Category Archives: Beverages

Strawberry Lemonsweet

Season three is proving to be much more ripe with food than any other season. Here’s another one from the HBO show:

Queen of Thornes

See that pitcher on the bottom right? The one with what could only be lemonsweet with strawberries in it? That’s the special at the Inn this week.

Strawberry Lemonsweet

Strawberry Lemonsweet

Now, I’ll admit that when I’m watching the show, I obsessively look at the dishware, glassware, and plates of food. When I saw this, I had to try it! I’ve used an adapted lemonsweet recipe from the cookbook for this, and the result is a perfect beverage to see you through spring and into the long days of summer. It’s sweet, with a citrus punch, but also with wonderful subtle flavors imparted by the herbs and strawberries. The longer it sits to infuse, the pinker and more flavorful it will get!

Strawberry Lemonsweet Recipe

Ingredients:

  • 1 orange
  • 4 lemons
  • 2 cups powdered sugar
  • 1-2 Tbs. bruised thyme, rosemary, or mint, to taste
  • 4 cups water
  • 1 pint strawberries, stemmed and sliced

Zest half an orange and half a lemon. Juice all the fruits, and add the juice, zest, sugar, herbs, and water. Whisk or pour into a bottle and shake to mix. Strain into a serving pitcher, add the strawberries. The berries will gradually add color and flavor to the rest of the beverage, making it even more delicious! Garnish each glass with an extra slice or two of strawberry, and a small sprig of herb.

Strawberry Lemonsweet

March Brewing Update

Another busy month in the wine cellar of the Inn!

The brews struggled with the chilly temperatures of the late winter, made worse by a lack of insulation on the floor, and cheap windows. I tried a variety of solutions, ranging from electric heating pads to the occasional warm water soak in a filled sink. The basic solution, though, seemed to be to keep the brews up on the counter near the stove, so they could get some warmth from my daily baking. I have very understanding housemates, who patiently shift the carboys ever time they need to cook something on the stovetop. :)

The burnt honey mead is finally ticking down to its final stage, as is a quirky apple wine recipe. I have a small batch of blackberry mead that will take some time yet, but tastes great so far. I tasted the first bottle of a strange cold-mash oat ale, and it was not as unpleasant as I’d feared.

I cracked open several other bottles over Easter, and should be able to finish off those posts soon. Among that selection is my breakfast stout, a concord grape mead, a few cordials, and whatever else is kicking around downstairs. Then I have to prep for a small brewing competition in April, and make sure that none of my carboys are empty going into a new month!

New Posts:

Started:

  • Imitation Port, c. 1829
  • Counterfeit Malvoisie
  • Honey Cider
  • unnamed spiced ale

Sekanjabin

Modern Sekanjabin Varietal | Inn at the Crossroads

Sekanjabin – medieval Persian gatorade

 This is a great historic Persian treat, that is, in a way, like medieval gatorade.

The base recipe is sugar and vinegar, but the possibilities for added flavors and ingredients are as limitless as your imagination. I’ve included both a basic, traditional recipe, and one of my favorite new versions- strawberry, ginger, mint. The traditional version is nearly clear, and subtly flavored, so if you’re worried about drinking vinegar, don’t be. Sweet from the sugar, it also has a slight acidic tang from the vinegar, but it also has a refreshing fruity flavor. The modern version is wonderfully flavorful. I enjoyed it both hot and cold, as well as a dash of sweetener in green tea.

It would be perfect for the hotter climates, such as a blood orange version in Dorne, or exotic fruit varietals in the Free Cities. Imagine enjoying a large glass of this, cooled with a chip of ice, in the water gardens of Sunspear, or atop the tiered pyramids of Meereen. And because it is concentrated, it would also travel well, making it ideal for dusty travel over dunes for the Martell Sandsnakes.

