Recently we kicked off our #MakeASceneTour in NYC and we had a very special guest behind the bar: local master mixologist Pamela Wiznitzer.

Pam wasn’t always a mastermind cocktail creator but she did get her start in 2006 after the recession caused her to be laid off. After officially entering the bar scene in 2009 she quickly moved her way up the hierarchy and, alongside a power team, opened up The Dead Rabbit, which became a New York City staple. So they decided to open another bar, this time on the Upper East Side. Enter Seamstress.

An unexpected career path indeed but Pam wouldn’t have it any other way:

“It’s strange…you don’t graduate college and think, I’m going to be a bartender! That’s not what they teach you, but I’m really proud that I’m taking the road less traveled. It’s been the model of my life and it’s how I’m living every day.”

Pam’s creativity behind the bar is seriously remarkable and we think it must come from her mom, who used to make her Halloween costumes every year. Some notable favorites include Glinda the Good Witch and a belly dancer.

When we recently paid Pam a visit at Seamstress we chatted about cocktails, food, and, of course, Halloween. And because she is indeed a master, Pam showed us some of her favorite Halloween-inspired creations. Naturally we just had to share! Check out the recipes, along with some tips and tricks, below:

Candy Corn Crush:

1 oz of lemon juice

.5 oz of simple syrup

Both poured to the bottom of a Collins glass, no shaking

Filled with crushed ice to the top

Layer on 1.5 oz of diet orange soda*

Finish the cocktail off by layering another 2 oz of vodka** on top

Garnish with spooky accouterments like a zombie hand and candy corn

*Pro Tip: Diet soda is better because the sugar intensity is less than regular soda, therefore it will float in the middle, otherwise the soda would sink to the bottom. It’s always nice to support local business so if possible use a craft or local orange soda like Boylan’s.

**You could use gin instead of vodka if preferred.

 

 

Lizzie’s Lemonade*:

1.5 oz Singani 63

.75 ox Lemon Juice

.5 oz Demerara Syrup

10 Dashes of Tempus Fugit

Creme de Violette

Add all ingredients into shaker

Whip

Shake

Strain into a Collins glass

Fill with crushed ice

Pour a side container of .75 oz St George’s Bruto Americano to be served table side

Garnish with a cherry on a hatchet

*This drink is a recipe of guest Crystal Chasse, who grew up in Fall River, Massachusetts; home of two gruesome murders. Scared yet? In 1892, Andrew Borden and his wife were murdered with an axe. Lizzie Borden, the youngest of Andrew’s two daughters, was the prime suspect in the murder of her father and stepmother. Although Lizzie was acquitted, the murders are still unsolved and many believe she did it.

 

 

Ghastly Ghost:

1.5 oz of Mezcal

.75 oz of Campari

.75 oz of fresh lime juice

.75 oz of pineapple juice

.5 oz of honey syrup*

1 egg white

Shake

Strain

Garnish with angostura bitters and a marshmallow ghost

*You can make this the same way you would make simple syrup but with a 1:1 ratio of honey to water

We can’t wait to try these recipes ourselves this Halloween. Which are you most excited or curious to try out?