Category: Dressing Up Drinks

Hair of the Domovoi

9/22/2020

A Themed Drink for The Dimension Door Podcast, Episode 23

After you've had a chance to listen to Episode 23 of The Dimension Door Podcast, you'll understand just why this episode's cocktail is inspired by hair, domovoi, and hatch chilies.

Hair of the Domovoi is a twist on the Hair of the Dog cocktail that adds an underlying bite of chili heat to the traditional hangover drink. It's as white as the Irrisen landscape where the questers from Taldor have ended up, and combines smoke & heat with cream & sweet in a way that is evocative of the events of Episode 23.

Keep reading for the full directions to make this cocktail.

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The Heldren Highball

9/10/2020

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Throw-Back Thursday Presents:
A Themed Drink for The Dimension Door Podcast, Episode 16

Just as the most recent episode's drink was inspired by the small Irriseni town of Waldsby, so is this cocktail from Episode 16 inspired by the small Taldan town of Heldren. Whereas for Waldsby we had a hot beverage perfect for the inhospitably cold climate, for Heldren we had an icy, refreshing drink that celebrates the summer season and its flowering, fresh botanicals. The local Dansby farm produces some fine mead for the town (may poor Farmer Dansby rest in peace), so it's only fitting that any Heldren cocktail include mead as an ingredient. The garnish of this drink is also a bit of an homage to the donkey belonging to Vasilisa Morozova (Heldren's local wisewoman). After all, Marigold is a Very Good Donkey.

Keep reading for full instructions to make your own Heldren Highball.

An image of a highball in a Collins glass. It is a light orange hue, and garnished with a swirl of orange peel and a flower-cut piece of peel around a metal straw. The name of the cocktail (Heldren Highball) is in the left corner of the image

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Waldsby's Winteryew Wassail

9/5/2020

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A Themed Drink for The Dimension Door Podcast, Episode 22

This drink is inspired by the small town of Waldsby, which the characters of The Dimension Door Podcast enter for the first time in Episode 22. Waldsby is a small town in Irrisen which sits just outside of the Hoarwood. I won't say too much about it (this is a spoiler-free zone!), but one thing I can say is that the people of Waldsby are very dependent upon the resources the Hoarwood has to offer for both their livelihoods and their diet. The primary resource to be found within this Irriseni forest is the winteryew, also known as the witch-tree. They depend on winteryew trees for lumber, and on their edible seeds and bark for food.

One way that the inhabitants of Waldsby can warm up is by enjoying a nice, hot cup of Winteryew Wassail.

Winteryew Wassail cocktail in a mulled cider glass, garnished with dehydrated orange and a whole star anise.

Witch-Trees of Irrisen

After 1,400 years of winter, nearly all growing things in Irrisen are long dead or locked in eternal hibernation. The great birches, elms, and oaks of the forests are bare of leaves, and only tall evergreens such as firs, pines, and spruces provide a green break to the endless blues and whites of ice and snow. The coniferous winteryew tree, believed to have been brought to Golarion from some far-off world by Baba Yaga, is absolutely essential to the survival of many species of Irrisen. Winteryews’ cones produce edible seeds year-round, and their bark, which grows back even in Irrisen’s frigid temperatures when stripped from the trunk, provides nutrition for other animals, including humans. Were it not for the winteryew, known colloquially as the “witch-tree,” no wildlife could survive in this wintry land.
- Mike Shel. (2013). Irrisen, Land of Eternal Winter, p. 3. Paizo Publishing, LLC.

In coming up with this recipe, I focused on flavors that come from bark, roots, and coniferous trees, as these all strike me as the types of ingredients which would be available in Waldsby. I chose the apple-based wassail for, not just because alliteration is fun, but because apples would be one of the fruits which might reasonably be imported into Irrisen without spoiling.

Keep on reading for step-by-step instructions to make Winteryew Wassail, and also a cocktail version of the drink that I imagine might be enjoyed on special occasions or by the more well-to-do in the Hoarwood region.

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Dressing Up Drinks: An Introduction

7/28/2020

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Cocktails & Other Concoctions

Over the past few years, I have developed an appreciation for mixology, and what began as an enjoyment of concoctions others have created has grown to include enjoying the creation of my own recipes. Even more recently, I have begun to create themed cocktails to go along with characters from books & TTRPG campaigns, and for podcasts that I enjoy. I already share many of my drinks and their recipes through the various social media I use, but I've decided that it makes a lot of sense to gather all of them together in one place. This is why I'm announcing a new corner of my blog here at Briarbook Lane: Dressing Up Drinks.

The drinks and other concoctions I come up with will be shared here under the "Dressing Up Drinks" category. I'll share photos, step-by-step instructions, and sometimes even videos.

So, if you enjoy mixology yourself, or maybe just love a nice drink, keep an eye out here!