Light Rum (Denizen 3)

Paradise Cooler

I had some Blood Oranges and thought I’d try using them in some cocktail recipes that normally call for Orange Juice. First up is the Paradise Cooler, from the Total Tiki app for iOS. According to the notes from Beachbum Berry, this recipe comes from the Denver Hilton, circa 1960. I thought that this cocktail with Cherry Heering might go well with the Blood Orange juice. At least the color would be consistent.

Paradise Cooler
1 oz Orange Juice (sub blood orange)
½ oz Lime Juice
½ oz Falernum (Pearl’s homemade)
¼ oz Cherry Heering
1 oz Light Rum (Denizen 3)

This wasn’t bad, and the Falernum was a nice addition (I used Pearl’s Hideaway Fancy Falernum No. 1, made by Laura Murphy). But with only 1 oz of light rum there wasn’t a lot of character to this cocktail.

Bloody Highball in Palm Spring Glass

This was one of the treasures we came back from Palm Springs with. Such a festive design that works well with this cocktail celebrating my first COVID vaccine.

The drink is a riff on Brian Maxwell’s (Shaker of Spirits) cocktail the “Mai Bloody Valentine.” This one changes up the rums a bit and formats it in a highball format with soda. Refreshing.



1 oz Aged Jamaican Rum (I used a multi-rum blend)
1 oz Unaged Martinique Rhum (Clement Premiere Canne)
½ oz Orgeat
¼ oz Ginger Syrup
1½ oz Blood Orange Juice
1 dash Angostura Bitters
Shake with Cubed ice, dirty dump and then top with club soda

Blood of the Irish

You were expecting a green cocktail today? We decided to go in a different direction with this Eastern Sour riff featuring Blood Orange juice and Irish Whiskey. It is so easy to drink, you’ll forget all about looking for leprechauns and clovers.

Blood of the Irish
2½ oz Blood Orange Juice
1 oz Lemon Juice
½ oz Orgeat
¼ oz Demerara Syrup
2 oz Jameson Irish Whiskey
Shake with crushed ice

Kai Mai Tai

I was inspired to make this tonight, handy since I have blood oranges. The recipes comes from the Kai Mai Tai Pin. If you love Indiana Jones and you love a good Mai Tai riff, then you’ll love the pin. The recipe is available with the pin and I can assure you it is worth the hype.

The mug is from Woody Miller and fits in great with the scary theme. Glassware by Last Rites in San Francisco.

Mia Cravatta

This is a very tasty Mai Tai riff from Nathan Robinson (@maitaioneon) who is constantly posting interesting recipes. This one uses Blood Orange Juice, timely since they are in season. Give it a try if you have the ingredients.

MIA CRAVATTA
1 oz Light rum
1 oz Rhum agricole blanc
.5 oz Campari
.5 oz Orgeat
1 oz Blood orange juice
.5 oz Lime juice
Shake with ice.
Recipe by Nathan Robinson, based on Alex Sansone

I didn’t have Campari so I used Aperol instead (which is fine since I like it sweeter anyway). For the rums I used Denizen 3 and Clement Premiere Canne.