Last Halloween saw the release of the first episode of Severed Fate: A Dimension Door Podcast​. This sister podcast to The Dimension Door is similarly a Pathfinder 1st edition actual-play production. Where The Dimension Door Podcast is playing Paizo's Reign of Winter adventure path, Severed Fate is playing Carrion Crown. This adventure is horror-themed and has thus far featured the very-much-haunted remains of a high-security prison named Harrowstone. Thus, to commemorate the first anniversary of the launch of Severed Fate, I created the Haunted Harrowstone cocktail.

Skip to the recipe or keep reading for details regarding my inspiration for this cocktail.

This is a throwback to a cocktail I created last year for S1.E15 of The Dimension Door Podcast: "Return to Heldren From Whence You Came." While this cocktail was inspired by this particular episode, it speaks to themes common to the entire story so far. 

Skip to the recipe or keep reading for details regarding my inspiration for this cocktail.

On the one-year anniversary of the release of The Dimension Door Episode 19: "Not a Normal Episode," it's only fitting that I share the full details and instructions for the cocktail I created as an ode to Norman Crispin Gunderson. Episodes 18 and 19 were two of the most difficult episodes we have ever recorded--and two of the most emotionally challenging sessions we've shared at our game table. For Episode 18, I created a complex cocktail called The Sentinel to commemorate the events. For Episode 19, I focused on crafting a drink where every element was inspired by everyone's favorite retired ratfolk doctor: Norm.

Skip to the recipe or keep reading for details regarding my inspiration for this cocktail.

It has been a long while since I did a proper entry in my Dressing Up Drinks series here on Briarbook Lane, and I felt it was only fitting to revisit one of the drinks I created to commemorate an episode of the Pathfinder 1E Actual-Play podcast in which I play a part.

A little over a year ago, I created a very complex spectacle of a cocktail in honor of a very complex spectacle of an episode. Season 1 Episode 18 of The Dimension Door Podcast is one of our most memorable episodes, and I hope that the cocktail creation inspired by it is similarly memorable. You can read more about what inspired this cocktail below, or skip straight to the recipe.

Grenadine is a bar staple that makes its way into a lot of classic beverages, from the Shirley Temple mocktail to the Prohibition-era Mary Pickford to the scotch-forward Crow. It adds sweetness and a distinctive red hue to the drinks which feature it. But, what, exactly, is grenadine? Keep reading to find out, and also for a full recipe to make this crimson syrup at home.

"Soon May the Wellerman Come" aka "The Wellerman" is a sea shanty originating from New Zealand which has had a recent resurgence in popularity this year thanks to a video of the song which sparked a TikTok sea shanty trend. You can read more about the song here. As the chorus includes the lyrics "soon may the Wellerman come, to bring us sugar and tea and rum," I couldn't help but be inspired to create a cocktail in honor of this shanty.

What was a vague inkling transitioned quickly to a need to craft my own "sugar and tea and rum" cocktail when I saw artist Nikki Dee Miller's design (pictured here; click on the picture for a link to her merch featuring this design).

Keep reading below for the full recipe for my take on The Wellerman.

I just finished listening to the Whispering Lakes storyline (episodes 11-24) of the Tales of Asperran podcast. Tales of Asperran is a D&D 5e actual-play podcast set in the titular homebrew world of Asperran, a setting designed by Mike (the gamemaster). One of my favorite events in this story arc has inspired this cocktail. I will try not to spoil anything in case anyone else is as terribly behind in this fabulous podcast as I am, but I will briefly explain my inspiration and provide full directions to make this cocktail below.

I created my first version of the Araklast Investigations cocktail last year as part of a series of cocktails I crafted to represent each of the player characters in my ongoing Rise of the Runelords Pathfinder campaign. This is the cocktail inspired by my own PC, a psychic detective investigator named Danielle Araklast. Dani is the daughter of a spice merchant who runs her own private investigation service, Araklast Investigations, in her home city of Magnimar. Unfortunately, as part of the events surrounding her latest investigation into a series of apparently ritualized murders, Dani's small one-bedroom apartment/office was burned to the ground.

The Araklast Investigations cocktail draws on the spice of the Araklast family's merchant trade, the coffee and whiskey that are staples for long stake-outs and hours piecing together clues, and the smoke that is all that remains of the physical location of its namesake.

I'm breaking my unscheduled hiatus (life got the better of me the past month!) to revisit my first episode-themed drink for The Dimension Door Podcast. "Dark Midnight" is both the title of Episode 14 and a moniker for the significant NPC which is featured in the episode: Baba Yaga's Black Rider.

For a bit of a Black Rider lore drop & full instructions to make the Dark Midnight cocktail, keep reading below.

There are several components of Episode 24 that combined together to inspire this cocktail: a golden apple, a sweet-talking golden tongued cleric, and a flaming sphere all play important roles in both the happenings of the episode and this drink.

Whether or not you're caught up with the happenings of The Dimension Door Podcast (although you should be!), this cocktail is perfect for autumn. The fresh, crisp apple garnish sets nicely against the warm, aromatic caramelized brown sugar. Hints of cinnamon add to the pleasant scent, and then the drink itself is just-sweet-enough with the flavors of butterscotch and apple blossom set against a backdrop of a slightly-smoky scotch. Drinking it is a bit like sitting by a bonfire and enjoying a caramel apple.

Keep reading for the full recipe and instructions to make this cocktail.