Fangorn Forest

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Cocktail History

The Fangorn Forest is a Sips From Scripts original cocktail that we created as part of a series of The Lord of the Rings recipes made in honor of the release of The Rings of Power, a show that serves as a prequel to the original movie trilogy. The drink was inspired by Treebeard, an Ent who was the oldest of the tree-like characters and a “shepherd of trees” from the movies. As a nod to Treebeard’s eccentricity both in origin and dialogue, we went with herbal gin and sherry as the base and paired them with black tea, a unique mushroom honey syrup, citrus, and bitters to create a refreshing cooler that we think represents the ancient peoples of the forest very well.

Cocktail Ingredients

To make this cocktail, you’ll need the following ingredients:

Gin: This is one of the base spirits. We used Park Distillery Alpine Dry Gin because it’s distilled from glacier freshwater and spruce tips from a national park in Canada, which we felt went with the theme of the drink. For a mocktail version of this drink, try Lyre’s Non-Alcoholic Dry London Spirit in place of the gin.

Amontillado Sherry: This is the other base spirit. It’s a medium-dry fortified wine made from palomino grape must.

Lapsang Souchong Tea: This is a black tea that is smoke-dried over pinewood fire. We used Twinings Lapsang Souchong Black Tea.

Mushroom Honey Syrup: This is a sweetener made with baby portobello mushrooms, honey, and water. We made ours at home using Alex’s stovetop recipe.

Lemon Juice: This adds sweet and sour citrus flavor. We prefer to use fresh lime juice because it’s less bitter than the bottled stuff and tastes better.

Spruce & Birch Bitters: This is a type of spirit infused with spruce, birch, and other botanicals. We used Crude Bitters Apothecary Spruce & Birch Bitters because they have potent flavors.

Rhubarb Bitters: This is a type of spirit infused with rhubarb and botanicals. We used Fee Brothers Rhubarb Bitters.

Baby Portobello Mushrooms: These are the garnish. They add more mushroom aroma and flavor.

Tasting Notes

The Fangorn Forest starts with earthy aromas of mushroom and tobacco and has a refreshing yet slightly tart taste that features a mashup of earthy tea, gin botanicals, and honey sweetness combined with savory mushroom and sherry. It then finishes with a lemon-tinged taste of tea and mushroom.

Our Opinion of This Cocktail Recipe: Despite its disparate and admittedly odd ingredients, this drink is balanced with a light body and a natural taste. We both really liked how the Fangorn Forest turned out, with Kendall mentioning it’s her favorite of the Lord of the Rings cocktails we created this year.

Which of our palates is yours most like?
Find out if your palate is most similar to Alex’s or Kendall’s by answering five questions.

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Which of our palates is yours most like?
Find out if your palate is most similar to Alex’s or Kendall’s by answering five questions.

Take Our Quiz →

Alex’s Take: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
“This drink was built upon the theory of earthiness, with sherry and mushroom being two of the main components I wanted to play with. The mushroom honey syrup ended up being really interesting because it had the honey’s sweetness and flavor but with a unique earthy mushroom aroma and aftertaste; that, combined with the tobacco-like tea and a few dashes of flavored bitters, made a drink that came together fantastically well despite having some strange and weird-tasting ingredients. It’s extremely refreshing and quite tasty, as long as you don’t mind a bit of umami savoriness.”

Kendall’s Take: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
“Out of our cocktails inspired by The Lord of the Rings characters, this was definitely my favorite. It has such a unique blend of ingredients that’s not immediately clear what to expect for the drink’s flavor, but I found it to be a tasty mashup of earthy and herbal tastes, with mushroom shining the most brightly. The sherry also peeks through a bit but not so much to turn me off since I don’t usually go for the stuff. If you’re looking for a drink with just the right umami flavor, this is a winner whether you understand the character reference or not.”

Recipe

AuthorSips From Scripts

Yields1 ServingPrep Time5 mins

Ingredients
 1 ½ oz Gin
 ½ oz Amontillado Sherry
 2 oz Chilled Lapsang Souchong Tea
 ¼ oz Lemon Juice
 2 dashes Spruce & Birch Bitters
 1 dash Rhubarb Bitters
 4 Slices Baby Portobello Mushrooms

Method
1

Add gin, sherry, tea, mushroom honey syrup, lemon juice, bitters, and ice to a shaker.

