It’s time again for Mixology Monday! This month’s theme comes from Rebecca at The Shrubbery (who makes exceedingly lovely shrubs by the way. You should definitely check them out.). Her theme this month is Drink Nerdy. Hmm, seems like something right up our alley. In her words:

The thing that unites everyone who participates in MxMo is our love of of cocktails. We love the history, the alchemy, the artistry, and of course the drinking. Loads of us go to conventions, collect memorabilia, read books about all manner of boozy subjects, and tour distilleries like they’re sacred places. One might say, we’re nerds. I say, what else are you nerdy for? For the purposes of this challenge I’m going to define a nerdy pursuit as: anything from or related to science, science fiction, fantasy, video games, role playing games/characters, or comics. Come up with a cocktail that celebrates or is inspired by a nerdy thing you love. A Cosmo variation for Neil deGrasse Tyson? The perfect sip for Sarah and her Goblin King to share? A beer based cocktail for that barbarian you played in your college D&D game? Star Trek? Anything you are enthusiastic about.

Wow! So many to chose from. Whatever shall we do?

Both of us are pretty big nerds and not just in the booze department. Shaun loves video games (he’s been fulfilling his childhood dream of making them for almost 20 years O_o), table top games, RPGs, comics, sci-fi & fantasy novels, TV and movies. He was also an astrophysicist in a previous incarnation. Sometimes the nerdery is overwhelming. Christa is similar in terms of the sci-fi/fantasy and comics aspects, plus throw in a taste for the macabre so some serious love for Gorey and Lovecraft too.

For Shaun it was a tough choice of exactly which thing to narrow in on. Games? Sci-fi? Fantasy? Conan the Barbarian? After much fannying about, he started with a honeyed cider. Seemed like a reasonable starting point for something fantasy-based. Wanting to go with a more basic spirit he tried pisco, and white dog. Neither of them really paired well. He then switched to Spanish brandy and good old cognac (a favorite). The cognac paired beautifully but didn’t really fit with the whole fantasy -based theme. The Spanish brandy however brought some lovely richness and complexity without stomping on the apple or the honey. Next he decided to double down on the honey notes with some Barenjager to add sweetness. Finally it needed some more depth. More spice-forward bitters were too overwhelming, and floral bitters were ungrammatical. Finally good old Angostura came to the rescue. So what’s the theme? From fantasy he ended up with RPGs. And what do you need for an RPG? Dice! With that we present the:

D20

• 2 oz Spanish Brandy
• 3/4 oz Barenjager
• 1 light dash Angostura
• 2 oz honey cider

Stir first 3 ingredients with ice. Strain into a glass. Lemon twist and discard. Add an ice cube. Top with honey cider.

• Nose: Fairly faint nose. Lemon, little bit of molasses, hints of honey and ginger. Light baking spices like cinnamon and clove. Oxidized wine and raisins.
• Palate: Honey and sweet oxidized wine to start. Mid-palate is cedar, clove, lemon peel, cinnamon and pollen. Finish segues into molasses, bitter spice and herbs, and an undertone of honey.

Christa decided to go fantasy as well, but darker. As much as she loves Middle Earth and Amber, she also has a soft spot for all of Moorcock’s anti-heroes. She decided on pomegranate to start ’cause of the color, then tasted a number of whiskies and rums before deciding on a sour mash. Amaretto with the red fruit of the pomegranate was a gimme, and then a touch of Peychaud’s for interest rounded things out. With that, we’ve got:

Blood and Souls

• 2 1/4 oz American whiskey (bourbon or rye would work well too)
• 1 oz Amaretto
• 1 oz pomegranate juice
• 1 tsp. simple syrup
• 3 dashes Peychaud’s bitters

Stir all ingredients with ice. Strain into a glass. Garnish with a brandied cherry.

• Nose: Pomegranate, almond, cherry and sweet oak.
• Palate: Cherry and almond to start. Sweet oak, pomegranate, little bit of vanilla on the mid-palate. Finish is pomegranate and whiskey astringency with a hint of milk chocolate. Astringent wood aftertaste with a hint of bitterness.

Thanks to Rebecca for a fun theme and thanks to Fred for keeping the party going. Looking forward to everyone else’s entries. Until next time cheers!