Blood Beach

Some Bloody Good Spooky Spirits

This fall issue’s timespan is chock-a-block with holidays, dear reader, and while some might prefer a cool Yule or a tryptophan-hazed Thanksgiving, the favorite season at our house is All Hallows’ Eve. We’ll whip up a scary little cemetery in the yard for the neighborhood kids, have a party or two in our haunted house and think of ways to make spooky food (at least squid ink pasta) and drinks that lead to shaky hands even before any alcohol is consumed.

Reader, meet the Blood Beach (ooh, creepy name). This is our local version of the venerable, if often badmouthed, Blood and Sand. Despite first appearing in the classic 1930 Savoy Cocktail Book, and getting its name from a Valentino silent film, Punch magazine called the Blood and Sand “a murky mess that’s one of the canon’s more infamous scourges.” I figured—what could be more terrifying than trying to revive a drink with such a bad rep?

Not surprisingly, if you keep doing research you can find ways to rescue almost any supposed disaster. The basic Blood and Sand is equal parts Scotch, sweet vermouth, orange juice and a very specific cherry liqueur, Cherry Heering. Complaints about that drink generally worried that the parts never coalesced, so it just seemed like a murky screwdriver with whisky. Terrifying, indeed.

The good news is that the drink has four moving parts one can play with to get things right. For while it is often made with a blended Scotch like Dewar’s, a single malt adds some edge. You can push that edge even further (if you care to spend the money) by using Lagavulin 16, from the land of peat, Islay. I highly recommend it—particularly for fall. The campfire nose is delightful, and gives the Blood Beach a hearty canvas to paint on. (And if you want a south of the border version, try playing with mezcal.)

We are—so fortunately—in a dream era for vermouths. While I’m generally a huge fan of Carpano Antica, it’s so bold it can throw some drinks, like this one, out of balance. So here I recommend the just-introduced-from- Spain Lustau that is crafted from both Amontillado and Pedro Ximénez sherries. This mix gives it fascinating depth without being too overpowering. Plus, for Halloween, what better than to have an allusion to Edgar Allan Poe’s unsettling story “The Cask of Amontillado” hiding in your cocktail?

You won’t have anything too watery hiding in your cocktail if you grab an orange from outside your door. One reason the Blood and Sand historically has failed is that commercial oranges are big, beautiful and not so tasty. That slightly funny-looking one from your own tree will work much better, especially if it’s a Valencia or Cara Cara. There’s only ¾ ounce of juice per cocktail, so you want it to count. And a self-sourced orange is also crucial for the flaming peel garnish. Store-bought oranges are often waxed, and if you use them for f laming, you’ve just shot paraffin all over your cocktail. Ick.

Then, for one last moment to face up to fears, this is the perfect drink to add some extra texture to via egg whites. Consuming raw eggs can be nerve-wracking to many—just check the warnings restaurant menus now offer—but once again, enjoy your drinkable landscape. While not everyone has hens laying very healthy, safe eggs in their yards, the eggs you can get at the farmers market or at better stores are quite safe (especially when they end up awash in alcohol). The unity it brings to the drink, the light meringue with which each drink is topped, the luscious creaminess throughout—it’s completely worth the worry over the eggs.

You can’t really sub for the Cherry Heering, by the way. First, it’s seriously red, and often other cherry-flavored liquors, like Luxardo maraschino, are clear. We need that blood in there. (Although, to be honest, the drink ends up an odd brown-going-to-crimson, so a bit challenging and scary to drink.) Second, it brings the cherry goodness as it’s made by soaking Danish—where inventor Peter Heering was from— cherries and spices in neutral spirits and letting that age in barrel. After the cocktails, you can move on to straight “blood” shots of the Heering if you feel daring.