Sunday, July 10, 2011

Even More Harry Potter Cocktails.

It's that time again, y'all. Time for EVEN MORE Harry Potter cocktails. If you're looking for the big 3 (that would be Harry, Ron, and Hermione), get yourself over to this post and check out the cocktails I made for them. This time around, I selected four more of our favorite fictional persons to be immortalized in liquid form.

The Luna Lovegood


Luna Lovegood: a little strange, a little spacey, and infinitely lovable. Unaged corn whiskey (also known as moonshine) seemed like the perfect expression of Luna's particular brand of home-grown wackiness. It was only after I made the drink that Garret pointed out to me that Luna means moon, which makes it even more perfect.


Luna Lovegood
8 mint leaves
1.5 oz unaged corn whiskey (I used Georgia Moon)
1 oz fresh-squeezed lemon juice
.75 oz simple syrup

Place the mint and simple syrup in your shaker and muddle. Add the lemon juice and moonshine, fill the shaker with ice, and shake and strain into an ice-filled glass.

The Draco Malfoy


I don't know about you, but when I think of a Draco-esque cocktail, I immediately think of a martini. But it couldn't be just a martini: that's boring. One night, while mixing up a test batch of Lunas for the roommate, I had a brilliant idea: pickle juice. I had a jar of pickle juice tucked away in the back of the fridge, hoping that someday at some party I could convince some of my braver friends to do pickleback shots (shot of bacon-infused bourbon, followed by a shot of pickle juice and a chaser of beer. really). Into the mix the pickle juice went, and out came a cocktail that was just like Draco: smooth, sleek, and a little bit nasty.


Draco Malfoy
2 oz gin (or vodka, if you prefer)
1/2 oz dry vermouth
1/2 oz pickle juice (I used the juice of a jar of Claussen Kosher Dill sandwich slices, which are, in my opinion, the very best pickles.)

Stir (or shake) all ingredients together with ice. Strain into a chilled martini glass. Drink deeply. Think evil thoughts. (Lauren, the roommate, came up with a brilliant idea: rimming the martini glass with salt will really bring out the savory flavors in this drink.)

The Neville Longbottom


Tea-infused gin and Pimm's: a little fussy, quintessentially British, and unexpectedly strong.

Tea-Infused Gin
In an airtight jar, combine 1.5 cups of gin and 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon of loose English Breakfast tea leaves. Seal the jar, shake once, and allow to sit at room temperature for two hours. After two hours, open the jar and strain out the gin.


Neville Longbottom
1.5 oz tea-infused gin
1 oz Pimm's
.75 oz fresh-squeezed lemon juice
.75 oz simple syrup

Combine all ingredients in a shaker. Shake and strain into an ice-filled glass.

The Severus Snape


Oh, Snape. Snape is by far my favorite character in the Harry Potter series, played to perfection by Alan Rickman, who is by far my favorite actor. Think about it: in the first book, Snape seems like some generic, greasy, throw-away villain, but then you learn that he's actually this hugely important character upon whom the whole series turns. Remember when you were anxiously awaiting the release of the seventh book, because you had to know whether Snape was good or bad? Well, if you haven't read the books and are waiting for the movie, I won't ruin things for you, but SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER I always knew that Alan Rickman would never betray me like that. And the delicious candy center at the middle of all Snape's turncoatery and snarkery turns out to be...unrequited love, which is one of the most romantic things ever. Snape is J.K.'s true masterpiece.

I held off on making a making a Snape cocktail last time, because how could I ever do him justice? And how could I ever make a cocktail that was an accurate reflection of Snape's personality and actually tasted good? Enter...Fernet Branca. Fernet Branca is a highly bitter, very complicated herbal Italian liqueur, and the very first time I tasted it I knew it was exactly what I need for my Snape. Add to that Blackstrap rum (a very deep, dark, molasses-y dark rum), falernum, and a dash of lavender bitters. Why the lavender? I wanted something floral to remind us of someone else with a floral name who Snape never forgot.


Severus Snape
1.5 oz Cruzan Blackstrap Rum
.5 oz falernum (I used Fee's)
.5 oz Fernet Branca
dash of lavender bitters (I used the Bar Keep Lavender Spice variety.)

Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass over ice. Stir for thirty seconds, allow to sit for thirty seconds (I'm warning you - this one is strong), and strain into a cocktail glass.


I'm sad to think that the release of the last movie might be the end of all the Harry Potter madness. It's been a wild ride, and I hate to see it coming to an end. Whatever will we do? Well, I don't know. But have a drink.

36 comments:

  1. Epic...When I turn 21 I'm sooooooo trying all of these<3

    ReplyDelete
  2. I adore Fernet Branca over ice, so I may have to try the Severus Snape. I've never herd of falernum though, so I must google.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I was a bit remiss in not providing more explanation for the falernum. Falernum is a syrup used in tiki cocktails - here's a link to the wikipedia article. It comes in an alcoholic version, called "velvet falernum", and fee's also makes a non-alcoholic version. I used the Fee's.

    ReplyDelete
  4. >crossing fingers< for a Dumbledore and Hagrid! And of course any other characters you're willing to immortalize as a cocktail... These are great!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I can't believe the thought you put into these. Very nice job!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi Nancy!

    You have a fantastic site! I'm a writer and frequent blogger about cocktails, myself. :) Of course, the Harry Potter link brought me here today, but I'll be following along from now on!

