Book and Boos: James Bond Classic Cocktails

Book and Boos: James Bond Classic Cocktails
Bookstr is bringing you Booze & Books, our weekly feature dedicated to drinking games and booze-book pairings. This week, we’re bringing you another booze & book pairing. Our recommendation? Any booze and any book. Since that’s a little too general, we’re going to be pairing cocktails with Harry Potter books.
We would recommend not drinking your way through the entire Harry Potter series—if only because the books are long and, consequently, your lifespan would not be. That said, the series is bound to stir up an intense emotional response in any of its fans. While many books after this series have been called the ‘next Harry Potter,’ the truth is, there’s no such thing. The story itself is deeply meaningful, but what makes the series so important to so many people is more than what happens on the page: it’s that instant return to childhood and all the wonder that entails.
Remember: drink responsibly and read voraciously!
Ingredients: Canned Pumpkin Puree – 2 tbsp, Canned Peach Slices (in own juice) – 8-10 slices drained, Sugar – 2 tbsp, Sparkling Apple Cider – 2 cups, Pumpkin Spice – 1 tsp, Maraschino Cherries – 2, Mint leaves – a few
No alcohol for this one. These kids are eleven, and it’s likely you were around that age when you read their story for the first time! Show some solidarity—Ron survived a near-death experience that ended with an unfortunate spray of troll snot without a drink, and so can you. Instead, drink up and envision that glorious taste of pumpkin juice in the Great Hall.
Ingredients: 2 oz honey-flavored whiskey (such as Yukon Jack), 1/2 lime juice
Okay, so twelve-year-olds aren’t really supposed to have alcohol either. But that doesn’t mean you can’t! With some hard liquor and a sour dash of lime juice, this drink has more bite than any basilisk. After you take one, make another the exact same way to pay homage to the way in which Gilderoy Lockhart copied other wizards’ achievements… and, like those wizards, you too will probably lose your memory.
Ingredients: An unwavering faith that you’ll survive whatever comes next
Yes, Pruno is prison wine (a.k.a. ‘toilet wine’), and it can be created from everything from bread, to fruit, to ketchup. It necessitates resourcefulness and is incredibly dangerous to consume, making it comparable to the book we’re pairing it with. There isn’t much happiness in Azkaban—what little there is doesn’t come from any of this this. (And, like dementors, Pruno can kill you.)
Note: Pruno can actually kill you. Bookstr is definitely not responsible for your death on the off chance you poison yourself with botulism. We may or may not be responsible for your Thursday drinking habits.
Ingredients: 1.5 oz. Fireball Whisky, 4 oz. Bloody Mary mix, 1 lime wedge, 1 celery stalk
Kick back, relax, and have some Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fireball. The Fireblood cocktail thematically encapsulates the intensity of the Triwizard Tournament, from the fire (think the Hungarian Horntail) to the blood (think Cedric Diggory’s horribly tragic character death). This drink is NOT a shot—so, like the climactic scene when Harry and Cedric touch the portkey, this one’s not gonna end quickly.
Ingredients: 1 1/2 ounce vodka, 1 1/2 ounce blue curaçao, 1 1/2 ounce white sambuca, 1/2 ounce cream
Any thoughts on what this beverage looks like? If you’re feeling particularly pensive, you might identify what memories this swirling blue liquid might stir up in Harry Potter fans. Book five is all about gaining insight into the minds of others, even when this insight is too personal or uncomfortable. Though Snape & Harry’s Occlumency lessons play a larger role in this installment than the pensive itself, you’ll wish you had one when you wake up after drinking a few of these.
Ingredients: 2 oz dark rum, 1/2 ounce fresh lime juice (optional), Ice, 1 candied ginger slice, 3 oz chilled ginger beer, 1 lime wheel
While most fans prefer the books to the movies, no one can deny that the film gave terrifying gravitas to Dumbledore’s death and the events leading up to it: dead hands reaching from the surface of the water, the echoed shouts in the remote cave. The Dark & Stormy captures the mood of that fateful evening in which everything we knew came undone… plus, it blunts the emotional impact.
Ingredients: Existential torment, grain alcohol
Listen, the last book was an emotional experience for all of us, and this is the only drink that can handle the task at hand. “But this is a cocktails list,” you exclaim. “What are we supposed to mix it with?” Everclear. You’re supposed to mix it with more Everclear.
Featured Image Via We Heart It.
