This witches’ brew drink is a non-alcoholic, kid-approved punch perfect for your next spooky celebration. It’s a sweet and tangy drink made with a variety of 100% fruit juice, and it’s naturally sweetened with maple syrup.
You use a blend of cranberry, orange, pineapple juice and lime juice, while blueberry juice adds a deep, mysterious color.
Kids will be captivated by this chilling witch’s brew drink with its magical appearance, fun garnishes and unique taste.
And for another kid-friendly treat that’s perfect for Halloween, check out this Skeleton Veggie Tray I posted over on Easy Wholesome last week!
Ingredients
This recipe yields 7.5 cups of punch, so you’ll want to double the recipe if serving larger crowds.
Here’s a breakdown of what you’ll need.
- Cranberry cocktail juice – gives the drink a bold, fruity base with a hint of tartness. If you use 100% cranberry juice, you’ll need to add more maple syrup.
- Orange juice – adds a burst of citrusy sweetness.
- Pineapple juice – provides a tropical flavor to balance out the tartness of the cranberry.
- Blueberry juice – or a blended blueberry juice drink. It just needs to be dark blue. The purpose is to make the drink a little darker. If using something with added sugar, or something sweeter than 100% blueberry juice, then you can probably omit the maple syrup.
- Lime juice – freshly squeezed lime juice has a brighter, more intense flavor profile than bottled juice, which can often be diluted or contain preservatives that affect the taste. You can alternatively use lemon juice, but I think lime is better here.
- Maple syrup – this adds depth to the flavor without being overly sweet, making it a great alternative to processed sugar. But most importantly – it’s easy to dissolve! You could try runny honey that hasn’t crystallized.
If you use honey, you’ll probably need to reduce the amount by just a bit.
You can use simple syrup or another liquid sweetener, if you prefer.
Tips
- Refrigerate the drink overnight or make sure all the separate juices are well-chilled before mixing together. This will prevent the ice cubes from melting quickly.
- If using a small punch bowl, you can add frozen cherries to help keep the drink cooler longer, but you could also add frozen blueberries. They help chill the drink while adding a pop of color, making the punch look even more fun for kids.
- Give it a stir before serving to make sure the sweetener hasn’t settled at the bottom.
How to garnish
These are the same ideas I mentioned in my Witches’ Brew Cocktail. They’re good for most Halloween drinks! So here they are again in case you didn’t read the other post.
Dry ice
You can add a small piece of dry ice right before serving to create that eerie, smoky effect. It’s ok to use in cocktails if you let it completely sublimate (turn into gas) before drinking your cocktail.
You can read detailed handling instructions for dry ice in my Vampire’s Kiss Cocktail recipe.
The photographer of this drink doesn’t have access to dry ice, so I had to go with something else. But if you do, I think this is such a fun choice.
It’s unfortunately not the easiest ingredient to find in some areas. For others, it’s super easy to get. It’s usually around $1-2 per pound and is found near the entrance by the checkout.
Here’s a Penguin Dry Ice finder. In my home zip code in Texas, it shows up as available at every Kroger, Tom Thumb, and HEB. I see it’s also available at Publix in some states.
In Munich, where I live now, I made an order with a fish company and got free dry ice that way. The only alternative would have been to order from a dry ice company.
The cheapest option that route would have been around $55. So I was quite happy with the fish company option!
Dry ice has to be used within 18-24 hours, so you can’t just order a bunch and freeze it for later use. You actually can’t freeze it at all! So don’t put it in the freezer.
Skull ice cubes
These are so fun! The issue with them is that they flop around in the glass, with some of the skulls facing down, unless you use quite a few of them.
And they also water down the drink. I’ve made skull ice cubes with different types of juice, and they worked great. Juice still waters down the drink, but it’s better than water for preventing excessive dilution.
The larger ones work best because they melt much more slowly. I have these.
I bought those after having started with a mold that makes smaller skulls (this one). My son loves them, and I was making skull ice cubes every day for a while. 😆
That mold is also perfect for making chocolates! But if you’re only interested in making ice cubes, definitely go for the mold that yields the large skulls.
Melon eyeballs
I’d seen melon eyeballs a few times before trying them, and they always looked like they were floating. But after experimenting with both fresh and frozen melon myself, I can confirm that people must be setting those eyeballs on something in the glass to make them float.
They sink if you put them in a drink.
I’ve tried various types of melon in different drinks — alcoholic, non-alcoholic, fizzy, and flat. The result is always the same: they sink. However, using a cocktail pick solves that problem, so you don’t have to fish them out of your glass.
To make these spooky garnishes, use a melon baller to scoop out small melon balls. Cut an “X” on the top of each ball and carve out a small spot for a blueberry to sit. Then, skewer two eyeballs on a cocktail pick and place them in your drink.
I used them for my Halloween Martini, and you can see what they looked like in my Rum Punch for Halloween in the photo below.
Black sanding sugar
Another fun idea is to rim the glass with black sugar to give it a mysterious vibe. I don’t use it (I hate normal food coloring and therefore sugar that’s been colored with it), but it looks so nice in photos. 🙈
You could use natural food coloring like Supernatural Kitchen Food Colors ($35.68/oz) or Color Kitchen ($31.80/oz) to make your own colored sugar. They’re both pretty expensive.
What I do is buy a ton whenever iHerb has a big sale. Both brands have been great in everything I’ve tried so far.
If you’d like to rim your glass with black sanding sugar like I did, start by pouring the sanding sugar into a shallow bowl. Use a small pastry brush to coat the rim of your glass with maple syrup, or dip the rim into a dish of maple syrup.
Then, immediately dip the glass into the sanding sugar, tapping off any excess. For better adhesion, place the glass in the freezer for a few minutes.
That’s it! If you’re looking for more Halloween recipes for parties, I have several options ranging from super cute to slightly scary.
I’ll be making this Jack Skellington Cake because it’s always a hit. And I’ll also be making these Spider Cookies because they’re super cute, and everyone loves them.
And for Halloween evening, these Monster Burgers are a great option before trick-or-treating! Super cute, easy and the kids will be nice and full and ready for a night of fun.
I hope you’ll enjoy this witches’ brew drink! If you try it out, I’d love to hear your thoughts below in the comments. Thanks! 🙂
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- Prep Time:
- Cook Time:
- Ready in:
- Yield: 7.5 cups (1.7 liters)
Ingredients
- 4 cups cranberry cocktail juice
- 1 1/2 cups (355 ml) 100% orange juice
- 1 1/2 cups (355 ml) 100% pineapple juice
- 1/4-1/2 cup (60-120 ml) 100% blueberry juice OR a blended blueberry juice drink
- 1/4 cup (60 ml) lime juice
- optional – up to 1/4 cup (80 grams) maple syrup
Directions
- Mix all the juices together (using 1/4 cup (60 ml) blueberry juice) to a small punch bowl. Add more blueberry juice, if desired. The reason I added the juice was for color.
- Taste and add maple syrup, if needed.
- Cover and refrigerate for up to 2 days.
Notes
- For the cranberry juice, you want to use something like Ocean Spray. If you use 100% cranberry juice, then you’ll need quite a bit more sweetener.
- For the blueberry juice, you can use a blended blueberry juice. I just needs to be dark blue. The purpose is to make the drink a little darker in color. If using something with added sugar, or something sweeter than 100% blueberry juice, then you can probably omit the sweetener.
