I tried 6 Halloween-inspired drinks from Starbucks' secret menu, and 3 were frightfully delicious

As September creeps into October and spooky decor fills store shelves, it's a surefire sign that Halloween is around the corner. Surprisingly, Starbucks hasn't dedicated any Halloween-inspired drinks to its official menu — like 2018's Witch's Brew Frappuccino — in a while.

But that hasn't stopped Starbucks fans from taking advantage of current menu offerings to create their own Halloween-inspired concoctions. I ranked Starbucks' fall drinks recently, so I thought it was only fair that I give Halloween-inspired drinks a whirl.

Some well-known Halloween secret-menu drinks, like the Zombie Frappuccino and the Witch's Brew Frappuccino, were not available at my local Starbucks this year because raspberry syrup, a main ingredient in both of these orders, has been discontinued. Similarly, peppermint syrup is not in stock yet, so my local baristas couldn't create the Franken Frappucino either. Thus, these popular creations failed to make my list.

Fear not: There were still many to test, and out of the six I chose, this is how they ranked.

The Witches' Cauldron Tea is typically an Iced Passion Tea with no water, half soy milk, three pumps of pineapple syrup, and topped with cold foam made with coconut milk and one scoop of matcha powder.

My store didn't carry pineapple syrup, so it wasn't included, and I can't have coconut milk, so the cold foam was made with 2% milk. Still, I knew it was one of the more interesting-looking drinks, so I wanted to give some variation of it a try.

A grande, or 16 ounces, cost me $6.60.

Visually, it did not disappoint. The swirl of purple Passion Tea and green-tinged cold foam definitely resembled a witch's cauldron. On my spooky scale, it gets an 8/10. It would rank higher if not for the fact that it eventually all melds together, and the purple disappears. But it's good for a quick, scary pic when you first get it.

That said, I don't think the flavors worked together. I'm not a Passion Tea fan, so maybe I'm just not the right audience for this drink, but to me, it was way too sour — even after a good swirl to mix the foam and tea.

But if you love Passion Tea and prefer it to the coffee alternative, hop on your broom to your nearest Starbucks and give this a try.

To create this recipe, order a grande hot Chai Tea Latte with two shots of espresso, one pump of cinnamon dolce, and top it with cinnamon-dolce powder and a caramel drizzle on the foamy finish. Because of all the customizations, it cost $8.85 for a grande.

As I was about to take a drink, the waft of cinnamon was quite heavy. Tasting it, I was confused by the combination of chai, espresso, and cinnamon, and then surprised by the hints of caramel from the topping. Plus, it left me wired from the two shots of espresso — the base of the drink, the dirty chai, makes this drink the strongest Halloween drink out of the six beverages I tried.

This one gets a modest 5/10 on my spooky scale. If anything from Starbucks were to turn me into a werewolf, it would be this combination of chai, caramel, and espresso, that's for sure.

To create this drink, order a grande Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew and ask your barista to substitute the vanilla syrup with white mocha syrup and an extra pump of pumpkin in the cold foam.

The Candy Corn Cold Brew was a surprise in many ways. First, in price — it was one of the cheaper beverages of the six at $6.85.

Second, it was simpler than most secret-menu offerings I've encountered (much to the relief of my barista, no doubt), but gave me more of an autumn, pumpkin-patch vibe rather than a spooky, Halloween one.

Third, it didn't taste like candy corn, rather a sweeter version of the pumpkin cold brew with the white mocha at the forefront. I could still taste the hints of pumpkin, but as a white mocha fan, I was pleasantly surprised that the two flavors went well together.

As for spookiness, unfortunately, it looked like any other fall-inspired pumpkin drink, so it only gets a 2/10.

Now we're getting into the really good drinks, in my opinion.

For $7, order a Grande Cold Brew with six pumps of regular mocha sauce and a scoop of vanilla bean powder in the cold foam to create this Wednesday-Addams-inspired drink.

This looked the part to me: The character of Wednesday Addams is cold, like the cold brew, and the mocha sauce with the cold foam seemed to emulate her dark hair and light, pale skin.

But six pumps of mocha sauce is no joke. I found it to be as sweet and heavy as a regular mocha, but more watery because of the cold-brew base. I love chocolate, but even this drink was too much to really test for more than a few sips.

However, I agree that if Wednesday Addams were to glare down a barista to order something from Starbucks in her monotone voice, it would be something as eerie-looking and rich-tasting as this drink. So it gets a 7/10 on my spooky scale.

This fang-tastic Frappuccino was originally a part of select Starbucks store menus in 2016, according to Starbucks.

For $7.25, the updated secret-menu recipe starts with a grande White Chocolate Crème Frappuccino, which creates the white base. The cup is lined with mocha sauce and topped with strawberry purée and whipped cream for the oozing blood.

Much like a vampire getting its bloody fix, this drink just hits the spot. The mocha is sweet, but the white-chocolate creme base tempers it from being too overpowering, and the strawberry puree gives hints of strawberry throughout each sip. It's Dracula's dream drink and will definitely be one I'll order again.

It gets a 9/10 on my spooky scale, as it is the perfect picture of Dracula in Frappuccino form.

At $9.15, this drink was the most expensive of the six beverages but arguably the best. The base is a grande Pumpkin Spice Frappuccino, but ask your barista to line the cup with mocha sauce, add one pump of chai syrup, add one shot of espresso, and top with whipped cream and whole java chips.

It's such an interesting mix of ingredients, but it's kind of genius when you think about it. Like the film that our scary skeleton friend hails from, this drink is a little dark and dirty (chai), a little bit of Pumpkin (spice) King, and a little bit of Christmas Town (mocha).

So although it doesn't look as spooky as some of the other drinks, the thoughtfulness of the ingredient list puts it at an 8/10 on my spooky scale.

I miss some of the official Starbucks Halloween drinks, but I know when it comes to the Halloween season, there are people out there who love it enough to make such creations as these to get me in the festive mood.

As for these beverages in particular, the Jack Skellington Frappuccino, the Frappula, and even the Wednesday Addams will definitely be on my personal menu of fall drinks as we get closer to October 31.