Haunted Swamp Water Cocktail

Why we love this haunted swamp water drink

The original swamp water cocktail was created in the 1970s by a marketing committee to get the younger crowd to drink Chartreuse. It was basically just pineapple juice and the herbal liqueur, but you needed a lot of Chartreuse to make it – like 2 1/2 ounces per drink.

Now that it’s hard to find, I don’t want to waste a single drop of it, so I reimagined the swap water cocktail and elevated it to today’s cocktail culture standards by pairing it with a homemade green juice and a little gin.

To make this a little spookier, and much more fitting for Halloween, I muddied up the cocktail with a hit of matcha powder and served it with dry ice to create a beautifully spooky effect.

Cocktail Shaker

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Easy Measure Jigger

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Hatch Cocktail Glasses

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Ingredients & substitutions

• Gin
• Cucumber apple mint juice –
• Green chartreuse – Green chartreuse is a French liqueur made with a blend of 130 botanical ingredients, made by Carthusian monks. This strong liqueur is loved for its sweet, herbal, and spicy flavors.
• Simple syrup – We have made this with both simple syrup and agave nectar, either works great but we preferred the simple syrup.
• Matcha powder – This is vibrant green powder made from green tea leaves, which helps add a cloudy, swamp like appearance to this cocktail.

How to make a swamp water cocktail

Make the green juice. Combine the juice ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Then, strain the juice using a fine mesh strainer. You can save the pulp for smoothies, or you can discard it – totally up to you.

Once the juice is made, you can go ahead and make your cocktails or refrigerate it until you’re ready to drink.

Mix the drink. Fill a cocktail shaker with ice and add the green juice, gin, Chartreuse and simple syrup. Shake until cold.

Serve with dry ice. Drop a small (1/4″) piece of dry ice into your glass and strain the cocktail over it. Be sure to choose a glass that will accommodate extra space above your cocktail. This helps the dry ice smoke collect and creates a more intense fog effect.

Be sure to allow the dry ice to completely dissipate before consuming your cocktail.

To serve without dry ice, simply shake the cocktail and strain into an short glass filled with ice. Garnish with fresh mint.

More gin cocktail recipes you will love

• Lavender gin lemonade
• Gin basil smash
• Empress gin cocktail
• Saturn cocktail

More chartreuse recipes you should try

• Chartreuse swizzle
• Last word
• Naked and famous

Haunted Swamp Water Cocktail

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Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Servings 1

Step into the murky depths of the bayou with this haunted swap water cocktail. Made with homemade green juice, gin, Chartreuse and matcha and served with dry ice, this bubbling green cocktail is perfect for a spooky Halloween celebration.

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Ingredients

For the green juice:

• 5 green apples (cored)
• 2 small English cucumbers
• Small bunch of mint
• 3/4 cup lime juice

For the cocktail:

• 1 1/2 ounce gin
• 1/2 ounce green Chartreuse
• 1/2 ounce simple syrup
• 2 1/2 ounces green juice
• 1/2 teaspoon matcha powder
• For serving: dry ice (optional*)

Instructions

• Combine juice ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Strain juice into a storage container and store for up to 3 days, or until ready to serve. Makes about 2.5 cups – enough for 8 cocktails.
• In a cocktail shaker, combine gin, Chartreuse, simple syrup, juice and matcha powder. Cover and shake until cold.
• Place a small piece of dry ice into a cocktail glass and strain cocktail over it. Allow dry ice to dissipate before drinking cocktail.*

Notes

*If you don’t want to use dry ice, feel free to strain this cocktail over crushed ice and garnish with a mint sprig.