Bloody Wine Glasses and the Zombifier

This particular idea was created by my sister-in-law, Annie.  My wife went to one of Annie's big Twilight parties (blech...., to the movies, not to the parties, hers are great) and saw her awesome idea.  To add a little vampiric twinge, she wanted to have goblets that were dripping in blood.  But since she wasn't able to get the real stuff, she decided to use sugar and food coloring instead.  By dipping the rim in the red sugar mixture, it would drip down the sides as it cooled and look great.  Since it's sugar, the "blood" would automatically sweeten up the drinks.  And best of all, all you have do to to remove the leftover blood is to soak it in warm water.  It'll dissolve over a short period of time without a problem.

Here's how to do it, step by step...

Bloody Wine Goblets
Make 2 dozed coated glasses in about 15 minutes

Wine goblets, martini glasses, or any other type of glassware
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup corn syrup
1/2 cup water
Red food coloring
Candy or electronic thermometer

In a small saucepan, combine the sugar, corn syrup, and water and begin the heat it up.  Add the food coloring when the mixture becomes translucent.  Stir in enough red food coloring until it is as dark as you'd like it. Continue to heat the mixture past the boiling point to 285 degrees (make sure you test it with the thermometer, don't guess or it will turn out wrong).  Don't let it go over 290 degrees or it won't drip as well as you'd wish.

Drop the heat to low.  While it's still at temperature, dip the rim of the glasses into the mixture.  Swirl it around so a good amount sticks to the rim.  Gently remove the glass from the sugar and slowly bring the glass back to its full upright and locked position.  Let them set for one hour.  Some of the excess sugar will naturally drip down in the first few minutes, then it will take that long to properly harden.

Store in a cool, dry place until the party is ready to begin and fill with anything you'd like. I recommend adding some dry ice to the bottom of the glass before adding the liquid, so it'll smoke and bubble when the liquid is added.  If you're looking for something dark red, check out my adult raspberry lemonade.  But any basic fruit punch, cranberry juice, wine or red drink you like will work just as well.  For kids, Powerade or Kool-aid of any color works great, and give it a name like Bug Blood (blue or green), Worm Spit (orange or yellow), or Pureed Spider (purple).

And of course, you can use any mixed drink you'd like...

In the photo above, I've used a Cabernet from Chateau Ste. Michele for the wine glass, a little bit of blue punch for the kids, and then made one of my concoctions for the water goblet, the Zombifier.  It's a high alcohol drink guaranteed to make you shamble aimlessly around a social situation.  It's similar to a Long Island with a little color, fruit flavor, and smoke to give it the potion effect.

The Zombifier

1 shot gin
1 shot rum
1 shot tequila
1 shot lemon vodka
For color, either one shot melon liqueur and 1 drop green food coloring for slow zombies (Romero Night of the Living Dead Style)...
or 1 shot raspberry liqueur and 1 drop red food coloring for fast zombies (28 Days Later style)
Ice
Dry ice

Fill a water goblet 3/4 of the way with ice cubes.  Add the gin, rum, tequila, vodka in and stir.  Then add the flavored liqueur and just enough food coloring to get the desired color.  Add the dry ice and stir so it sinks to the bottom and serve as it is bubbling.

So make a set of these glasses for your next party and get some spooky on.