Literature has been the playground for authors who’ve wanted to invent some seriously good food and drinks. Famous writers have created and referenced dishes and cocktails in their works of art, giving characters life and an identity. While Enid Blyton was known for mentioning hot, buttered scones, other authors have taken to writing about imaginative drinks. Four drinks inspired by popular books are:
Butterbeer from the Harry Potter series
Although JK Rowling never mentioned the recipe for Butterbeer in the Potter books, the fictional beverage has become very popular since the books were published and people have tried recreating it in real life. Rowling described butterbeer as “a little bit like less-sickly butterscotch”. According to the books, wizards mostly drank butterbeer at bars like The Three Broomsticks Inn and the Hog’s Head Inn in the fictional village of Hogsmeade. The drink is supposed to have a low alcohol content and could be served hot or cold.
Vesper martini from Casino Royale
James Bond’s favourite drink has made its way onto many cocktail menus ever since Casino Royale’s author Ian Fleming described it in the novel in 1953. Named after the fictitious double agent Vesper Lynd, the drink uses both gin and vodka as per Bond’s instructions to the bartender: “three measures of Gordon’s (gin), one of vodka, half a measure of Kina Lillet. Shake it very well until it’s ice-cold, then add a large, thin slice of lemon peel”. It was also in Casino Royale that Bond asked for his martini “shaken and not stirred”.
White angel from Breakfast at Tiffany’s
Holly Golightly, the protagonist in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, likes her drinks and particularly the white angel. At Joe Bell’s bar, she orders “something new…one-half vodka, one-half gin, no vermouth”, which came to be known as the white angel as per Truman Capote’s book. The cocktail sounds like a martini but is named differently, perhaps to pay homage to the feminine character (later played by Audrey Hepburn in the film of the same name). Mixologists have tried to create the white angel themselves, giving it different twists.
Mint julep from The Great Gatsby
If there’s one thing that F. Scott Fitzgerald’s iconic novel The Great Gatsby popularised, it’s cocktails. Jay Gatsby’s character was known for throwing lavish parties where alcohol flowed freely. While champagne was a mainstay, the mention of a mint julep was jarring. “I’ll make you a mint julep; then you’ll seem less stupid to yourself,” says the ficitonal character Daisy Buchanan, who was the love of Gatsby’s life, to her husband. The cocktail uses whiskey, mint, water and sugar.