It’s Thirsty Thursday, and Bookstr is bringing you Booze & Books, our newest weekly feature dedicated to drinking games and booze-book pairings. This week, we’re bringing you another booze & book pairing. Our recommendation? Any booze and any book. Since that’s a little too general, we’re going to be paring classic & popular novels with cocktails to help you get what all the buzz is about. Admittedly, some of these cocktails are pretty vile. But since vile people often feature heavily in books, the drinks make for appropriate pairings. (That is, these cocktails are nasty unless you actually WANT to put milk into beer. If you do, you may be one of the aforementioned vile people.)
So, friends, read up & drink up. By the end of this list, these pages won’t be the only thing turnt.
Remember: drink responsibly and read voraciously!
Ingredients: Gin, white rum, silver tequila, vodka, triple sec, simple syrup, lemon juice, cola. Alternatively, whatever you found in your mom’s cabinets dumped into the sublte water bottle that clearly no longer contains water.
Now, I know what you’re thinking. Why didn’t I pair The Great Gatsby with a classy beverage, like a Tom Collins or anything with an umbrella in it? It’s pretty simple—Gatsby’s not all that classy of a guy. He may have some serious panache, but in the end, he’s new-money who likes to show off what he’s got: the biggest house, the best parties, the hottest ride. It all seems romantic because it’s set in the roaring 20s, but if this were the 2000s Gatsby was after a girl who went to the Ivies while he got a practical degree at State, you know he’d be trying to impress her with his McMansion and excessive Instagram stories of his house parties. ESPECIALLY given that the novel is set on Long Island, a place that may as well have been named after the drink.
Also, a Long Island Iced Tea will get you drunk, which is maybe the only thing you’ll have in common with this cast of high-society characters.
Ingredients: Absolut Kurant, Grand Marnier, Chambord raspberry liqueur, Midori melon liqueur, Malibu rum, Amaretto, cranberry juice, pineapple juice, whatever tears you have left to cry.
‘1-900-FUK-MEUP’ is an accurate description, both of the story and what the story does to our fragile little hearts. If you’re not familiar with this newer release from #1 bestselling author Rainbow Rowell, the gist is that Georgie, a TV writer in a failing marriage, discovers a way to communicate with her husband—a phone that makes calls to the past. It seems like a second chance, an opportunity to talk to a younger Neal and fix the problems in their marriage before they begin. But maybe fixing the relationship isn’t the thing Georgie is supposed to do. Maybe she’s supposed to prevent it from happening. Emotional, right? Drink up.
Ingredients: Peach, strawberry, and wildberry Schnapps, Red Bull, Jägermeister, profound existential pain.
At only fifty-five pages, Franz Kafka’s novelette is a short trip down into the blackest depths of human consciousness. If you can for a moment forget that you’re alone in the world and strapped to a mortal body that may never reflect your internal self-perception, Kafka is here to make sure you remember. We’re all just bugs on this Earth, baby!
Ingredients: Beer, milk, a sudden loss of dignity.
Whether or not you’ve read Equus, just look at that cover and tell me the pairing doesn’t work.
Also, don’t Google search ‘horse jizz.’
Ingredients: Rum, Luxardo Maraschino, lime juice, grapefruit juice, years of substance abuse.
Of course Hemingway, literary icon and known drunk, would have a cocktail named after his own work—an accomplishment that, while less impressive than naming a university wing after yourself, may or may not be cooler. Back in 1935, a mystery man in a Cuban bar downed a daiquiri that was left sitting unattended (classy move, E.H.). His response was as to-the-point as his dialogue: “that’s good, but I prefer it without sugar and double rum.”
Apparently, the reason Hemingway wanted less sugar was so he could drink more of them—which makes him as relatable as he was talented.
Ingredients: Jim Beam, Jack Daniels, Jameson, Johnnie Walker Black, Bacardi 151, at least one bad idea.
Listen: a flaming shot is a beverage that was not created for the flavor. If you start your night off drinking one of these, you’re going to be getting into some shenanigans. And shenanigans is basically the plot of Neil Gaiman and the late Terry Pratchett’s Good Omens—shenanigans and the End of Days, which are, apparently, exactly the same thing. So why not drink this one at the end of the world? When you wake up the morning after, it’s going to feel like the apocalypse anyway.
Ingredients: Jim Beam Black Label Bourbon, Sobe No Fear energy drink, a blatant disregard for your own mortality.
You’ve got to be pretty fearless to start smoking at the age of eleven.
All In-text Images Made With PhotoCollage.
Featured Image Via Giphy.
