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Cocktail History
The Crown of Gondor is a Novel Nightcaps original cocktail that was created in honor of the release of The Rings of Power, a prequel to the original The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy. Inspired by Aragorn, the recipe mixes beer and red wine as the base spirits in homage to both the character’s time as Ranger of the North and eventual ascension to the throne. It then adds in winter herb syrup to give the drink some woodsy flavor and garnishes it with rosemary and thyme, fashioned into a crown.
Cocktail Ingredients
To make this cocktail, you’ll need the following ingredients:
Stout Beer: This is a type of dark beer made with hops, malted barley, yeast, and water. I used Guinness Draught Stout.
Red Wine: This is a type of wine made with red grapes. I used Antigal Malbec Uno 1.
Winter Herb Syrup: This is a sweetener made with rosemary leaves, thyme leaves, sage leaves, white sugar, gum arabic powder, and water. I made mine using this sous vide recipe.
Rosemary: This is an herb. I used fresh rosemary.
Thyme: This is an herb. I used fresh thyme.
Bartending Tools
To make this cocktail, you’ll need the following bar tools:
Jigger: This is used to measure and pour ingredients. I used the Japanese jigger from the A Bar Above 14-Piece Silver Bar Set.
Bar Spoon: This is used to stir ingredients. I used the Barfly Stainless Steel Teardrop Bar Spoon.
Twist Tie: This is used to fashion the garnish.
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Tasting Notes
This cocktail has the following flavor profile:
• Appearance: Dark brown, almost black color with a frothy top
• Aroma: Woodsy rosemary and thyme
• Taste: Thick, heady taste of beer blended with chocolate, coffee, and grape notes
• Finish: Dessert-like quality with herbs, chocolate, and berries
Kendall’s Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Kendall’s Take: “I kind of can’t believe how tasty this recipe ended up being considering the concept for its ingredients was just jotted down one day as an idea. I knew I wanted beer in the drink since that’s all Aragorn is seen drinking throughout the series, but I also wanted to use red wine in homage to his eventually becoming king. The only recipe I’d seen call for the two was the Stout Sangaree, so I based The Crown of Gondor off that drink but used Malbec instead of Port wine and added some delicious herb syrup for a unique twist. The ingredients mix very well, and even though I’m not big on beer, especially heavy stouts, this cocktail was quite good. I might even have to call it one of my favorite The Lord of the Rings-inspired drinks I’ve tried to date.”
Recipe
The Crown of Gondor
The Crown of Gondor is a Novel Nightcaps original cocktail that was created in honor of the release of The Rings of Power, a prequel to the original The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy. Inspired by Aragorn, the recipe mixes beer and red wine as the base spirits in homage to both the character's time as Ranger of the North and eventual ascension to the throne. It then adds in winter herb syrup to give the drink some woodsy flavor and garnishes it with rosemary and thyme, fashioned into a crown.
Ingredients
Method
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Add syrup to a wine glass.
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Top with wine.
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Stir gently for 5-7 seconds.
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Top with beer.
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Shape one long rosemary sprig into a circle, wrap thyme sprig around rosemary, and secure with a small twist tie.
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Garnish with rosemary and thyme crown.
