4 Cocktail Potions to Prepare You for The Witcher Season 2

I was introduced to the Witcher universe by the video game The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. I was fascinated with the setting and the lore: I loved the idea of witchers and the complicated place they occupy in the world’s society, the dark echoes of fairy tales in many of the stories, and the Slavic-flavored monsters (Leshen are my favorite). Curious about the original source material, I bought the first book of the Witcher series by Andrzej Sapkowski, which happened to be a collection of short stories. In it, I found evidence of the game’s creators’ love and care for the world; the short stories clearly had inspired a number of the side quests and had each been beautifully translated to the video-game medium. It was an enjoyable read, echoing my experiences in the game. So I bought the rest of the books. And then I found out there was a board game. And then the Netflix adaptation was released. And then a new board game was in development. And a mobile game. An animated movie was released on Netflix. It was a Witcher Renaissance!

I enjoyed the first season of the show, pleased to see the characters I had grown to know in the game and books once again and curious to see how the world and events would be translated into this new medium. I watched the first few episodes with a couple of friends, eating Witcher-themed snacks and muffling excited squeaks behind hands as the events of Sapkowski’s novels began to unfold on screen. Our opinions of the show were all generally positive, and so we’re all pretty excited for season 2 to start December 17. And of course, as is my wont, I have prepared some themed libations to accompany our viewing.

Witchers are monster hunters genetically modified in horrifying experiments to be better and stronger fighters. But those modifications are not quite enough on their own, so witchers also prepare to fight monsters by drinking potions that give them certain advantages in the battle. In the Witcher 3 video game, this translates very nicely into a buff system where you can drink potions to regain health, cure poison, or increase the damage you deal with your attacks. It’s a crafting mechanic, which is to say that you need to find the recipes and all the ingredients to brew the potions. I absolutely loved it. So that is where I drew inspiration from to create these four cocktails.

The Golden Oriole cocktail.

1. Golden Oriole

In the game, this potion is used to counteract poisons. I expected this potion to be yellow or amber in color from the name and the in-game appearance, so my mind immediately went to cider. I also thought it’d be fun to make it a variation of a snakebite, considering the venom and poison angle.

What You’ll Need

• 8 ounces hard cider
• 3 ounces ginger beer
• ½ ounce bourbon (or to taste)
• 1–2 teaspoons honey (or to taste)

How to Do It

In a large glass (imperial pint or larger), dissolve the honey in the bourbon. Then, slowly add the cider and mix until it is completely combined. Pour in the ginger beer and stir gently. Add ice, if desired, and serve.

The Swallow cocktail.

2. Swallow

This potion is used for health recovery. In-game, it is a reddish color. The base of this drink is a vodka cranberry but given a twist with some rosemary simple syrup. The simple syrup is very easy to make; I used a recipe from Allrecipes. It can be quite potent, so you really only need a little bit in this drink.

What You’ll Need

• 1 teaspoon rosemary simple syrup
• 3 ounces cranberry juice, chilled
• 1 shot vodka, chilled
• 1 splash lime juice
• 4–6 ounces soda water, chilled

How to Do It

Mix the rosemary simple syrup, cranberry juice, vodka, and lime juice in a collins or rocks glass. Add ice and then top the drink off with approximately 4–6 ounces of soda water. You can add more or less depending on how strong you want the cocktail’s flavor to be.

The Thunderbolt cocktail.

3. Thunderbolt

This potion increases the amount of damage you deal with your attacks. In The Witcher 3, it is green, and I elected to use Midori to get to the bright color it appears. Using a Midori sour recipe as a base, I thought up some variations to make it a little more interesting and potion-y. I knew melon and basil are semioften paired in summer appetizers and are an interesting combination, so I tried to emulate that in this drink. It’s very easy to overpower everything with basil, so be careful how much you use!

What You’ll Need

• 2 ounces Midori
• ½ ounce lime juice
• ½ ounce lemon juice
• 1 medium basil leaf
• 4–6 ounces soda water, chilled

How to Do It

In a rocks glass, combine the Midori, lime juice, lemon juice, and basil leaf. Then muddle the basil leaf (crush it to release the flavor) by gently mashing with a spoon 3–4 times. Add ice cubes, then top with about 4–6 ounces of soda water. You can add more or less depending on how strong you want to make the cocktail.

The Tawny Owl cocktail.

4. Tawny Owl

This potion increases Vigor regeneration, which lets you cast Signs and parry attacks more often. In-game, it is purple. We happened to have crème de violette in our cupboard, so I decided to use it here. Looking for crème de violette cocktails, I came across the Stormy Morning. It also uses elderflower liqueur, which is a personal favorite, so of course, that became the base for the Tawny Owl. To give it a Witcher-y flair, I decided to make it a little spicy. Muddling the jalapeño but removing it afterward adds a nice burn without overpowering the other flavors.

What You’ll Need

• 1½ ounces elderflower liqueur
• 1½ ounces crème de violette
• 1 ounce lime juice
• 1–2 slices jalapeño
• 4 ounces sparkling sake or wine

How to Do It

Muddle the jalapeño in the elderflower liqueur by gently mashing with a spoon 10–12 times, then remove all bits of pepper and seeds. Add the crème de violette and lime juice, stir briefly, then add ice and top with the sparkling sake. If you can’t find sake, you can use sparkling wine; I found an elderflower and lime wine at Cub Liquor that went perfectly with this cocktail.

I hope you enjoy these Witcher-themed cocktails and share in the excitement of the imminent release of season 2, which is coming December 17, 2021. Do you have any fun plans for watching? If so, comment down below, and good luck on the Path!