    I especially love the Severus Snape. I'm a big fan of Fernet Branca and it's so hard to find a cocktail where it doesn't overpower the other spirits. It hadn't occurred to me to use Blackstrap (another fave). The hint of lavender is a brilliant touch.

    thanks again!

    ReplyDelete
  7. "Alan Rickman would never betray me like that."

    Haha! Loving it.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Thanks for posting this it looks really good, except, I couldn't help but notice that your Neville Longbottom, looks remarkably like the ones from Harry Potter Mixology on Little Pink Blog.

    Were you inspired by their series? Theirs is pretty robust -- about 25+ drinks in total...

    No offense meant, just curious....

    http://sashahalima.com/blog/2011/06/harry-potter-mixology-fred-george-luna-and-the-draco-cocktail-concoctions/

    ReplyDelete
  9. You know, I saw that, and I thought their drinks looked very good. I started making the cocktails for different characters last year, when the first Deathly Hallows movie came out, so this was a way of expanding on the original trio of Harry, Hermione and Ron.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Oh really? I didn't know that. Cool.

    Where do you get your inspiration from?

    ReplyDelete
  11. Mostly just drinking a lot. :)

    No, really, though - I've always loved Harry Potter, and in the last year or so I've become a pretty serious booze connoisseur, so it was a lot of fun to match up the different characters with liquors that fit their personalities.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I dunno about Dumbledore and Hagrid cocktails--I feel like Dumbledore would involve at least fifty different ingredients, while Hagrid would be some booze in a mug.

    ReplyDelete
  13. The Fug Girls sent me this way, and I just wanted to say that your words about Snape brought fresh tears to my eyes...god I love these books. Thanks for the cocktail recipes; can't wait to try the Neville Longbottom.

    ReplyDelete
  14. At the risk of sounding dumb, how does one strain out the gin for the Neville Longbottom? I'm assuming this means you put 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon of tea *leaves* into the gin?

    ReplyDelete
  15. No, thanks for asking. I see how that could be confusing. It's meant to be 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon of loose tea leaves. When straining out infusions, I just use a fine-mesh strainer, sometimes over a funnel, if the vessel I'm pouring into has a smallish mouth.

    ReplyDelete
  16. These are yet another round of amazingness - I'm so glad I found your blog!

    ReplyDelete
  17. you are the best blogger! These will help me recover from the end. But All was Well.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Hello BB,

    This is an amazing collection of lovely cocktails. I had to try Neville Longbottom - he is hero de jour for me.

    Loved the way the bergamotte from the tea picked something up in both the gin and the Pimm's.

    This is how mine turned out: http://tumblr.com/x5v3kgnf72

    ReplyDelete
  19. Love it! I actually made my Neville with English Breakfast tea, but now I'm really curious to see how it turns out with the Earl Grey.

    ReplyDelete
  20. I love this. However, I especially love your tribute to one Mr. Severus Snape. He is, by far, one of my favorite literary characters of all time. I daresay, you did him justice with his cocktail! I'm glad I found your blog!

    ReplyDelete
  21. god, these are fantastic. well done :)

    ReplyDelete
  22. I kind of want to see what would happen to the Malfoy with a couple dashes of celery bitters or a bit of celery salt on the rim. I think I might find out this weekend.

    ReplyDelete
  23. And for those new to falernum, it's pretty easy to make using Paul Clarke's recipe:

    http://www.cocktailchronicles.com/2006/07/28/falernum-8/

    I use the Velvet sometimes too, but have more often made it from scratch.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Hagrid and Dumbledore now!! And a Voldemort!!! :D

    ReplyDelete
  25. I have drank the Draco Malfoy one when I was getting rid of my vodka and ran out of olives, it's super yummy if that's your thing and that Snape one sounds so intriguing, can't wait to use these at my Harry Potter birthday party!

    ReplyDelete
  26. The Longbottom looks delicious! (Now there's a phrase you don't hear every day...)

    I also imagine The Grey Lady, The Bloody Baron, and The Umbridge being especially tasty cocktails (with a bit of a bite!)

    Excellent job on these. Very impressive.

    ReplyDelete
  27. OH MY GOD I love this!!!! the Snape sounds incredible

    ReplyDelete
  28. yeah i'm pretty pumped about the snape. please to make me one when i visit. i'm also diggin the black backgrounds on your photos. nice and contrasty, esp for the luna lovegood. magical in fact.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Hi Nancy,

    tha Snape sounds great. Fernet Branca really tastes like him, but I'm not sure how to find lavender bitters. Can I homemake it using the backyard lavender plant I have?
    Also the falernum is probably hard to find in Italy.. any alternatives?

    ReplyDelete
  30. I made the Neville Longbottom for New Year's Eve and it was amazing! I'm a beer girl and rarely make cocktails but that tea-infused gin (I used Earl Grey with lavender) was glorious. No Pimm's though so I substituted blood orange bitters. So many more lovely recipes to try, thanks for the fun creations!

    ReplyDelete
  31. I think i like to try a magic drink. :)

    ReplyDelete
  32. Wow right now I'm so happy that you're legal when you're 18 in Germany and I can try these drinks out <3 Thank you for the recipes :)

    ReplyDelete
  33. Thanks for the post. I had been looking for something related and found your web site in the process.. I will definitely be back for more.
    marbles from jennamarbles

    ReplyDelete
  34. Great and funny compare, especialy Drako, ahaha. Love it. Thx for the article xD

    ReplyDelete