“Darkness falls across the land
The midnight hour is close at hand
Creatures crawl in search of blood
To terrorize y’all’s neighborhood”
-Vincent Price; excerpt from Thriller

Ah October, the glorious herald of Halloween and a month long party here on the Dark Isles. All the ghouls and grotesques have tied their skiffs to the dock and donned their colorful shirts. We gather round to first drink a toast to the season in honor of our hero, Vincent Price. In his honor this year we have concocted a special drink to toast the silken voiced master of fright. Who hasn’t felt a chill at his velvet tones once the lights went down and the screen came on. As we raise our glasses and ring out a toast at our shadowy luau we hope you will join us as well.

Vincent Price was an amazing man, he was very talented and intelligent but never full of himself. His career lasted far longer than many more awarded stars of his time because of his talent and his humility. His villains were never one dimensional, infact many of them were characters you could really empathize with particularly in The Mad Magician. His villainous roles from those in murder mysteries to horror classics kept him in the eyes of teenagers for 40 years and more. His movies have gone on to still delight us all today. Of course this isn’t our only tribute to the master of horror, but it wouldn’t be Halloween around here without a toast to him. You could use other dark jamaican rums, but we highly recommend Coruba.

Darkness Falls
1 1/4 oz Coruba
1/2 oz Lemon Hart 151
1 oz fresh lime juice
1/2 oz orange juice (Preferably fresh-squeezed Cara Cara)
3/4 oz coffee/espresso syrup(equal parts stovetop espresso and sugar brought to a quick boil while stirred and cooled immediately.)
1/4 oz Solerno

Shake ingredients hard with ice then pour unstrained into a chimney glass add crushed ice to fill. For the smoking lime shell add a small piece of dry ice to a hollowed out lime half and top with a little very hot water. Try to choose a lime shell with no holes so the water doesn’t leak down and dilute the drink. For a less fussy garnish a orange wedge with a brandied cherry speared to it on the rim is also lovely.

A rich aroma of orange peel, brown sugar, coffee, and molasses waft to greet the senses. The drink may be dark but the flavor lifts you just like a Price performance to the bright heights of enjoyment. The first sip brings a tinge of sweet and bitter oranges melding into rich notes of brown sugar and sweet coffee. Lime dances playfully between acts to add a cleansing sour, then joins in a strong finish with the rich Lemon Hart.

Stick with us all month guys and ghouls the party is just getting started. Until next sip let us know your favorite Vincent Price movie in the comments below. And until then…

“You Get Hammered America” - JFL