“When you play the game of thrones, you win or you die. There is no middle ground.”
As a history buff and fantasy fiction fan, it was the dragons and the Medievil, ancient Greece, ancient Rome, Mongol hoard influences that sucked me right in. There is a little something in Game of Thrones for everybody, lots of booze, lots of sex, intrigue, drama, killing, mystacism, and even a bloody Red Wedding. And did I mention dire wolves and dragons? Love me some prehistoric, extinct canines and fire breathing bird ancestors. And don't get me started on the banquets and drinking.
I admit it, I'm a Thronie. What's a Thronie? A ridiculously obsessed fan of George R. R. Martin's epic "A Song of Ice and Fire" novels and HBO's series "Game of Thrones". Call me a geek and whip me with a Valeryian steel sword, I was obsessed enough to do a whole slew of this fantasy world inspired cocktails.
And I did, as you can see below.
As we say goodbye to our beloved Game of Throne epic television series, let us our glasses in a toast to the Land of Ice and Fire and thank our lucky stars for reruns.
"There's no story so good a drink won't make it better."
Several years back I created a berry infused Mother's Day Martini. In the years that have passed I have learned a bit more about cocktail preparation and I decided it was time to update the recipe a bit.
Normally I use fresh berries, but in this recipe I employed frozen berries to make use of the juice when they defrost. To get the berry juice you simply defrost the berries. In the bag will be all this lovely berry juice you can use in your cocktail. Set aside enough frozen berries for garnish. Yes, you can buy mixed berry juice, but garnish with frozen berries because they will help keep your cocktail chilled as you drink!
Why make Mom a special drink on Mother's Day?
Because you are probably the reason she needs one!
Horse races and cocktails are made for each other. There's nothing better than a celebratory drink if you win, a consolation libation if you lose and a little liquid courage to make that bet. Having a drink while you cheer on your contender is all part of the race going experience and most of the major horse racing events have their signature cocktails.
Of course, I have done cocktail adaptations on each of the bespoke cocktails for the Triple Crown races. You know me, I can't leave well enough alone, I have to bring my own cocktail creativity to the racetrack. Below are my crafted cocktails created for the Kentucky Derby, Preakness & Belmont Stakes, as well as a few other race classics:
TRIPLE CROWN
COCKTAILS
for the Kentucky Derby, Preakness & Belmont Stakes
In the mists of time of First Men and the Children of the Forest, from the Land of Always Winter, death and winter came to Westeros in the form of the White Walkers.
Que the present day Land of Ice and Fire and those buggers are back after a very long summer and all frozen hell is about to break lose on Game of Thrones.
We're going to need a magic potion and, fortunately, I just happen to have one, including a little magic trick and some mezcal.
That trick is one I use a lot in my frozen drinks and it employs a little blasting of extra cold. You can make a truly smooth, White Walker worthy iced cocktail by pre-freezing the cocktail mixture ahead of time. Because of the alcohol content the mix will not freeze solid but pre-freezing will help make a truly frozen drink, one with smaller ice crystals for a smoother drink. It's not absolutely necessary, you can simply blend the unfrozen ingredients with ice, but the cocktail will be more diluted and not White Walker level chilled.
Little Tip: You can store the frozen cocktail mixture for up to a week. Before an outing in my RV, where I didn't have a blender, I would often prepare frozen cocktails in my house ahead of time, pack them in baggies in my motorhome freezer, freeze them and then just take them out, squish them in my hands and pour them in the glass.
Tools: Large Ziplock Bag, Two Small Plates (to rim glass), Blender
Glass: Margarita or Cocktail
DIRECTIONS:
The night before, or first thing in the morning, of the day you want to serve your cocktails, combine all the ingredients, except the ice in the ziplock bag and zip it closed. Give the bag a couple of really good shakes and place it in the freezer.
Dip half the rim of the glass in some cream of coconut then into the coconut flakes then chill your glass in the freezer.
When you're ready to serve your cocktails, empty the semi-frozen mixture into your blender, add the ice and blend on the highest setting until smooth.