2

Shake for 10-20 seconds.

3

Strain into a highball glass over fresh cracked ice.

4

Garnish with baby portobello mushroom slices.

Ingredients

Ingredients
 1 ½ oz Gin
 ½ oz Amontillado Sherry
 2 oz Chilled Lapsang Souchong Tea
 ¼ oz Lemon Juice
 2 dashes Spruce & Birch Bitters
 1 dash Rhubarb Bitters
 4 Slices Baby Portobello Mushrooms

Directions

Method
1

Add gin, sherry, tea, mushroom honey syrup, lemon juice, bitters, and ice to a shaker.

2

Shake for 10-20 seconds.

3

Strain into a highball glass over fresh cracked ice.

4

Garnish with baby portobello mushroom slices.

Fangorn Forest

Make It a Mocktail: Use Lyre’s Non-Alcoholic Dry London Spirit in place of the gin to try a booze-free version of this drink.

Tools & Glassware We Recommend

Riedel Drink Specific Glassare Highball Glass, 10.94 Fluid Ounces
Riedel Drink Specific Glassare Highball Glass, 10.94 Fluid Ounces
All RIEDEL glasses are dishwasher safe; Capacity is 10.94 ounces; glass size is 2.56Lx2.56Wx6.06H (Inches)
Riedel Drink Specific Glassware Rocks & Highballs, Set of 8
Riedel Drink Specific Glassware Rocks & Highballs, Set of 8
This pack contains 8 pieces; Machine-made and dishwasher safe; Rocks Glass Capacity = 10 oz.; Highball Glass Capacity = 10 7/8 oz.
$120.00
Sale
Luigi Bormioli Bach 16.25 oz. Beverage/Hiball/Glass, Set of 4, 4 Count (Pack of 1), Clear
Luigi Bormioli Bach 16.25 oz. Beverage/Hiball/Glass, Set of 4, 4 Count (Pack of 1), Clear
Set includes: Bach 16. 25 oz. Beverage/Hiball/Glass, Set of 4; Made with SON. hyx non-leaded crystal
$39.97

More Cocktails from Movies & TV Shows

If you like this cocktail recipe, here are a few others inspired by movies and shows we’ve tried that you may enjoy:

cropped-Miruvor-Lord-of-the-Rings-Cocktail-Recipe-by-Sips-From-Scripts.jpg

Miruvor (The Lord of the Rings): A gin cocktail made with elderflower liqueur, white tea, honey syrup, and orange flower water

The Last Variant Loki Cocktail Recipe

The Last Variant (Loki): An aquavit cocktail made with honey liqueur, Green Chartreuse, and lime juice

Stick 'Em in a Stew Lord of the Rings Cocktail Recipe

Stick ‘Em in a Stew (The Lord of the Rings): A potato vodka cocktail made with tomato juice or Bloody Mary mix, carry juice, celery bitters, Worcestershire sauce, saline solution, a meat stick, a canned potato, a cocktail onion, a baby carrot, a cherry tomato, thyme sprigs, and celery salt

Tatooine Sunset Cocktail Recipe

Tatooine Sunset (Star Wars): A tequila cocktail made with blue curaçao, pomegranate juice, grenadine, orange juice, lemon juice, and cherries

The Crown of Gondor Lord of the Rings Cocktail Recipe

The Crown of Gondor (The Lord of the Rings): A stout beer and red wine cocktail made with winter herb syrup, rosemary, and thyme

Spirits Lifted WandaVision Cocktail Recipe

Spirits Lifted (WandaVision): A peppered gin and vodka cocktail made with vermouth, paprika tincture, smoke & salt bitters, and cocktail onions

Butterbeer Cocktail Recipe

Butterbeer (Harry Potter): A stout beer and spiced rum cocktail made with evaporated milk, butter, margarine, vanilla extract, brown sugar, whole cloves, whole allspice berries, cinnamon sticks, whipped cream, and nutmeg

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