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!
1. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone – Pumpkin Pie Mocktail
Image Via Target Made me do it
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.
2. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets – Snakebite Shots
Image Via Liquor Online
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.
3. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban – Pruno
Image Via Wikihow
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.
4. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire – Fireblood
Image Via A wHITE cAROUSEL
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.
5. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix – Jellyfish
Image Via Spruce Eats
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.
6. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince – Dark & Stormy
Image Via Zevia
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.
7. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Everclear
Image Via Spoon University
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.