Other regional varieties could also exist, in Westeros as it did in our world. The ancient Greeks made Oxymel, which is similar to this drink: 4-5 parts honey to one part vinegar. Even the Anglo-Saxons had a version with honey! With some apple cider vinegar, wildflower honey, cinnamon, and vanilla, I think one could go far. :)

Continue reading →

Metheglin Mead

Metheglin Mead

Thoughts:

I started my batch in April, bottled in May, and tried it at the end of August, about 5 months later. At this point, it’s ever so slightly fizzy when first cracked open, and a beautiful light golden color.

It smells like honey.

The flavor is somewhat herbal, but in a good, kitchen-not-medicinal way. I could pick up hints of the sage and rosemary, in particular, while the other herbs and grasses add depth and complexity. The flavor is long and changeable, with just a smidge of acidity.

I’m going to need to learn better descriptors for alcohol. For now, suffice to say that this is wonderful, although should be consumed with caution, tasty as it is. :)

Why it should be in the Next Book:

I could envision this mead being one of many made by the Beesburys, of Honeyholt. I could also see it as a mead from either a meadowy place in the reach, or perhaps even somewhere in the Vale. Or, since metheglin was originally a medicinal mead, it would be well suited to a sept, because of the joint healing/brewing skills of monks and septons. 

Get the recipe on the brew blog, Game of Brews!

Mead Kits

 Elderberry Mead, with kit

For those of you looking for an easier approach to meads, let me recommend the kits sold by Ambrosia Farm. I tried out their Elderberry mead kit, and was delighted with the result! It produces a short mead, similar to what was enjoyed in the 1600s, and can be found in cookbooks like The Closet of Sir Kenelm Digby Opened.

All you need in addition to the kit is 2 lb. honey and a gallon of water. You can stop the fermentation at your desired sweetness level simply by putting it in the fridge.

I loved the flavor and sweetness of my batch after about 6 days. Light, with light floral tones and heavier fruity ones, it was a wonderful and easy brew for the last warm summer evenings of the year. As it sat and aged a few more days at a time, the sweetness decreased, and was replaced with more of an alcoholic kick. It’s a rough kind of mead, but will definitely do the trick! ;)

 

Wildling Cider

“Before Mance, Varamyr Sixskins had been a lord of sorts. He lived alone in a hall of moss and mud and hewn logs that had once been Haggon’s, attended by his beasts. A dozen villages did him homage in bread and salt and cider, offering him fruit from their orchards and vegetables from their gardens.” -A Dance with Dragons

Thoughts:

This is an awesome, no hassle cider. Because it naturally ferments, there’s no need to judge what yeast to use, or watch for blow-offs. There is no lingering yeast taste at the outset, which means it’s great to drink immediately after it’s done fermenting, or at any point during the fermenting process if you’d prefer a lower % alcohol with greater fizz. In fact, many of you have probably enjoyed cider that has gone slightly hard: the giveaway is the puffed up plastic jug, and the pfffft! of air when you take off the cap. 

The fully fermented cider, when first tried, is dry, but with a nice round feel to it. The apple flavor is there, but not the sweetness. Instead, it has a sour apple element that I found quite pleasant, if a tad rough. 

Although the wildlings would probably drink their cider as soon as it was alcoholic, I set a couple bottles aside to see how the flavors changed over time; It’s also a colonial American method of making cider, and I’m curious to see how it ages!

Get the recipe and updates on the brew blog, Game of Brews!

Plum Wine

 “The queen took a flagon of sweet plum wine from a passing serving girl and filled Sansa’s cup. ‘Drink,’ she commanded coldly. ‘Perhaps it will give you the courage to deal with truth for a change.'” –A Clash of Kings

Plum Wine

Thoughts:

Usually I wait with brewing recipes, but it’s just the tail end of plum season, so I wanted to give you all the chance to brew some yourselves. The next post will be back to food, I promise. :)

This is an unusual fruit wine, to say the least. It starts with a raisin wine base, to which the plum juice is added. But really, THAT COLOR! The purple from the plum skins did a lot for the color, but the addition of hibiscus is what really tipped it over the edge into that gorgeous, almost grapefruity hue.

