My favorite candy is, shockingly, candy corn. Well, maybe not my favorite. But at least the one that I find most addicting. In any case, I like it so much that I thought I should make a drink out of it. In honor of Halloween, I made some candy corn vodka out of, you guessed it, candy corn and vodka (recipe below). It was bright orange, and not actually all that sweet (surprising, given that the beet vodka I made a year or two ago was super sweet, and yet this was made out of pure sugar), but it certainly tasted like alcoholic candy corn.

I made a drink, tried it out, and then thought — well, one just isn’t enough. The only thing that vodka is good for (at least the easiest thing) is shots, and it seems lame to write a post about only a single shot. So, I made three! I mostly did them for looks, not taste, and although two turned out surprisingly well, the third was terrible. I’ll still put the recipe here, but word to the wise — skip the Pumpkin. It’s disgusting. But, it does look cool.

Here is the autumn mix. I took a bag of good old mixed candy corn (not as good as the original standby, but hey) and made a drink for each one. Enjoy! (Except, again, the Pumpkin. Don’t enjoy that.) Note: these measurements will all be in “parts” instead of actual ounces, etc., because they’re shots, and it’s up to you how big you want them to be. Most of it’s pretty easy to tell by looks, anyway.

The Autumn Mix

Candy Corn Vodka (stolen from various places on the internet)

• 1 part candy corn
• 3 parts cheap vodka

Combine ingredients in a sealable glass container. Close it up and shake it a little, just to loosen the corn. Let sit for anywhere from 3-4 hours to a couple days, but really you just need to wait until all the candy corn dissolves. Strain any remaining bits out and store — it’s ready to drink!

The Bad Seed

• 1 part candy corn vodka
• 1 part dark beer (a stout or a porter, something thick and chocolatey/coffee-flavored. I used Guinness but would have liked something a little thicker)

Pour the vodka into the bottom of a shot glass, half way up. Pour the beer in slowly over the back of a spoon. This is super important to do for layering, and we’ll be using this technique for all three recipes. It’s pretty easy, just put the spoon as close as you can get it to the top of the liquid, and kind of dribble the new ingredient over it. I touched the spoon to one of the sides of the glass, so it fell down there too, but I’m not sure that was necessary.

The Candy Corn

• 1 part apple juice (I used apple “nectar” because it was thicker than normal apple juice, but ended up less yellow which was disappointing. So up to you!)
• 2 parts candy corn vodka
• 2 parts whipped cream

Pour the apple juice in first. Layer on the vodka, but go super slowly because these guys do not separate on their own. I had to try a few times before I got it right. Finally, top with whipped cream, which I thought was going to mess up the layering but it was really fine, so don’t worry about it too much.

The Pumpkin

• 1 part creme de menthe
• 4 parts candy corn vodka

These “parts” are obviously smaller than the parts above. Also, don’t make this drink. But if you do, pour in the creme de menthe first, then layer the vodka on using the technique above. Don’t worry if you mess up, this one separates out pretty quickly by itself. Final step: after you’ve finished layering, throw it in the trash.

Tasting Notes:

BN: Let’s go through these in order. The Bad Seed was my first idea, which is why it has the best name. I actually liked this a lot; the beer flavor complemented and tempered the sweetness of the vodka. A nice, easy shot. And, to be perfectly honest, I didn’t realize it looked like the chocolate candy corns in the mix until after I made it. Happy coincidence! The Candy Corn was great too, though I wish I could taste the apple a little bit more. The flavors matched, and, like the beer, the whipped cream tempered everything else and brought it together. I also wish the apple was more yellow. Come on Jumex, fix my shot for me. Finally, The Pumpkin was god-awful. But, it really did look like those little pumpkins. Even so, the creme de menthe was heavier than the vodka so I couldn’t even get the green on top. Ugh. Well, two out of three ain’t bad. And the candy corn vodka mixed overall a lot better than I thought it would, so I’m not as worried about still having a massive quantity left over.

PiC: The Bad Seed: Eh, ok. It’s not terrible as a shot but neither is it something I’d hardcore try to be drinking (cause I hardcore try to be drinking shots at all times, clearly). I’d take the Candy Corn over this, but I wouldn’t straight up run from this (see The Pumpkin) either. The Candy Corn: My favorite. This is a great shot because it’s sweet and pretty much kills the taste of alcohol, plus it’s cute! And whipped cream is always tasty. The Pumpkin: Nope. Tastes like a combination of Robitussin and Listerine. NOPE.

Happy Halloween everyone!