About Purple People Eater Cocktail
Halloween is one of the best holidays to have fun with festive food and drinks, and this spooky purple people eater cocktail is no exception.
Because, I mean, have you seen the deep purple hue of this drink? Or the bright purple sanding sugar? Both create a pretty drink on their own, but once you jazz it up with a black or orange straw, you’ve got an iconic look that’s perfect for a Halloween party or movie night.
Can this drink be made in advance?
Yes, it totally can!
If you’d like to whip up a large batch in advance (be sure to check the “how to measure this cocktail section”), feel free to whip up as much as you need and store it in the refrigerator until ready to serve.
Can you decorate the glasses in advance, too?
Yes, the glasses could be decorated in advance, too, but be careful; it doesn’t take much for the sugar to fall off, whether it be gravity or a gentle touch. And how well the sugar sticks to the glass will depend on what you use to adhere the sugar to the glass (whether it be simple syrup, fruit juice, etc).
Because how well this works could depend on a lot of factors (like temperature, humidity) I would recommend testing this with one glass and see how long the decoration holds up. Store the glass in the refrigerator or a cool place to help keep the sugar from sliding down the glass. And no matter what you plan, I’d recommend not letting the prepared glasses sit for more than four to six hours before serving.

What’s in a purple people eater cocktail?
To craft this purple drink, you’ll need to have the following on hand:
- Vodka – Any non-flavored type or brand will do.
- Blue Curacao – A sweet liquor with a blue hue. Flavored from the dried peel of bitter oranges.
- Cranberry Juice – This helps add some fruity flavor to the drink as well as some strong coloring.
- Sweet and Sour Mix – A standard in many mixed drinks, this adds some sweetness with a dash of tartness.
- Grenadine – Another mixed drink favorite, this helps smooth out the flavor while also adding a strong dose of red coloring. Also helps sub some of the tartness of the cranberry juice.
How to measure this cocktail
This cocktail is written like a standard drink recipe, meaning that instead of an exact measurement (ex: 1 cup) the recipe will read “1 part.”
This can sometimes be a little confusing, but I’ve found the best way to think of it as this: Recipes that measure in parts usually mean it’s written so that you can adjust the size of the drink to whatever you want and the measurements they give you (1 part, 1/2 part, etc) are so you can keep the ratio of the ingredients correct.
For example, let’s say you wanted to make one drink – this typically means you’re using 1 standard shot glass for measuring. So then when the recipe says “1 part” you would interpret that amount as “1 standard shot glass” full. If the recipe says “1/2 part” you’d fill the shot glass halfway so that it’s “1/2 standard shot glass.” OR, let’s say you wanted to make enough drinks for a few friends. When making the drink you could interpret “1 part” as “1 cup” (or “1/2 part” to “1/2 cup.”)
This way the drink will taste the same no matter what size you make it.
notes & tips for this purple cocktail
- This recipe calls for cranberry juice, and if you use it, the drink may turn out a tad more maroon than purple. If you’re okay with sacrificing a bit of the intended taste for a better color, you can either substitute cranberry juice with cran-grape juice or grape juice OR double the amount of blue curacao used. Make a test drink first to be sure you still like the taste with these adjustments!
- Like the mason jar cocktail shaker used in the recipe video? You can get a near identical one here: Mason Jar and Stainless Steel Cocktail Shaker Set. And if you already have a ton of mason jars and just need a cocktail shaker lid, you can pick one up here: Mason Jar Cocktail Shaker Lid.
- Or maybe you like the glasses it’s served in? You can get a similar set here: Stemmed Beer Glasses.
- And don’t forget the black and white striped straws!
More Halloween themed recipes
More fun drinks
Recipe Details

Purple People Eater Cocktail
A tasty (and creepy!) cocktail that gets its purple hue from blue curacao, grenadine, and cranberry juice. A perfect cocktail for any type of party!
Ingredients
Instructions
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On a small plate, add purple sugar. Wet the rim of a glass with simple syrup (or cranberry juice or just water) and gently dab the top the glass in the purple sugar, coating the rim. See above video for example. Set glass aside.
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Combine vodka, blue curacao, sweet and sour mix, grenadine, and cranberry juice in a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake until combined.
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Fill the sugar-coated glass with ice. Pour purple people eater cocktail mix into glass until full.
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Serve immediately.
That looks like fun and it’s GORGEOUS! Great photos!
Thank you Angie!
Have you tried this drink with gin? I can not drink vodka.
Looks good…as a bartender I always used the sour mix to rim my glasses. I like the tartness it brings to a sugar rim and the touch of sweetness to the salt rim.
Tammy I’d go with white rum rather than ginyo replace the vodka in this.
Oh, I love your photos. Purple is my favorite color so I would be all about these fun drinks.
Thanks Amy! 😀
so pretty! I love a fun and festive vodka cocktail…
Me to Kristina 😀 Thanks!
These are seriously fantastic. I know what I will be sipping on while handing out candy on Saturday. Cheers!
Thanks Jamie! If you made it, I hope you liked it!
This is so pretty and I love vodka so I bet I would really enjoy this one!
Thanks Lauren!
This looks so colorful and inviting! Amazing color, beautiful!
Thank you Florian! 😀
What a fun Halloween cocktail. So creative!
Thanks Christine!
Love this! So fun!
Thanks Julie 😀
Such a stunning cocktail! Not so much into Haloween this year but I would love one of these purple beauties 🙂
Thanks Oana!
WHat a gorgeous color! Prfect for Halloween and now I am going to be singing that song all day!
😀 Thanks Des!
Wow, these are so beautiful and perfect for Halloween parties! I want one now!
Thank you Emily!
Stumbled and tweeted! This looks so good. I love cranberry and vodka lol Thanks for sharing
Thanks Dia! 😀
Love the purple color, these are so festive, love love love the color!
