Drinking to Death: Our Most Morbid Cocktails

A stiff drink has always gone well with a side of gallows humor, and cocktail recipe books going back hundreds of years are packed with recipes that reference the grim and macabre. Read on for a few of our fearsome favorites.
Bitter End
Light rum, Grapefruit, Lime...


Corpse Reviver No. 2
Gin, Triple sec, White wine apéritif...


Dead Bastard
Brandy, Gin, Bourbon...


Dead Man’s Handle
Blanco tequila, Sweet orange apéritif, Lime...


Deadly Sin
Bourbon, Sweet vermouth, Maraschino...


Death Bed cocktail by John Deragon, with dark rum, rhum agricole, cherry Heering, lime juice, and pineapple juice
Death Bed
Dark rum, Unaged rhum agricole, Cherry brandy...


Death Flip
Blanco tequila, Yellow herbal liqueur, Kräuterlikör...


Death From Above
Overproof aged rum, Dark rum, Black rum...


Death in the Afternoon cocktail by Ernest Hemingway, with absinthe and sparkling wine
Death in the Afternoon
Absinthe, Sparkling white wine, Simple syrup...


Dying Bastard
Brandy, Gin, Bourbon...


Necromancer cocktail by Vince Bright, with rhum agricole, grapefruit juice, Cocchi Americano, Velvet Falernum, absinthe
Necromancer
Unaged rhum agricole, Grapefruit, White wine apéritif...


Obituary
Gin, Dry vermouth, Absinthe...


Suffering Bastard
Brandy, Gin, Lime...


Undead Gentleman
Absinthe, Aged rum, Overproof light rum...


The Dead Bastard is our favorite example of how grim humor can offer succor to those in their worst hour. Along with the Suffering Bastard and the Dying Bastard, it’s part of a trilogy of drinks invented by Joe Scialom, bartender at Cairo’s Shepheard Hotel during WWII. Scialom served British officers holed up there during the bleakest days of the North Africa campaign, and invented the trilogy as a way to make better use of dwindling supplies as the Nazi tank forces pummeled the region. The Allies eventually prevailed against Rommel’s surprise incursion into Cairo and ultimately drove them back, no doubt fueled by Scialom’s Bastard beverages.

Absinthe cocktails have a long and dark association with death and the afterlife, for nearly as long as the spirit has been popular. In 1905, a Swiss farmer murdered his entire family and blamed it on absinthe, and by 1914 public sentiment had turned against the spirit so much that it had been banned in Switzerland, the Netherlands, the United States, and France. This gave rise to plenty of edgy cocktails that played on that reputation, like the ObituaryCorpse Reviver No. 2, and Ernest Hemingway’s Death in the Afternoon. In modern times, there’s the Necromancer and Martin Cate’s Undead Gentleman.

Tiki’s escapist fantasy has always had a dark side, and references to skulls and the occult abound. Death From Above is as weighty as its name implies with its three types of rum, while the Death Bed is quite light and pleasant in comparison; just the thing for shuffling off the mortal coil. The Bitter End is a clever play on its most prominent ingredient, featuring a massive float of aromatic bitters atop a classic rum sour.

Sometimes, an evocative name is all it takes. The Dead Man’s Handle is named for the safety break on a train that activates if the train conductor suddenly dies at their post – a grim but necessary provision. And the Deadly Sin has a name as classic as its recipe, harkening to the seven mortal sins described in the Bible and tasting like a cross between a Manhattan and a Martinez.

Finally, we leave you with a recipe that may leave you wondering if death is a better fate than the drink: the Death Flip. This may be the only drink in the world that calls for Jägermeister and a whole egg – but we promise, it’s a fate much better than you think.

What’s Next After the Negroni? Alternatives to the Classic Bitter Cocktail

The venerated Negroni has introduced a whole new generation to the acrid beauty of Campari, and other bitter citrus apéritif like Gran Classico or Luxardo. That said, it’s not the end of the story – the Negroni is simply the first step on a journey of bitter delights. Read on for some of our favorite alternatives to your usual Negroni!

Better Lychee Cocktails: Alternatives to the Lychee Martini

We’ve drunk our way through nearly every lychee cocktail recipe under the sun, and we’ve found 11 solid lychee cocktails good enough to make the cut to get into the Cocktail Party app.

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