It's a Scorpion & Oven Baked Tarantula Tea Punch, to be exact. Happy Halloween, right?

Actually, it has nothing to do with Halloween. This unprecedentedly creepy cocktail is the result of the Courvoisier Spirit of Punch Masters competition this year, and was created by the Langham Hotel's very own Francesco Orefici and Alex Kratena. They decided to infuse the cognac with a real tarantula and scorpion. They won.

From their creepy recipe:

"Tarantula is baked in primitive fire heated oven. It is traditional and delicious snack, which if infused in spirits gives nice smoky, woody and tobacco notes. Scorpion, according to old legends, is known for healing properties as well as stimulating ones libido."

This is starting to sound pretty good. They combine 50mL of the VSOP cognac infused with tarantula and scorpion with ...

• 25ml Poire William eaux de vie
• 25ml Velvet Falernum
• 25ml Freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 dash Angostura Bitters
• 1 dash Regans Orange bitters no.6
• 50ml Sencha tea
• 3 pcs allspice
• 3 tbspoon Mandarin peel infused sugar

... and serve it to you like it's totally normal. Who knew tarantulas and scorpions created tobacco notes? What are these creepy-crawlies up to on their breaks?


[Photo by mikebaird via Flickr.]

Filed under: Food and Drink, United Kingdom, Hotels and Accommodations