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Cocktail History
The Noble Pursuit is a modern cocktail that was created by Cassandra Reeder and was first published in her book The Geeky Bartender Drinks: Real-Life Recipes for Fantasy Cocktails. The adaptation, which is made with a rum and gin base paired with watermelon, citrus, and lavender, is meant to be a boozy take on the fictional drink enjoyed by the desert-dwelling Gerudo people in the The Legend of Zelda: The Breath of the Wild.
Cocktail Ingredients
To make this cocktail, you’ll need the following ingredients:
Watermelon Juice: This is the liquid juice of a watermelon. We used freshly blended and strained watermelon juice.
White Rum: This is a type of rum made with molasses or sugar cane juice and alcohol that is filtered and bottled right away without the aging process. We used The Real McCoy 3 Year Old White Rum because it has a smooth texture and flavors of toasted caramel, coconut, and marzipan. For a mocktail version of this drink, try Lyre’s Non-Alcoholic White Cane Spirit in place of the rum.
Gin: This is a type of gin made with juniper berries, botanicals, and alcohol that has been infused with flavor through redistillation without artificial ingredients or colors. We used Broker’s Premium London Dry Gin because it’s versatile and high proof. For a mocktail version of this drink, try MONDAY Zero Alcohol Gin in place of the gin.
Lime Juice: This is the liquid juice of a lime. We used freshly squeezed lime juice.
Lavender Syrup: This is a sweetener made with lavender, sugar, citric acid, and water. We used Floral Elixir Company Lavender Elixir because it has a fragrant floral flavor with blueberry undertones.
Simple Syrup: This is a sweetener made with white sugar and water. We made ours at home using Alex’s stovetop recipe.
Lavender Bitters: This is a food product made with lavender buds, botanicals, herbs, and alcohol. We used Scrappy’s Bitters Lavender Bitters.
Bartending Tools
To make this cocktail, you’ll need the following bar tools:
Chef’s Knife: This is used to cut larger fruits and vegetables. We used the OXO Good Grips 8-Inch Chef’s Knife.
Blender: This is used to blend up ingredients. We used the Cuisinart SPB-7CH SmartPowder Electronic Bar Blender.
Fine Mesh Strainer: This is used to remove solid ingredients. We used the Barfly Stainless Steel Fine Mesh Strainer.
Jigger: This is used to measure and pour ingredients. We used the Japanese jigger from the A Bar Above 14-Piece Silver Bar Set.
Mixing Glass: This is used to hold the ingredients while they’re being stirred. We used the Viski 17 oz Cocktail Mixing Glass.
Bar Spoon: This is used to stir ingredients. We used the Barfly Stainless Steel Teardrop Bar Spoon.
Julep Strainer: This is used to strain out ice and solid ingredients after the cocktail is stirred. We used the A Bar Above Julep Strainer.
Tasting Notes
The Noble Pursuit features summery watermelon aromas and has a mostly sweet taste that counters the fruit’s cooling alkaline flavor with lime’s acidity and a note of floral lavender, and it has an aftertaste that combines sweet watermelon with a light herbal and floral note.
Our Opinion of This Cocktail Recipe: Watermelon’s front-and-center part in this made for a ridiculously refreshing and cooling cocktail, which impressed us both much more than we were expecting. We can see why it had life-saving abilities in the game and plan to whip up the Noble Pursuit again come summertime, maybe even with some tequila to keep with the desert theme.
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.
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.
Alex’s Take: ⭐⭐⭐
“In all honesty, I wasn’t all that excited to make this drink, not because I didn’t have faith in the author’s tastes and certainly not because I don’t love the Zelda franchise but because I didn’t think it sounded all that tasty. Admittedly, I was wrong. While our recipe yields about one cocktail, the original was a punch-style cocktail made for 3-4 people, and its measurement of watermelon was in cups pre-juicing, whereas I was working with a fresh watermelon juice we already had from a previous cocktail. By adjusting the taste a bit and adding a dash of simple syrup and lavender bitters, we ended up with an absolutely delicious recipe that features watermelon’s alkalinity and flavors with the floral syrup and lime and creates a crushable, summery drink that is sure to make all of the lost and tired Gerudos rush to the local watering hole.”—
Kendall’s Take: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
“Usually I find the geeky cocktails we try to be a little kitschy, but wow, is this one incredibly tasty! I’ve had a few watermelon-based recipes now, and this is the first I’ve truly loved. Even if you know nothing about The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, this drink is worth trying. It’s refreshing and would be incredible drink for a hot summer day.”
Recipe
This cocktail recipe was adapted from The Geeky Bartender Drinks: Real-Life Recipes for Fantasy Cocktails by Cassandra Reeder.
Add watermelon juice, rum, gin, lime juice, lavender syrup, simple syrup, and cubed ice to a mixing glass.
Stir for 10-15 seconds.
Strain into a lowball glass over fresh cracked ice.
Ingredients
Directions
Add watermelon juice, rum, gin, lime juice, lavender syrup, simple syrup, and cubed ice to a mixing glass.
Stir for 10-15 seconds.
Strain into a lowball glass over fresh cracked ice.
Make It a Mocktail: Use MONDAY Zero Alcohol Gin in place of the rum and Lyre’s Non-Alcoholic Dry London Spirit in place of the gin to try a booze-free version of this drink.
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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:
Miruvor (The Lord of the Rings): A gin cocktail made with elderflower liqueur, white tea, honey syrup, and orange flower water
Spirits Lifted (WandaVision): A peppered gin and vodka cocktail made with vermouth, paprika tincture, smoke & salt bitters, and cocktail onions
Tatooine Sunset (Star Wars): A tequila cocktail made with blue curaçao, pomegranate juice, grenadine, orange juice, lemon juice, and cherries
The Last Variant (Loki): An aquavit cocktail made with honey liqueur, Green Chartreuse, and lime juice
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
Kuzcotopia (The Emperor’s New Groove): A pisco cocktail made with Aperol, passion fruit syrup, grapefruit juice, lime juice, Tres Amigos bitters, and a lime slice
Hot Peppermint Patty (Archer): A low-proof cocktail made with milk, white peppermint schnapps, dark crème de cacao, white crème de menthe, cocoa powder, whipped cream, and chocolate
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