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Cocktail History
The Crown of Gondor 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. Our goal with this one was to create a drink inspired by Aragorn, so we chose to mix a base of beer and red wine as a nod to both the character’s time as Ranger of the North and eventual ascension to the throne. We then mixed in a bit of winter herb syrup to give it some woodsy flavor and garnished it with rosemary and thyme, which we 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. We used Guinness Draught Stout because smooth and creamy. For a mocktail version of this drink, try Guinness 0 Non-Alcoholic Draught in place of the beer.
Red Wine: This is a type of wine made with red grapes. We used Antigal Malbec Uno 1 because it has a semi-dry flavor with notes of smoke and vanilla. For a mocktail version of this drink, try Karuna Karviva Unwined Non-Alcoholic Malbec-Inspired Wine in place of the red wine.
Winter Herb Syrup: This is a sweetener made with rosemary leaves, thyme leaves, sage leaves, white sugar, gum Arabic powder, and water. We made ours at home using Alex’s sous vide recipe.
Rosemary: This is an herb. We used fresh rosemary from our herb garden.
Thyme: This is an herb. We used fresh thyme from our herb garden.
Bartending Tools
To make this cocktail, you’ll need the following bar tools:
Jigger: This is used to measure and pour ingredients. We used the Japanese jigger from the A Bar Above 14-Piece Silver Bar Set.
Bar Spoon: This is used to stir ingredients. We used the Barfly Stainless Steel Teardrop Bar Spoon.
Twist Tie: This is used to fashion the garnish.
Tasting Notes
The Crown of Gondor features woodsy aromas of rosemary and thyme, has a thick, heady taste that seamlessly blends the heavy chocolate and coffee notes of the stout with the dark berry and vanilla flavors of the wine, all with a slight touch of herbs and sweetness. The aftertaste then has a dessert-like quality, going down with more herbal notes tinged with chocolate and berries.
Our Opinion of This Cocktail Recipe: We really liked how this cocktail turned out! It came to be when we asked ourselves what Middle-earth’s most humble king would drink and landed on this unique mixture. The result is a wonderful blend of deep, rich, and earthy flavors thanks to the syrup, and we could definitely see Aragorn drinking The Crown of Gondor alongside his fellow countrymen.
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: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
“This cocktail was dreamt up largely by Kendall while we were thinking of kingly ingredients; she remembered the Stout Sangaree that we had made prior, and since all of its ingredients made sense for Middle-earth and Aragorn, we ran with that template. By using an Argentinian Malbec, we captured deep berry flavors, and we paired it with an English Imperial Stout to integrate chocolate and coffee notes that give the drink an almost dessert-quality. The addition of winter herb syrup completed the package by giving it a slight air of the woods and wilderness, to which Aragorn was no stranger.”—
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. We knew we wanted beer in the drink since that’s all Aragorn is seen drinking throughout the series, but we also wanted to use red wine in homage to his eventually becoming king. The only recipe we’d seen call for the two was the Stout Sangaree, so we based The Crown of Gondor off of it 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 one was quite good.”
Recipe
Add syrup to a wine glass.
Top with wine.
Stir gently for 5-7 seconds.
Top with beer.
Shape one long rosemary sprig into a circle, wrap thyme sprig around rosemary, and secure with a small twist tie.
Garnish with rosemary and thyme crown.
Ingredients
Directions
Add syrup to a wine glass.
Top with wine.
Stir gently for 5-7 seconds.
Top with beer.
Shape one long rosemary sprig into a circle, wrap thyme sprig around rosemary, and secure with a small twist tie.
Garnish with rosemary and thyme crown.
Make It a Mocktail: Use Guinness 0 Non-Alcoholic Draught in place of the beer and Karuna Karviva Unwined Non-Alcoholic Malbec-Inspired Wine in place of the red wine 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
The Last Variant (Loki): An aquavit cocktail made with honey liqueur, Green Chartreuse, and lime juice
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 (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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