As evident from my past reviews, I love themed cocktail recipe books, so I happily accepted an offer to check out The Unofficial Hogwarts Cocktail Book: Spellbinding Spritzes, Fantastical Old-Fashioneds, Magical Margaritas and More Enchanting Recipes ($19.95, Ulysses Press).
Author Bertha Barmann (great last name) offers 50 alcoholic and non-alcoholic drink recipes inspired by the world of Harry Potter. I appreciated that you don’t have to go buy a ton of rare or hardly used ingredients that other recipe books make you use. In fact, I had almost every ingredient needed, except for a few items like the creme de violette that’s used in Unicorn Blood.
Harry Potter fans will appreciate the categories of drinks, such as Magical Alley and House of Badgers. In the latter, I found the Friar’s Fizz (citrus vodka, lemon juice, simple syrup and club soda) quite refreshing. I also liked Sprout’s Sidecar (cognac, orange liqueur, lemon juice, yellow luster dust), but then again, I’ve always enjoyed Sidecars.
Barmann also has recipes for shots. I made the Rum Shooter of Fire, which consists of green Chartreuse and 151-proof rum (I replaced it with Everclear), and then lighting the shot on fire. This shot was fun and really packs a strong punch.
Of note, some of the recipes are existing cocktails with Harry Potter names added to them. For example, the Good Old Fashioned Liquid Luck is just a regular bourbon Old Fashioned, and the Lionheart Kir Royale is just a standard Kir Royale.
Still, these concoctions would make for fun drinks while you’re watching the Harry Potter movies or having a theme party.
You can purchase The Unofficial Hogwarts Cocktail Book on Amazon.com and at Barnes & Noble.
