Halloween is (finally) just around the corner, so I know many of you are preparing for the weekend’s festivities. I still have costumes to finish, decorating to do, cookies to make and, tonight, our yearly custom of watching The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad. With all that on my plate, it seemed high time to post an easy punch recipe—one that will serve thirsty guests without a lot of prep work or special ingredients.

This particular recipe comes from Beach Bum Berry Remixed, one of the many fine punches that Jeff features. Blood of the Kapu Tiki can also be found on the menu at the Tiki-Ti, which is where I first encountered it (though it was in a single-serving form). It’s a pretty mellow punch, so it’s great for parties and you really can’t beat the color for drinking on Halloween.

3 oz lime juice
3 oz grapefruit juice
3 oz orange juice
3 oz grenadine
3 oz simple syrup
10 oz gold Puerto Rican rum
½ tsp Pernod
3 dashes Angostura bitters

Fill a pitcher with crushed ice and add all the ingredients. Swizzle with a long-handled spoon or swizzle stick until the outside of the pitcher is frosted over. Pour directly into small glasses or tiki mugs and garnish with an orange and lime wheel. Serves four to six.

Absurdly simple, right? Juice some fruit, measure some stuff into a pitcher and you’re done. The overall flavor of the punch is light and refreshing, with just a hint of something more complex from the Pernod and bitters. It’s easy and straightforward without being boring, all the while setting the mood for a bloody good evening. It hits just the right note for a Halloween blood feast party.

And while I’m on the subject of parties, I should mention my new favorite thing: a portable ice maker. You see, the ice maker in our freezer is temperamental. Sometimes it likes to make ice, sometimes it doesn’t—a circumstance that is terribly frustrating when you make as many cocktails as we do. A few months back the folks over at Air & Water, Inc. wrote and offered us a free portable ice maker to try out, no strings attached. I’d always been curious to give one a spin but couldn’t justify the $200 price tag on a lark, so we have been using it since Labor Day to put it through its paces. Obviously it has been especially useful to us, given our ice issues, but overall its been terrifically handy. It makes ice quickly and quietly, holds enough ice for two rounds of drinks and will run for hours without complaint.

But for the major cocktail question: does it make big ice? No, it does not. I am not an ice purist; I don’t require huge cubes or a Kold-Draft machine at home (not that I wouldn’t like one). I have found that, while large cubes of hard-frozen ice do make nice cocktails and beautiful presentation, you can get an equally cold, well-crafted drink by using plenty of regular ice. Besides being cocktail enthusiasts, we’re also regular people who use ice for a range of household uses and a machine like this works for all of them—especially during parties when lots of ice is needed.