In terms of process, there are some things I might do differently. First off, juice the plums. I’m not sure if that would lose some of the purple from the skins, but it would certainly uncomplicate things a bit. I’d probably put the hibiscus in earlier, along with the plums, to get maximum flavor and color. All in all though, a fun historical romp.

Get the recipe and updates on the brew blog, Game of Brews.

Violatium

“I’d give you some violets, but they withered all when my father died.” -Ophelia, Hamlet

Violatium

Thoughts:

So get this: The Ancient Romans actually made this beverage where they immersed violet blossoms in wine. Naturally, I had to try it.

The finished product is quirky. As the mixture ages, the color leaches out of the violets, leaving them looking sort of like wispy ghost-flowers.

The flavor, when all is said and done, is… quirky. It was described by our tasters as a combination of vegetal, green, and like a cheap rose with floral overtones. A smidge of wildflower honey compliments the hint of violets quite nicely. Really, though, the big appeal is in the appearance and uniqueness. 

Were I to try it again (which I probably will), I’d pick off the green parts, and mix in the honey from the beginning.

Why it should be in the Next Book:

Doesn’t it just sound like something from a GRRM book? I mean, come on.

Violatium. 

It’s got all the inherent threat of sinister syllables, and the exotic flair of being made with flowers. It’s a recipe from Ancient Rome, a culture fabulously known for their decadent fare. I imagine it being served across the Narrow Sea, where they have other exotic fare such as persimmon wine and honeyed locusts.

Get the recipe on the brew blog, Game of Brews.

Apricot Wine

“Before you came Meereen was dying. Our rulers … sat atop their pyramids sipping apricot wine and talking of the glories of the Old Empire whilst the centuries slipped by and the very bricks of the city crumbled all around them. Custom and caution had an iron grip upon us till you awakened us with fire and blood. A new time has come, and new things are possible.” -A Dance with Dragons

 Thoughts:

It’s good! 

 For this recipe, I started with the oldest and simplest recipe I could find, from the 1690 Lucayos Cookbook. This recipe seems to rely on natural fermentation, so I was inclined to try it, and if it didn’t start on its own, to pitch yeast. I prepped the fruit, added everything else, and put it all in the primary fermenter. And then unexpectedly had to leave for the weekend.

When I got back a few days later, it was happily bubbling away, nature having run its course. I decided to let it go, and see what happened. When it was done working, I bottled it and let mine sit for two months. , and tried it at the end of that period. The wine is light and distinctly apricot flavored, with a bit of tartness provided by the lemongrass. 

Keep in mind that natural fermentation can go all sorts of ways, since there’s no way to predict what sort of yeast you’ll get. The ABV is somewhere just under 3%, so it’s probably best kept for a few months, as the original recipe states. I’ve got a couple of smaller bottles, which I’ll periodically test out and report back on. I plan to make another batch, perhaps using dried apricots to increase the time of year in which it can be made. 

The wine is best served chilled, and although it’s not especially dry, you may wish to add a bit of honey to sweeten it up. 

Get this recipe, and the future version, on the brew blog, Game of Brews.

Brewing!

Brewing Projects from April

Having mostly settled into the new apartment, I’m ready to get back to brewing!

As with many such projects, it’s a lot more fun in a group. I’ve got a long list of various brews I’m planning to try sooner or later, and these are at the top of my list. Pick up to three of your favorites in the next week, and I’ll get to work!

And while the new brew is aging, I’ll be cracking open a few of my previous bottles. If they’re as delicious as I’m expecting, then you’ll have the recipes in no time. 

Update: As of Feb. 2013, all brewing recipes will be posted on IatC’s sister blog, Game of Brews.

And if that’s not enough for you, check out the other fictional brew options over at Food Through the Pages! Ent-draught, anyone? :)

[poll id=”7″]