“The power of Christ compels you!”

Welcome to a new year of spooky Cocktails, where we choose a Halloween film and create a perfect Cocktail to go alongside, I’ll give you a little history into each film and the know-how to create a delicious Cocktail.

The Exorcist

The Exorcist has failed, our only hope now is the create a demon-killing, evil-riding, soul-saving Cocktail to free us from our possession.

Believed to have been a cursed film, The Exorcist is an academy award-winning horror film that focuses on a young girl who has been possessed by a demon after using an Ouija board and her mother’s attempts to help rid her of or demon

The film was directed by William Friedkin and the screenplay was written by William Peter Blatty, the same person who wrote the original novel in 1971, which the film was adapted from.

When looking at the real-life inspiration behind the film, we actually need to look at the inspiration behind the novel, for the most part, the following event was to credit.

“Why her? Why this girl?”

Halfway through the year 1949, several newspapers ran a story about the possession and exorcism of a 14-year-old boy named ‘Roland Doe‘, otherwise known as ‘Robbie’, he grow up in Germany, looked after, by a Lutheran family, which was a part of the Protestant church, he had a spiritualist Aunt named Harriet which introduced the Ouija board to Robbie after he expressed some interested.

She soon after passed away, this is when the family started to experience ‘paranormal activity’ in the house, with the likes of vibrations, flying objects, levitating items and strange unexplainable noises, this is when Robbie would unexplainably become the victim of demonic possession.

“I cast you out! Unclean spirit!”

He underwent multiple exorcisms, one conducted by Edward Hughes, a Roman Catholic priest, at the Georgetown University Hospital, the events of the strange and terrifying ordeal was recorded by Priest Raymond J. Bishop, on one attempt to exorcise the demon, the boy allegedly was able to slip his hand out of his restraint and managed to rip a bedspring from under the mattress and slash the priest’s arm, forcing them to stop the exorcism.

• The Exorcist (16th March 1974 UK)

With a budget of $12 million, the film grossed $441.3 million at the box office, becoming the highest-grossing movie at that time. People queued for hours on end to see the movie, lots of people walked out because they were too scared, threw up, one woman fainted, broke her jaw, sued and won, people wanted to see the movie not because of what it was, but because they wanted to know if they would experience the same level of fear as everyone else.

“What a wonderful day for an Exorcism!”

There was more to the story, the director of the film, William Friedkin, was livid for having to release the film with a 12-minute cut and an unwanted ending, it was only years later, that an alternative ending was released with the film in 2000, being called ‘The Version You’ve Never Seen’ or the ‘Extended Director’s Cut’.

Now it’s time to meet our Sparkling Wine priest, which will help us perform our Cocktail Exorcism.

The Sparkling Wine – Jasmine Monet

Jasmine Monet is an Argentinian Sparkling Wine Producer that sincerely cares and respects their environment, they chose several vineyards from the Gualtallary, Valle de Uco areas in Argentina, where the climate and soil met their standards, to ensure the best quality grapes.

Producing Organic Sparkling Wines, they continue to maintain the richness of the terroir, in order to obtain long-term productivity.

Jasmine Monet Organic Brut Black Tasting Notes

Aroma – “Fresh apple blossom, green apple flesh, a delicate touch of freshly grown garden herbs and nettles.”

Flavour – “Refreshing green characters, apple flesh, lime skin, white pear, nettles.”

Silver Medal in the Herbal Gardens Category at the Glass of Bubbly Awards 2022

The Rum – Diablo

A devilish Producer by the name of the House of Rum has three quality Rums in their Diablo series, beautifully packaged and ready to be enjoyed by those wishing to make a deal with the devil, we’ve taken their Diablo Spiced Rum to help us create our Exorcist Cocktail, but before we do, let’s give it a taste.

Aroma – “Get ready to be possessed with sweet buttercream vanilla, cinnamon, honey and ginger jam aroma.”

Flavour – “The mouth is taken over by honey, tropical notes, golden syrup, along with a touch of peppery spices like ginger and clove.”

I reached out to the owner of House of Rum, David Howarth to ask him a question, ‘What Influenced You To Decide On Your Devil Branding?’

“When rum is aged in ex-bourbon casks in the Caribbean climate about 7% of the rum in cask is lost each year. Some more gets absorbed in the oak and this is what gives our rum its rich aromas, deep colour and unique flavour profiles. We call this loss the “Devils share” and we thought incorporating a mischievous looking Diablo would make a really cool and authentic logo. That’s the official story anyway!” – David Howarth

The Demonic Spirit Cocktail

Ingredients

• Sparkling Wine
• Rum
• Cranberry Syrup
• Bitters
• Simple Syrup
• Blueberries
• Herbs
• Thyme Twig

How To Make The Demonic Spirit Cocktail

• Start with 15-20mls of Rum
• 5mls Cranberry Syrup
• 5mls Bitters
• 5mls Simple Syrup
• Top up with Sparkling Wine
• Then Add 6 Blueberries
• A Sprinkling of Herbs
• And A Thyme Twig

The Demonic Spirit Cocktail Tasting Notes

Aroma – “A mixture of good and evil, the sweetness is battling the bitterness, I believe the good is winning with soft Cranberry, vanilla, cinnamon and green fruits leading the charge.”

Flavours – “A devilish balance of Sweet and bitter notes, bitter Cranberry, peach and apricot meet sweet Cranberry, herbs, vanilla, honey toffee, green fruits, pineapple jam and oaky characters on the palate.”

Happy Halloween