Halloween Party Drinks: The Bargain Booze Guide to What to Buy and How Much
Halloween is the one night of the year when the drinks can join in with the theme. Getting Halloween party drinks right is less about elaborate cocktails and more about picking bottles that look the part, buying enough of them, and having one or two serves ready that take under two minutes to make.
This guide covers what to buy, how much you need per person, the bottles that need no decorating at all, and how to keep the whole thing cold without turning your kitchen into a logistics exercise.
Jump To
Bottles That Theme Themselves
The easiest trick in Halloween hosting is buying bottles that already look the part. No decorating, no labels to print, nothing to stick on. Line them up and the table does the work.
Dead Man’s Fingers Spiced Rum is the obvious one, skull and all, and it happens to be an excellent spiced rum underneath the packaging. Diablo Dark Red brings the devil to the wine section, and it is the base of the Devil’s Sangria. Ghost Ship from Adnams is a pale ale named for a haunted pub on the Suffolk coast. Iron Maiden Trooper Ale and Trooper IPA put Eddie on the label, which is about as Halloween as a beer bottle gets without trying.
19 Crimes is the sharpest of them all. The labels feature real convicts transported to Australia in the eighteenth century, and the app brings their portraits to life when you scan them. It is a genuine talking point on a night when people are looking for one.
Absolut limited editions are worth watching too. The artist collaborations change year to year and the bottles tend to look striking under low light, which is exactly the condition a Halloween party provides.
Beer and Cider for Halloween
Halloween falls at the point in the year when people start moving away from crisp lagers and towards something with more body. Ales, dark beers and cider all suit the season.
Pale and golden ales like Ghost Ship are the sweet spot for a party. Enough character to feel like a proper drink, light enough that people will have more than one. Trooper Ale and Trooper IPA are the same idea with more hop bite.
Cider works particularly well at Halloween because of the apple association. Crumpton Oaks in pint cans is the value option and scales easily for a crowd. It is also worth knowing that cider makes a genuinely good cocktail base, which is exactly what the Poison Apple does with Inch’s and Fireball.
Multipacks and 3 for offers are almost always better value than singles when you are buying for a group. Browse the full beer and cider range at Bargain Booze for current deals.
Wine for a Halloween Party
Red is the natural Halloween wine, and not only for the obvious visual reason. Fuller reds suit the colder weather, stand up to the kind of food people eat at parties, and work as the base for mulled wine and sangria if you want to stretch the bottle further.
Choose something bold rather than delicate. A Shiraz, Malbec or dark blend has the depth to carry spices and fruit without disappearing. Lighter, more subtle reds get lost the moment you add anything to them.
Do not overlook white and rosé entirely. Not everyone wants red, and a pale wine is the best base for the sinking grenadine effect that makes a drink look suitably grim.
Multi-buy deals are the sensible way to cover a party, giving you a red and a white without pushing the budget up.
Halloween Cocktails and Punch
Two cocktails is plenty. One jug serve that people help themselves to, and one short serve you make to order.
Batch what you can. A sangria or a punch made in advance means people serve themselves and you get to enjoy your own party. The Devil’s Sangria and Purple Rain are both built in a jug in about five minutes.
Keep the individual serves short. Four or five ingredients, no more. Witches’ Gold is Jack Daniel’s Honey, lemon, ginger beer and a cinnamon stick, and it is the one people ask for twice.
We have filmed seven Halloween cocktails in the Booze Bar, each with a step by step video you can follow along with. Two jug serves, four short serves and one that arrives in a skull glass. See the full line-up on the Halloween cocktails page.
Non-Alcoholic Halloween Drinks
Halloween is a night with children at the door and often in the house, so non-alcoholic options matter more than at most gatherings.
Use the same visual tricks without the spirit. Ginger beer with a grenadine float looks identical to the alcoholic version. Warm spiced apple juice with cinnamon, cloves and orange gives you the mulled experience for anyone not drinking.
Frozen berries instead of ice work in any soft drink and look appropriately unpleasant as they thaw, which is the whole point.
Keep the good glasses for everyone. A soft drink in a proper glass with a garnish feels like a choice rather than a consolation.
Setting Up the Drinks Table
Four things make a party drinks table work, and none of them cost anything.
Put the drinks somewhere other than the kitchen. People congregate wherever the drinks are, and the kitchen is where you need space.
Use a cool box, not the fridge. Fill it with ice and water, not just ice, because the water conducts the cold far faster. Anything submerged chills in around twenty minutes.
Set out the jug drinks with a ladle and glasses beside them. If people can serve themselves, they will.
Light it low. Candles or a single lamp near the drinks table does more for the atmosphere than any decoration, and dark bottles look considerably better under it.
Everything You Need, In Store Now
Every bottle in this guide is available at your local Bargain Booze, with deals running across spirits, wine, beer and cider through October. Use the store locator at bargainbooze.co.uk/store-locator to find your nearest shop, or browse the latest deals online.
Bargain Booze – Dead Handy
Halloween Party Drinks FAQs
What drinks should I buy for a Halloween party?
A mix of beer or cider, one red and one white wine, one spiced rum for cocktails and plenty of soft drinks. Bottles with dark or themed labels, such as spiced rum or a dark red wine, save you decorating anything.
How much alcohol do I need for a Halloween party?
Allow 4 to 5 beers per beer drinker, half a bottle of wine per wine drinker and 3 to 4 spirit serves per person across a four to six hour party, plus 1 litre of soft drinks per head.
What is the best drink for a Halloween party?
A jug drink such as sangria or punch, because it can be made in advance and lets guests serve themselves. Pair it with one simple short cocktail for variety.
How do I make drinks look spooky without decorations?
Drizzle grenadine into a pale drink without stirring so it sinks through, use frozen berries instead of ice, and serve everything under low lighting.
What non-alcoholic drinks work for Halloween?
Ginger beer with a grenadine float, warm spiced apple juice with cinnamon and orange, or any soft drink served over frozen berries in a proper glass with a garnish.
Where can I find Halloween drinks deals near me?
Use the store locator at bargainbooze.co.uk/store-locator to find your nearest store, or browse the latest deals online.
