With Halloween right around the corner, bars in Athens are prepping for the upcoming festivities with season-themed drinks.
Many of the bars will have special fall-themed brews on tap, as well as themed shots to celebrate the holiday with many drinks featuring pumpkin flavors.
The C.I., 32 N. Court St., has had Leinenkugel’s Harvest Patch Shandy on tap since early October, Sophia Ginocchio, a bartender at the C.I., said. Ginocchio is a senior studying international business, management and marketing. The C.I. will have the pumpkin spice brew on tap until November, when they will move on to a Christmas-themed beer.
The Harvest Patch Shandy is Leinenkugel’s “traditional weiss beer with natural pumpkin spice flavor to give you notes of nutmeg, allspice and clove for a refreshing fall seasonal,” according to their website.
Tony’s Tavern, 7 W. State St., currently has a pumpkin pie shot as their shot of the week, but will be keeping it throughout the Halloween holiday.
“The shot has pumpkin spice liquor, Rumchata and pumpkin pie spices,” Colin Glover, a bartender at Tony’s, said.
Casa Nueva Restaurant and Cantina, 6 W. State St. already has two different autumn-themed beers on tap. They have Great Lakes Nosferatu and is featuring Devil’s Kettle Brewing’s Oktoberbreast. Devil’s Kettle is at 97 Columbus Road.
Devil’s Kettle’s Oktoberbreast was named to “commemorate the changing of the seasons and breast cancer awareness month,” according to their website.
“I like the theme of Nosferatu, since he was the original vampire,” Thom Hirve, operations coordinator at Casa Nueva, said.
Great Lakes Nosferatu is an imperial red ale, which is thicker with a higher alcohol content, making it better for the colder months of the year, Hirve said.
Courtside Pizza, 85 N. Court St. has pinnacle pumpkin pie liquor so they decided to make a movie-themed shot. However, their current number one best-seller is a shot called James and the Giant Peach, Hadley Smiddy, a bartender at Courtside, said.
“Since it’s got orange in it it’s basically James and the Giant Pumpkin,” Smiddy, a senior studying health sciences, said.
Following the theme of using fall fruits to create drinks, Jackie O’s, 22 W. Union St., created a “spooky cider”.
The drink includes hot apple cider and a choice of either vodka, bourbon or rum. “Spooky cider” is the current drink of the month.
The current shot of the week at The Over Hang, 63 N. Court St., is the black cat shot. The shot is a mixture of vodka, Coke and chocolate liquor.