It’s Thirsty Thursday, and Bookstr is bringing you Booze & Books, our newest weekly feature dedicated to drinking games and booze-book pairings. This week, we’re bringing you another booze & book pairing. Our recommendation? Any booze and any book. Since that’s a little too general, we’re going to be paring classic & popular novels with cocktails to help you get what all the buzz is about. Admittedly, some of these cocktails are pretty vile. But since vile people often feature heavily in books, the drinks make for appropriate pairings. (That is, these cocktails are nasty unless you actually WANT to put milk into beer. If you do, you may be one of the aforementioned vile people.)
So, friends, read up & drink up. By the end of this list, these pages won’t be the only thing turnt.
Remember: drink responsibly and read voraciously!
Ingredients: Gin, white rum, silver tequila, vodka, triple sec, simple syrup, lemon juice, cola. Alternatively, whatever you found in your mom’s cabinets dumped into the sublte water bottle that clearly no longer contains water.
Now, I know what you’re thinking. Why didn’t I pair The Great Gatsby with a classy beverage, like a Tom Collins or anything with an umbrella in it? It’s pretty simple—Gatsby’s not all that classy of a guy. He may have some serious panache, but in the end, he’s new-money who likes to show off what he’s got: the biggest house, the best parties, the hottest ride. It all seems romantic because it’s set in the roaring 20s, but if this were the 2000s Gatsby was after a girl who went to the Ivies while he got a practical degree at State, you know he’d be trying to impress her with his McMansion and excessive Instagram stories of his house parties. ESPECIALLY given that the novel is set on Long Island, a place that may as well have been named after the drink.
Also, a Long Island Iced Tea will get you drunk, which is maybe the only thing you’ll have in common with this cast of high-society characters.
Ingredients: Absolut Kurant, Grand Marnier, Chambord raspberry liqueur, Midori melon liqueur, Malibu rum, Amaretto, cranberry juice, pineapple juice, whatever tears you have left to cry.
‘1-900-FUK-MEUP’ is an accurate description, both of the story and what the story does to our fragile little hearts. If you’re not familiar with this newer release from #1 bestselling author Rainbow Rowell, the gist is that Georgie, a TV writer in a failing marriage, discovers a way to communicate with her husband—a phone that makes calls to the past. It seems like a second chance, an opportunity to talk to a younger Neal and fix the problems in their marriage before they begin. But maybe fixing the relationship isn’t the thing Georgie is supposed to do. Maybe she’s supposed to prevent it from happening. Emotional, right? Drink up.
Ingredients: Peach, strawberry, and wildberry Schnapps, Red Bull, Jägermeister, profound existential pain.
At only fifty-five pages, Franz Kafka’s novelette is a short trip down into the blackest depths of human consciousness. If you can for a moment forget that you’re alone in the world and strapped to a mortal body that may never reflect your internal self-perception, Kafka is here to make sure you remember. We’re all just bugs on this Earth, baby!
Ingredients: Beer, milk, a sudden loss of dignity.
Whether or not you’ve read Equus, just look at that cover and tell me the pairing doesn’t work.
Also, don’t Google search ‘horse jizz.’
Ingredients: Rum, Luxardo Maraschino, lime juice, grapefruit juice, years of substance abuse.
Of course Hemingway, literary icon and known drunk, would have a cocktail named after his own work—an accomplishment that, while less impressive than naming a university wing after yourself, may or may not be cooler. Back in 1935, a mystery man in a Cuban bar downed a daiquiri that was left sitting unattended (classy move, E.H.). His response was as to-the-point as his dialogue: “that’s good, but I prefer it without sugar and double rum.”
Apparently, the reason Hemingway wanted less sugar was so he could drink more of them—which makes him as relatable as he was talented.
Ingredients: Jim Beam, Jack Daniels, Jameson, Johnnie Walker Black, Bacardi 151, at least one bad idea.
Listen: a flaming shot is a beverage that was not created for the flavor. If you start your night off drinking one of these, you’re going to be getting into some shenanigans. And shenanigans is basically the plot of Neil Gaiman and the late Terry Pratchett’s Good Omens—shenanigans and the End of Days, which are, apparently, exactly the same thing. So why not drink this one at the end of the world? When you wake up the morning after, it’s going to feel like the apocalypse anyway.
Ingredients: Jim Beam Black Label Bourbon, Sobe No Fear energy drink, a blatant disregard for your own mortality.
You’ve got to be pretty fearless to start smoking at the age of eleven.
All In-text Images Made With PhotoCollage.
Featured Image Via Giphy.