Trick or treat with a twist!

As a child, Halloween is all about the sweets and whether or not your mum can spare a black bin bag for your generic witch costume, but as we get older the 31st of October becomes even more exciting as we wait for friend's to hand out invites to their house parties and come up with ideas for ghoulish concoctions. 

Well, if you're throwing a Halloween bash this year and want to impress your guests with some spooky tipples - or are looking for the perfect place to go and spend Halloween in London, then look no further as I know of a couple of great places in the Capital that are hosting limited edition Halloween cocktails - and they've let me in on the recipes too!

First up is The Four Sisters bar, which is situated on Canonbury Lane in Islington. This cute and cosy location not only provide some of the best cocktails I have ever sampled, but tonight they're offering punters the chance to journey back to Transylvania with a cocktail mystery. 

Emanating from the Carpathian Basin, south of the Transylvanian Plateau, somewhere during the middle ages the fable will take you on a journey through the darkest times. 

Guests can enjoy three Halloween inspired drinks to set the scene each offering a clue to accompany the story, and can hopefully solve the puzzle using the clues gleaned with each drink and secure the test tubes of green elixir.

The first cocktail goes by the name Disenchanted, and comes complete in a mini pumpkin!

35ml Sisters pumpkin puree
50ml Havana Anejo Especial
25ml lime juice
20ml homemade Almond syrup
6-8 mint leaves

Add all of the ingredients to a mixing glass, shake and double strain into a single rock. Then place the single rocks into a pumpkin and garnish with 4 or 5 mint sprigs.

For those who fancy something a little bit more creepy, why not indulge in your fear of eight-legged freaks and try the Arachnophobia cocktail? 

 2 cherries soaked in bourbon
50ml Jim Beam Black
4 dashes Angostura bitters
1 dash Fee Brothers Aztec chocolate bitters
1 bar spoon demerara sugar

Add the cherries and the sugar to a mixing glass, using the bar torch, caramelize the sugar with the cherries. Muddle cherries, add the rest of ingredients and ice and stir for about ten seconds. Single strain into a single ice filled rocks glass and garnish with a caramelized sugar web.

If you have an overwhelming fear of spiders, then chances are that you're a tad squeamish when it comes to blood too - but what is Halloween without a little bit of the red stuff?

If you head to Piccadilly Institute at 1 Piccadilly Circus, you'll get a proper dose of some O negative with a little help from their Bate’s IV Therapym, which is being served in The Clinic Room.

 Piccadilly Institute literally has blood on tap because the Bate’s IV Therapy cocktail is quite literally served through an IV bag on wheels, which is handy if you fancy a boogie and a constant supply of a tube-fed cocktail at the same time!

The drink is a blood curdling mixture of Absolut Raspberry, Chambord, passion and raspberry puree and apple juice- although it looks like blood, it tastes a lot nicer.

However, if you're shuddering at the thought of drinking from a drip, then you could always sip on the Piccadilly Royale, which is the perfect accompaniment to anyone who's dressed up as the Grim Reaper and are in need of a skull. 

 The Piccadilly Royale is the king of Halloween cocktails as it packs a frightfully delicious punch with a mixture of Eristoff vodka, Chambord, raspberry puree, lemonade, and prosecco. Warning: if drunk too quickly it may cause brain freeze!

Last but certainly not least, if you're a cocktail lover who likes to share every now and then, then you really should order The Death Do Us Part cocktail.

Served in a human heart with smoking dry ice it looks like something straight out of a mad scientist’s laboratory, and is a hearty mixture of Bacardi gold, Lamb’s, apricot brandy, all shaken together with orange and pineapple juice.   

So, now you've only got one more decision left to make: go out or stay in?! I like to whip up a strawberry bellini from time-to-time, so there's no reason why I couldn't have a go at making any of the above, but if I were you - I'd get my black bin liner on, grab a broomstick and head to one of these fantastic venues to have a Halloween that you certainly won't forget.

For more information on the venues, opening times and events, please visit The Piccadilly Institute and The Four Sisters.

P.S. ALWAYS drink responsibly and DON'T end up doing this!!