Caramel Pomegranate Hot Shots AKA Brains in a Bucket

Looking for a slightly ghoulish grown up halloween drink? AKA- there is candy, but also booze. Try this caramel for brains hot shot.

These halloween hot shots warm you three ways- caramel, heat- and brandy or whiskey. Plus pomegranate juice for a art balance.

updated September 5th, 2019

looking for hot drinks that aren’t shots?

• these hot chocolate shooters with ginger rum almost qualify

• the pimms hot spiced cider is a lower booze alternative that definitely qualifies

FAQ

what if I  don’t have pomegranate juice?  

• try cranberry or even tart cherry, you want something red with a bit of pucker
• I used unsweetened- but many pomegranate and cranberry juices are sweetened. this is up to you. I like the balance of booze, burnt sugar and salt from the caramel, and bite from the pomegranate. 

rum or whiskey?

• I don’t drink american whiskey (just blame manhattans) so I prefer my brown liquor to be brandy or rum, that said if I did like whisky that is what I would put in this instead of brandy. In either case opt for a solid middle ground, something with a bit of an oak aged profile but it’s a shot so don’t go crazy on quality. Esquire has some good places to start for lower end but not rot gut.

what sort of caramel should I use?

• I’ve used homemade caramel gone awry and very good gift caramel. Any soft caramel will work.

Can I use caramel sauce?

• Why not! If you want the shot not hot this is definitely the way to go

Hot Shots For Halloween

A little boozy and a little tangy with a sweet candy finish perfect for cool autumn nights