“I really thought I was gonna die, my whole life.”

We’re back from the dead, crafting a whole new exciting range of Halloween Cocktails, we’ve chosen some of the best Halloween films or video games and created a perfect Cocktail to accompany them, working alongside different wineries and distilleries, I’ll give you a little history into each film and the know-how to create a delicious themed Cocktail.

13 Frightful Nights – Night 13 – Beau Is Afraid

Beau Is Afraid

Directed, and co-produced by Ari Aster, distributed by A24 and starring Joaquin Phoenix as the main character, Beau is Afraid is an American surrealist tragicomedy horror movie, following Beau Wassermann, a mild-mannered but paranoia-ridden man as he embarks on a mindbending odyssey home to attend his mother’s funeral, facing his greatest fears along the way.

Beau Wassermann: I accidentally drank mouthwash Friday night. You can’t get stomach cancer that way?
Therapist: Not from one time.
Beau Wassermann: I drank a mouthful a couple of weeks ago too.
Therapist: I’m sure it’s fine.

Beau Is Afriad premiered on the 1st of April 2023, at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema in Austin Texas, it was then released in theatres on the 14th of April 2023, and although the film was relatively positively received by critics and mixed by fans, the box office told a more cynical story, only grossing $11.5 million on a budget of $35 million, it was A24’s biggest budget film to date.

Mona Wassermann: I’m sure you’ll do the Right Thing.
Beau Wassermann: What is the Right Thing?

The Director, Ari Aster, initially described the film as a “4-hour-long nightmare comedy.”, although it didn’t reach the 4-hour mark, it still has a run time of 2 hours and 59 minutes.

The Sparkling Wine – Stopham Vineyard

Their Sparkling Wine is made with a blend of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, spending 24 months on less before disgorgement, Stopham Vineyard is located in the beautiful heart of the South Downs National Park, where Stopham Estate is home to 21,000 vines, planted on sunny, south-facing slopes in the medieval hamlet of Stopham, near Pulborough.

Stopham Vineyard offers torus of the vineyard, winery and bespoke wine tastings with the winemaker on Saturdays at 11am or 2pm between April and September.

Sparkling Brut Prestige 2018 – Tasting Notes

Aroma – ”Delicate and ripe melon, pineapple and green pears, with citrus and blossom to enhance the experience.”

Flavour – “Creamy in character with white peaches, fruit flesh, apples, brioche and vanilla with a touch of ginger and notes of citrus.”

Gold Medal in the Creamy Category at the Glass of Bubbly Awards 2023

Norfolk Rum

For many years, Ben Crisp, the founder of Norfolk Rum had claimed that he didn’t like rum, so how does someone who ‘doesn’t’ like rum, start his own Rum Distillery?

It wasn’t until the summer of 2017 that he was given a chance to taste what he describes as “a truly remarkable rum that tasted like no other I had tried before”, thinking himself too rash in his judgment of Rum, he decided to dedicate some time towards this new world that had been opened up to him, trying and sampling rums from all over, with him starting a collection to sit alongside his gins in his gin cabinet.

Unfortunately, he never found a taste to even match what he’d experienced in 2017, he did find some ‘nice’ rums, but nothing to live up to his dreams.

Disappointed by his conclusion, he did some digging and realised that there weren’t many Rums actually produced in England, with the majority having their base rums imported from the Caribbean and then adding their own flavouring locally, “surely there was a better way?”

So in May 2020, when the world was forced into lockdown, the aviation industry that he worked in suffered dearly, so, not wanting to sit around letting time pass him by, using the help and encouragement of his partner Helen, Mother-in-law Theresa and their family, he set off on an adventure to create a unique rum that is firmly rooted in Norfolk, using the land’s unique offerings to flavour a superior base rum.

Ben hopes that his rum will gift people the same experience he had in the summer of 2017, that his rum can convert anyone who claims “I don’t like rum”.

Reaching out to Ben Crisp, the Owner of Norfolk Spirits Company, I asked him: “What Inspired Your Fascinating Label Design?”

“Being Norfolk Rum we wanted to have something synonymous with Norfolk. There is a lot of sky in Norfolk, I love the North Norfolk coast and walking along the beaches, you see some amazing skies. I am also an airline captain and so I spend quite a lot of time in or above the cloud.” – Ben Crisp, Owner of Norfolk Spirits Company

Premium White – Tasting Experience – “A taste of Christmas cake, dried fruits, raisins, salted caramel and more.”

Beau Is Afraid Cocktail

Ingredients

• White Rum
• English Sparkling Wine
• Apple Syrup/Purée
• Bay Leaf
• Salt

How To Make The Beau Is Afraid Cocktail

1. 15-20mls of White Rum
2. 100mls of English Sparkling Wine
3. 10mls of Apple Syrup/Purée
4. Place In a Bay Leaf
5. Add a Twist of Salt

Tasting Notes

Aroma – “Fresh orchard fruits, blue candy sugar, subtle bay leaves, with a meaty, cured meats, gammon, then turns into crisp green fruits, dried fruits, including prunes and raisins, with a delicious Christmas cake on the aroma.”

Flavours – “The palate has its own wonderful adventure, on the dryer edge with orchard fruits soothing white rum, with caramel, Christmas cake, and dried fruits turning into fresh crisp green apples, gooseberries, all this is accompanied by the sweet crunch from the blue candy sugar and a subtle dried green herbal chapter.”

Happy Halloween from Glass of Bubbly