I have a weakness for making weird food items in my kitchen. Last weekend, while looking at YouTube videos and planning for the Hogwarts Legacy release, my mind began thinking about a drink. Probably due to an ageing fanbase (me included as an early '90s child), the Harry Potter series has inspired tens of thousands of drink recipes, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic.
Five Harry Potter cocktails you may prepare to commemorate the release of Hogwarts Legacy, ranked
I prefer a light, social drinker. I made these five drinks over three nights, sharing them with my husband. Where I could, I made mocktail versions for sharing with my kids, and I'll share them with you, too.
So, clean up your cauldrons, crush that wormwood, and put the stoppers on those vials of Dragon blood! Five brews you can make at home to commemorate Hogwarts Legacy
Butterbeer is certainly an iconic drink. It can be easily found at Universal Orlando's Wizarding World of Harry Potter. We'll certainly be able to find it in Hogwarts Legacy, as this purported art book leak suggests.
This one beverage contains a lot of variations. I prefer not to drink drinks that are too sweet, and I ended up trying this Butterbeer recipe because of the author's disappointment with other recipes being too sweet. I rather served plain cream soda for a picture. (I used nothing except a beer stein for this picture, and I only have one size.)
My husband loved this recipe better than I did, but I can't say that it was too sweet. I didn't even attempt a mocktail recipe for Butterbeer because I wasn't worried about it becoming more of a syrupy mess.
Amortentia is described as a powerfully intoxicating love potion in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. While Hogwarts Legacy will include specific companions you can befriend, I doubt this potion will be used.
Surprise, this potion has inspired more than a handful of pinky drinks. The Amortentia recipe called for only a half ounce of grenadine in a three-and-a-half-ounce glass. It was still too sweet, in my opinion.
The mocktail version used the same recipe, but substituted vodka for lemon-lime soda. The carbonation provided a little sweetness, and, honestly, the mocktail was the better.
This potion has actually been confirmed as being in Hogwarts Legacy, but will be exclusive to the PlayStation version. Felix Felicis will grant whoever drinks it incredible luck in the Wizarding World. I'm interested in knowing how it will work in-game, as many players will not have access to it.
I may have added a bit more luster dust to this drink than recommended by Felix Felicis. It definitely gave the drink a neat flavor when stirred, though. I substituted vodka for alcohol as instructed, but it is possible.
This mocktail version is also easy to prepare. You just eliminate the alcohol in the recipe. This was my oldest child's favorite beverage, due to its swirly goodness.
Pumpkin Juice is another popular drink you might find at a Hogsmeade pub alongside Butterbeer. The ingredients I used for this recipe aren't technically Harry Potter related. However, since I modified it, I'm hereby renaming it "Pumpkin Juice," since it also turned out to be very successful.
The main reason I altered the recipe was because there were no pumpkin beers available in January. I was able to find one that was available and included it in the above photograph. It already had cinnamon and apple flavors and pumpkin, so I substituted apple cider for apple juice for fun. This one was my husband's favorite, and I really enjoyed it.
I decided not to make a non-alcoholic version of this, as it uses a pumpkin beer base. There are other non-alcoholic Pumpkin Juice recipes out there that use pumpkin puree to give it that flavor.
Gillywater is a drink, not a potion, in Harry Potter legend. Gillyweed is likely to be included in Hogwarts Legacy, which can, when eaten, assist humans in developing gills (temporarily) and breathing underwater.
I saved this drink for my final night of distilling, which included coconut water, cucumber, and mint. It was delightful and will be my go-to drink on February 7.