Thank you Katalina! 😀
Yum! This drink looks and sounds delicious!
Thanks Ashley!
I would drink this just for the purple sugar. So cool!
I know, right? Thanks Debbie!
Such a gorgeous colour! I think I need to make these for Halloween!
Thanks Marsha! If you made the drink, I hope you liked it 😀
Such a beautiful and tasty looking drink!! 😀
Thank you Amber 😀
just learning, just what does 1 part mean?
Hey Mary! For drinks, “1 part” typically means 1 standard shot glass (the short, stout ones, measuring about 1.5 oz) but you can also think of it as a ratio. So for example, say you were making these drinks for a big party – you could replace “part” with “cup” and measure out all the ingredients using cups and still make a drink that tastes the same (but you’d have a LOT more of it!) Using that example, that would mean all of the ingredients would be 1 cup, except for the vodka, which would be 1 1/2 cups.
Hope that helps! 😀
Where do you get purple sugar?
Hey Catherine! You can use purple sanding sugar / purple sugar sprinkles like this: http://amzn.to/2cCWjjk. This time of year you can usually find a nice, deep purple in the Halloween baking displays.
Being from Minnesota, this drink works well for football season with the Mn Vikings, also known as “the purple-people-eaters”!
That’s so true Kathleen, I never thought of that! 😀
How much of each would I need to use to make a large amount for a party? Like 30-40 drinks?
Hey Brandy! Did you try changing the number of servings within the recipe card? Below the ingredients is a black bar, and if you click on the box next to “servings’, you can adjust it to how many drinks you want to make. It’ll try to calculate how much you’d need of each ingredient.
What is the sweet and sour mix? Can you buy it at the liquor store?
Looks yummy.
Hey Trina! Yes, sweet and sour mix is pretty common at liquor stores as well as grocery stores. You’ll find it near things like mudslide or bloody mary mix 😀 Typically in a large bottle and yellow in color.
Name for Anytime of the year: “purple rain”
… even more appropriate bc the condensation!
Karaoke Prince/ ’80s party… ????????it!!!!
Oh man the Purple People Eater? I gotta try it and I can only hope it tastes as good as the PPE from Pat O’Briens NOLA
love love love this! That color is fab. Also vodka. 🙌🏻
What is sweet and sour mix exactly?
Hey Karine! Sweet and Sour Mix is just a sweetener that has a slightly citrus taste 🙂 You can see an example of it here: http://amzn.to/2gQIsIs
This looks awesome for our upcoming Halloween party! Do you think it would serve well from a drink dispenser or would it likely separate? Thanks for the advice.
We just made these and they were good BUT ours came out black. I mean it looked like tar water…lol! What are we doing wrong????
Oh no, sorry to hear that Stacy! I’ll be honest, I haven’t heard that before, so not quite sure :O Did you use extra cranberry juice? Or maybe used an alternative? The cranberry juice IS very dark in color, so if a lot was used it could end up dominating the drink. Also, did you serve it with ice? The ice helps bring out the hue.
Add more vodka 😁
Mine is more black then purple too.
The color doesn’t turn out that way if you follow the recipe.
Oh, this looks amazing. Saving for later!
I was wondering how parts in the recipe for people people eaters is a part is equal to a cup? If I did the math correct then it calls for 5.5 cups of liquid plus the ice, this will not fit in a mason jar the size it looked like you were holding. So did the written story get the size of your past wrong or is the recipe wrong? Thank you for your time.
Did you even read the whole article? She explained it all already. Sheesh…
Great recipe, thanks for sharing. I have a sodastream so made some club soda and added the for some fizz. Made it even more fun. I can’t say how much I added, as I just did it to taste. Lightens the color a bit too, but still purple!
Super easy to make. Mine turned out very dark too, but once I added the ice the nice purple hue was there. I made my own purple sugar too by adding a few drops of food colouring in a plastic sandwich bag. 👍
Can you make this in advance for a large party and refrigerate it until party time?
mwahahaha, ice wedges look like bones of the ones it devoured. Creepy! Awesome!
I was thinking for more purple add Chambrode liquor..
Can you make the sweet and sour mix at home instead of buying it at the liquor store?
Could this be made and put in a punch bowl?
Yes
Loved the idea for my upcoming Halloween party. However, I made a sample glass, and this is SWEEEEET. Tastes like a melted freeze pop. Not my favorite. Also came out more dark blue than purple. I added some seltzer, helped soften the taste.
Posting 4 stars only because, though it’s YUMMY, it can be made just by mixing ¢.50 grape Kool-Aid and dumping vodka in it. Save some dallahssss….
Hey. I made this for a small party. We did Vodva. Blue Curarco and cranberry juice. Over ice. Topped with Sprite and lemon wedges. It was a great purple color which was the color theme of party. Everyone loved. I think I was calling it “Purple Rain”. 😆. Thanks great recipe.
I used sweet and sour mix and also tried with lemon lime seltzer water as it’s a little on the sweet side with the curaçao and grenadine. Overall a great drink, even works with rum
ces quoi un mélange d’aigredouce et où peux ton lobtenir
My first experience with this drink was going to a restaurant were it was on the menu as a “Purple haze”. I like the Jimi Hendrix reference more than that silly “Purple People Eater” song (plus, it really does put your brain in a haze). The only difference is that the cranberry juice is optional, so I make it with one part Grenadine, two parts Blue Curacao and three parts Vodka. Very delicious and all my friends who have tried it want more.
I’ve had these at a local bar. SO good. Very dangerous. They go down very easily. The ones I’ve had are made with Welch’s grape juice.
Way too sweet was like drinking syrup. Added 2 liters of tonic and still not drinkable would not recommend