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Cocktail History
The Stick ‘Em in a Stew 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. Inspired by Samwise Gamgee’s iconic quote about potatoes in The Two Towers, this drink uses the Bloody Mary template but adds several stew ingredients, including carrot juice, potato-based vodka, celery bitters, and an array of savory veggies.
Cocktail Ingredients
To make this cocktail, you’ll need the following ingredients:
Potato Vodka: This is the base spirit. We went with Chopin Potato Vodka because it has a full-bodied flavor with notes of green apple and vanilla. It’s also made with potato, which is a nod to the cocktails inspiration. For a mocktail version of this drink, try Strykk Not Vodka in place of the vodka.
Tomato Juice or Bloody Mary Mix: This is the tomato-based liquid that adds the drink’s tomato flavor. If you prefer tomato juice, we went with Clamato Tomato Cocktail. Or if you prefer Bloody Mary Mix, we like Zing Zang Bloody Mary Mix because it also adds carry, celery, beet, lettuce, onion, and parsley juices as well as salt, pepper, and other spices for even more flavor.
Carrot Juice: This adds savory carrot flavor. We opted to use fresh carrot juice, but you can substitute canned juice if that’s easier than juicing carrots.
Celery Bitters: This is a type of spirit infused with celery and botanicals.
Worcestershire Sauce: This is a savory sauce made from soy sauce and vinegar. We used one from our local grocery store.
Saline Solution: This adds a bit of saltiness to balance out the sweet ingredients.
Meat Stick: This is another garnish. We used Crescent Meats Original Meat Sticks because they’re made in Wisconsin.
Canned Potato: This is another garnish. It adds potato aroma and flavor
Cocktail Onion: This is third garnish. It adds savory onion flavor and crunch.
Baby Carrot: This is also a garnish. It adds more carrot flavor.
Cherry Tomato: This is a garnish as well. It adds more tomato flavor.
Thyme: This is the final garnish. It adds fresh thyme aroma and flavor.
Celery Salt: This is added to the rim to add more savory flavor.
Tasting Notes
The Stick ‘Em in a Stew features a variety of vegetal aromas including sweet onion, carrot, thyme, and celery and has a savory taste kickstarted with a hit of celery salt and followed with a very non-acidic mix of carrot and tomato, with tomato’s tartness showing slightly through aided by the tangy Worcestershire and celery bitters; the whole mixture then goes down with more carrot and celery flavor that lingers on the tongue.
Our Opinion of This Cocktail Recipe: Thanks to its classic stew ingredient garnishes, this drink makes for a tasty, savory snack while you sip, and the Stick ‘Em in a Strew is a great batchable accompaniment to a watch party gathering.
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: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
“When designing this recipe, we started with a base of potato vodka and built from there, ending up with what is essentially a Bloody Mary with extra ingredients. Carrot juice plays the main role, taking away a lot of tomato’s natural acidity and replacing it with a different flavor altogether, and to subdue that flavor, I added some celery bitters, saline solution, and, of course, a celery salt rim. Altogether the drink was quite good, as long as you’re a decent fan of carrot juice, and it’s a relatively easy drink for your The Lord of the Rings watch party.”—
Kendall’s Take: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
“When deciding which The Lord of the Rings characters would be the inspiration for this year’s Halloween drinks, I brought up wanting to do a Samwise Gamgee drink because of his iconic ‘po-ta-to’ quote in The Two Towers. In said quote, he mentions using them in a stew, so naturally we turned to the Bloody Mary for inspiration since that drink is essentially soup. Alex did a really good job of creating a variation that I could absolutely picture being served at breakfast or second breakfast in The Shire. It’s a nice dose of veggie flavor with a hint of savoriness that makes sipping it feel like you’re drinking a garden.”
Recipe
Pour celery salt onto a plate, rub outer rim of a beer mug with lime rind, and roll glass in salt until coated.
Add vodka, tomato juice, carrot juice, bitters, Worcestershire sauce, saline solution, and ice to the salt-rimmed mug.
Stir gently for 5-10 seconds.
Garnish with meat stick, potato, onion, carrot, tomato, and thyme sprigs.
Ingredients
Directions
Pour celery salt onto a plate, rub outer rim of a beer mug with lime rind, and roll glass in salt until coated.
Add vodka, tomato juice, carrot juice, bitters, Worcestershire sauce, saline solution, and ice to the salt-rimmed mug.
Stir gently for 5-10 seconds.
Garnish with meat stick, potato, onion, carrot, tomato, and thyme sprigs.
Make It a Mocktail: Use Strykk Not Vodka in place of the vodka to try a booze-free version of this drink.
Tools & Glassware We Recommend
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
The Last Variant (Loki): An aquavit cocktail made with honey liqueur, Green Chartreuse, and lime juice
Tatooine Sunset (Star Wars): A tequila cocktail made with blue curaçao, pomegranate juice, grenadine, orange juice, lemon juice, and cherries
Spirits Lifted (WandaVision): A peppered gin and vodka cocktail made with vermouth, paprika tincture, smoke & salt bitters, and cocktail onions
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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