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Get ready to boogie down with your local skeltals with a drink that gives music flavour.

You’ll need

1.50 oz Famous Grouse

.75 oz orange juice

.25 oz oleo sacharrum

tsp Ardbeg 10-year

1 dash Peychaud’s Bitters

Add all ingredients to a shaker filled with ice. Shake thoroughly until chilled. Fine strain into your preferred vessel. Garnish with thyme and orange peel. Serve!

“I can feel it – the music. It runs through me, giving me… power.” – The NecroDancer.

I never thought to get Crypt of the NecroDancer until someone from the Discord told me to give it a go. I’ve never much liked rhythm games other than Guitar Hero (which I’m a master of) but it turned out this one was so charming I couldn’t help but be entertained.

The music, unsurprisingly, was absolutely stellar, and no matter how many times I died (which were many), I was more than happy to listen to those thumping beats over and over and over again. Imagine your favourite song on loop, but it never gets old: that’s Crypt of the NecroDancer.

If you like drinks with a little smoke, try the Eridium from Borderlands too.

When making a drink for the game, though, I had a problem. While the game itself has plenty of consumables, none of them that I could find were directly alcohol-related, or even really drink-related beyond regular ‘potions’ that you could find in any other game. I wanted something more unique. So I got a little creative.

My version of the Golden Lute, named after the item central to the whole story of Crypt of the NecroDancer, is an attempt to create a ‘musical’ cocktail – and I don’t just mean the quavers I made into a garnish. Rather, it’s a drink with multiple layers and notes. Here’s what I mean:

As the bass (and a cocktail base), you’ve got the malty Famous Grouse, a relatively light blended scotch that I like to use in all my fruit-forward cocktails. It provides a lovely backdrop for the fruity orange and oleo sacharrum flavours to play on top of. The oleo in particular adds some citrus rind flavours to the citrus juice flavours.

Then you’ve got the treble and accents: the Ardbeg, for some smoke, and the Peychaud’s, for a subtle absinthe-y finish. There are a lot of tunes in this drink, many of them not seeming to immediately come together, but by the end of the drink, it creates a real symphony of flavour.

Okay, I’m done with all the music metaphors. It’s an interesting drink unlike many that I’ve made before, with sweet, smoke, savoury and herbal all in one. Definitely one to try if you’re looking for something new – or just want to give your guests something to get them all a-quaver. Cheers!

If you want to keep seeing video-game-inspired cocktails and get a hold of some exclusive recipes, head on over to Experience Bar’s Patreon page and consider slinging me a credit or two. You help keep this blog going!

