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Survive and thrive in the cordyceps apocalypse with a shroomy take on an Old Fashioned.

You’ll need

2oz smoky whisky

.5oz maple-mushroom simple syrup

2 dashes Angostura bitters

Add all ingredients to a mixing glass with some with ice. Stir thoroughly until chilled. Strain into your chosen vessel. Garnish with a dried mushroom, thyme and orange peel. Serve!

“What if the people are still inside? What if they’re trapped in there, without any control of their body? I’m scared of that happening to me.” Sam, to Ellie.

If you’ve ever wanted to know the most likely zombie apocalypse, The Last of Us has your answer. It’s mushrooms. Rabid, parasitic mushrooms. Why is it the most probable? Because they already exist. They aren’t locked up in some blacksite somewhere: they’re out there in the wild, right now. Watching. Waiting.

They’re also ants.

See, Ophiocordyceps unilateralis, or just “cordyceps”, is that weird fungus that turns people crazy in The Last Of Us. It’s also present in the real world in tropical regions like Brazil, where it preys on ant colonies. Much like people in the game, ants slowly succumb after exposure – though thankfully, rather than becoming super-violent monstrosities, they just clamp themselves to a nearby plant. This allows the fungus to grow, pop out of the ant’s head, and eventually rain spores down on their former colony. The cycle then repeats.

Less classic Romero zombie and more just “that’s freaky”, but still enough to make you wonder what might happen if this real life fungal parasite managed to make the leap to humanity. Is The Last Of Us far from the truth?

Looking for a different kind of post-apocalypse? Try the Sierra Madre Martini from Fallout instead.

To ease back the nightmares of getting chomped by a shroomhead, I created this cocktail: the Clicker. It’s a simple drink, basically a riff on an Old Fashioned, but the mushroominfusion adds a unique earthiness.

Paired up with the maple syrup and the natural smokiness of the whisky, a Clicker cocktail is a lot more inviting than the creature after which it’s named. Just make sure you don’t accidentally infuse it with actual cordyceps. That… might end badly.

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!