Pour into your chilled glass, create a big mound of icy goodness, drizzle the Blue Curacao over the top, letting it drip out the glass like the blood of the Night's King, and serve - with a straw so you don't get any White Walker blood on your hands.
This is an easy recipe to batch for multiple drinks, just multiply the ingredients times the number of drinks you want.
Yes, Bailey was on his Night Watch and got all up in my drink ... again.
"In that darkness the White Walkers came for the first time. They swept through cities and kingdoms, riding their dead horses, hunting with their packs of pale spiders big as hounds." ~ Old Nan
If this doesn't impress your cocktail guests, then send them down to the local dive bar and give them a couple of bucks for light beer, they are unworthy of your happy hour efforts!
Tools: Jigger, Cocktail shaker, Strainer, Matches or Lighter
Glass: Coupe
INSTRUCTIONS:
Prepare your mini crêpes ahead of time.
Chill glass in the freezer.
Prepare your Orange Butter Simple Syrup (*Recipe below.) Set aside.
Add the ingredients to a cocktail shaker and shake until well chilled.
Strain into your glass.
Take 3 mini crêpes and soak them in the remaining orange butter simple syrup (taking care as the simple syrup will still be warm) then fold them in quarters. Drape one over the rim of the cocktail and serve the other two on a plate alongside.
VOICEOVER VIDEO WITH INGREDIENTS AND INSTRUCTIONS:
Flaming an orange peel can be tricky. I warmed the orange peel a bit before flaming and got a bit too close but kind of liked that look of the singed edge:
* ORANGE BUTTER SAUCE
"SIMPLE SYRUP"
(I have to tell you, I am going to do melted butter simple syrups again for cocktails. This was absolutely delicious and the addition of salted butter just made this cocktail incredibly rich. It really was like drinking liquid Crêpes Suzette!)
MINI CRÊPE TIP: Don't try to actually cook a mini crêpe, make a regular sized crêpe then using a circle cutter, cut out a few nice 3 inch rounds from one crêpe.
Today you can find candied orange peels in higher end candy stores, online or you can make your own. Believe it or not, it's an easy candy treat to make and it has the added benefit of using something you would normally throw away. Candied peels are a delicious sweet treat and even better when dipped in a nice dark chocolate and can be used in a number of recipes. I've added diced pieces to a homemade pound cake batter, used it as garnish on desserts and even tossed it in salads.
Thanks to National Candied Orange Peel Day, it occurred to me I could also make a candied orange cocktail - so, I did!
Insert 2 orange slices in your ice mold and freeze until solid.
Muddle some rosemary leaves with the orange simple syrup, lemon and orange juices and the Rye in the bottom of the mixing glass.
Strain this into the cocktail shaker then add in the egg white and orange bitters and dry shake (shake without ice) for one minute to emulsify the egg and develop the foam. (You can also do this step using a blender.)
Add the ice and shake about 20 seconds or until the cocktail is chilled.
Slide the orange slice ice sphere into the glass then strain the cocktail over the sphere.
Garnish with the rosemary and some candied orange slices then serve.
For an extra special happy hour, dip a few of the candied oranges in a nice dark chocolate and serve alongside the cocktail.
* Yes, that sugar syrup that's left over after you boiled the oranges in it is exactly what you have if you wanted to make an orange flavored simple syrup. Don't throw it out, it will keep in your refrigerator for several weeks. Not only is it wonderful as a simple syrup for cocktails, but it can be used in iced tea or hot tea, marinades, salad dressings, brushed on cake layers to keep them moist or used as the sweetener in orange or lemonade.
This cocktail recipe calls for candied orange peels, but the same process can be used for any citrus peel including lemon, grapefruit, tangerine and other similar citrus fruits. Change up the bitters and fruit juice to match and you can have Candied Lemon, Grapefruit or Tangerine Cocktails, although I think I would use a nice, aged rum with the lemon and vodka in the grapefruit version.
National Candied Orange Peel Day is May 4th, just in case you need a special day to celebrate.
