A Halloween Root Beer Tasting Party is “brewing” and it spells all kinds of delicious bubbly fun for your boo crew. So grab your cauldrons and get ready for some delightfully magical shenanigans.
Taste Test Party Theme
This time of year, I’m always scaring up inventive ideas for entertaining family and friends. Since the inception of the Oreo Challenge about a year ago, we’ve created several permutations of the Blind Taste Test party. The last one we did as an extended family, a hilarious ice cream social tasting and guessing all kinds of wacky ice cream flavors was a mega-hit. That lead me to start thinking about what we could do for a Halloween twist.
Bubbling Brew in a Cauldron
My mom is a reading teacher and always used to make homemade root beer with her classes during October. Not only was it a great following directions activity, but the dry ice element also lead to some terrific science discussions. Plus the kids loved the bubbling cauldron! Brewing, bubbling, and tasting…another party win tailor-made for a super fun Halloween Bash.
Simple Pre-Party Preparation
For the Halloween Root Beer Tasting Party you will need:
- Several different varieties of root beer (you’ll be surprised at how many brands there are)
- A package of mini drink cups
- FREE Printable Root Beer Tasting Sheet
- Root Beer flavoring (located in the extract section of your market)
- Sugar
- Dry ice*
- A plastic cauldron or a deep pot
If you want to make root beer floats after the taste testing (and really, why wouldn’t you!) pick up some vanilla ice cream, long spoons, straws, and plastic drink cups.
*Note about purchasing dry ice: Many Walmarts carry dry ice, but so do a lot of regular supermarkets. Call ahead to make sure your store of choice carries it. Most places prohibit minors from purchasing dry ice.
Homemade Brew
It’s fun to have your guests help make the homemade root beer. Most root beer flavorings have a recipe right on the bottle, but I’ve included one just in case. Basically, you combine sugar, water, and the flavoring and stir until the sugar is dissolved. I like to taste the mixture at this point to see if I want to add more sugar or flavoring. Once the “brew” meets your standards, carefully add chunks of dry ice. Be sure to use tongs or gloves to protect your skin from the extreme cold. It’s best to let the root beer bubble for about a half hour to get in sufficient carbonation. You may have to keep adding dry ice so the mixture is constantly bubbling. While the homemade mixture is “brewing”, let your guests visit or play a quick game.
Homemade Root Beer Recipe
Throwing a Halloween party and looking for a themed beverage to add to your spread? This easy recipe for homemade root beer is sure to impress all your guests.
Ingredients
- 4 quarts cold water
- 2-3 cups granulated sugar (start with 2 cups and add sugar depending on how sweet you like it))
- 3 tablespoons root beer extract
- 1-2 pounds food-grade dry ice broken into pieces (use the smaller amount if you want it to dissolve quickly and the greater amount if you want it to foam and bubble while serving)
Instructions
- In a large pitcher or clean cauldron stir together the water, sugar, and root beer extract until the sugar is mostly dissolved. Take a little taste to see if you need more extract or sugar.
- In a well-ventilated area, carefully add the dry ice to the pitcher using insulated gloves or tongs and stir with a long-handled spoon so that the dry ice doesn’t stick to the bottom and sides of the container. The root beer will bubble and the dry ice fog will spill from the container (cool!).
- Continue stirring until it is mostly melted, 15-20 minutes.
- Ladle into cups, avoiding any large pieces of unmelted dry ice, and serve.
Here Come The Judging
To set up the root beer taste testing challenge portion of the party, number your chilled root beer containers. Remember to include your homemade brew as one of the entries. Then for each participant, number a set of the mini cups 1-8 with a marker. I happened to have a couple of sets of actual shot glasses tasting boards and I used those, plus some very inexpensive votive candle holders, in place of the paper cups just to add a touch of class to the festivities.
Fill each cup with a finger of root beer from the corresponding container. Do this out of sight of your guests. I found these really neat shot glass holders at Target, but you could use plates, small trays instead, or even cut two by fours to line up the tasting cups for each judge. Deliver the samples and invite your guests to taste and evaluate each variety using the scoring sheet. I suggest you give each participant a glass of water so they can cleanse their palettes in between tests.
And The Winner Is…
After everyone has finished rating the rootbeer taste testing challenge, have them determine what they consider to be the best brew and write it on their judging sheets. Go around the room and have everyone declare their favorites while you keep score. Reveal the winning brand.
Naturally, there’s going to be some friendly banter, but it’s all part of the fun. While people are comparing notes and discussing their favorites, start preparing the rootbeer floats by scooping ice cream into the black cauldron cups. Let people choose the brand of root beer they want to complete their floats. It’s a good idea to have a couple of extra bottles or cans already chilled and on hand so folks can enjoy their fill.
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