Season 6 of Game of Thrones is over, and it was quite the bloodbath. For those who have not fully caught up, prepare to be repeatedly horrified. (As if someone hadn’t spoiled it all for you already.) For those who have seen it all, you’ll still probably need to binge re-watch some or all of it.
I’ve made 25 cocktail recommendations, and I’m sharing them again here…plus a bonus mocktail in honor of our new favorite, under-aged character. They’re perfect for drinking games, or for commemorating your favorite heroes and villains…especially if they aren’t returning next season…
The Melisandre
A smoky, modified Negroni, inspired by L.A.’s primo mezcal bar Las Perlas…for the Red Woman.
1 oz. mezcal
1 oz. Lillet Rouge
1 oz. Campari
Stir all ingredients in a mixing tin with ice, strain into a chilled glass and garnish with an orange peel.
Like Melisandre, it’s red, bitter and will lift your spirits.
Black magic woman, Melisandre.
Corpse Reviver #2
My favorite of the Corpse Reviver cocktail family…for the return of several characters this season.
1 oz. gin
1 oz. Cointreau
1 oz. Lillet Blanc
1 oz. fresh lemon juice
1 dash absinthe
Shake all ingredients with ice, strain into a chilled glass and garnish with an orange peel.
Snakebite
A sharp and perky shot…for those nasty Dornish assassins, the Sand Snakes.
2 oz. honey flavored whisky
1/2 oz. Rose’s Lime Juice
Mix and shoot.
White Lady
A classic flip…for a magical makeover.
2 oz Gin (Plymouth)
1/2 oz Cointreau or Combier
1/2 oz Fresh lemon juice
1 Fresh egg white
Add all the ingredients to a shaker and fill with ice. Shake, then strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
Bitters and Root Beer
A stomach settler…after gratuitous misogyny and violence.
1 Bottle of root beer
2 dashes of Angostura or Peychaud’s bitters
Add all the ingredients to a glass with ice. Stir lightly and add more bitters to taste.
Dark and Stormy
A similar, carbonated treat…for Balon Greyjoy.
3 1/3 oz Ginger Beer
Couple dashes of bitters
2 oz Dark Rum
Pour the rum over ice in a highball glass, add the bitters and top with the ginger beer. Suggestion: Honor the squid-like Drowned God of the Iron isles by using Kraken Rum.
Hangman’s Blood
Richard Hughes wrote of it, “It has the property of increasing rather than allaying thirst, and so once it has made a breach, soon demolishes the whole fort.” Served to complement incidents at Castle Black and Winterfell.
1 1/4 oz gin
1 1/4 oz rum
1 1/4 oz whiskey
1 1/4 oz brandy
1 1/4 oz port
5 oz stout beer
4 oz Champagne (or sparkling wine)
Add all five shots to a pint glass. Top with beer and then fill glass with champagne.
Mind Eraser
A layered shot…for The House of Black & White.
1 oz coffee liqueur
1 oz vodka
1 oz soda water
Fill an old-fashioned glass with ice. Pour the coffee liqueur over the ice, then the vodka, then top with soda water so that it forms layers, dark at the bottom and clear on top.
Who lights all those candles? No one.
Mother’s Milk
A sweet, milky cocktail…for the motherless milquetoast Robin Arryn.
1 oz cinnamon schnapps
1 oz butterscotch schnapps
1 oz milk (your choice of animal or non-animal, I guess)
Mix with ice and strain into a shot glass. As it’s in honor of Robin, I say the quicker it gets downed, the better.
Sherry Cobbler
A cobbler cocktail made with fortified wine and fruit…for The High Sparrow.
4 oz dry Sherry
3 slices orange
2 bar-spoons sugar
Shake all ingredients with ice and pour into a tall glass. Garnish with fresh berries. It’s easy to serve as a punch, too.
Cold Shoulder
A variant of the classic gin fizz, it’s like blood-tinged snow with a cool kick (of mint)…for Sansa Stark.
2 oz gin
1 large egg white
1/2 oz grenadine
1/2 oz lime juice
2 dashes of peppermint butters
1/2 oz soda water
Combine gin, egg white, grenadine, lime juice and bitters in a cocktail shaker and shake vigorously (to froth up the whites). Add ice and shake again (about a minute total for both rounds of shaking). Strain into 8-oz glass. Gently add soda water along the inside edge of the shaker to loosen the remaining froth and carefully pour the mix onto the drink.
Hold the Door
A potent, herbaceous cocktail…for Hodor.
1/4 oz absinthe
2 oz cognac
1/2 oz amaro
Dash of orange bitters
Prepare a glass by adding absinthe and swirl it to coat the inside. Mix the other ingredients in another glass with ice, stir, and pour into prepared glass. Garnish with orange zest. (This recipe will vary widely based on what cognac or amaro you choose. I used Averna, which gave it a silkier finish.)
Sweet Poison
A colorful rum drink from New York’s Jekyll and Hyde Club…for Lady Crane.
1 oz light rum
2 oz coconut rum
1 oz Blue Curacao
Pineapple juice
Add the rums and Blue Curacao to a cocktail shaker and shake with ice. Pour into cocktail glass and top with pineapple juice. Garnish with a pineapple wedge.
Horse’s Neck
A true classic that is easy to mix, trickier to garnish…for the Dothraki Horde.
2 oz bourbon OR brandy
6 oz ginger ale
2-3 dashes of angostura bitters
1 really long lemon peel as garnish
Lower the garnish into a tall glass and secure one end over the rim of the glass before adding ice, pouring the ingredients over the ice and stirring. This drink is refreshing even with cheaper ingredients, but you can go with higher end ginger ale and spirits and make something truly delectable. What cannot be underestimated is the ability of the long peel to add its subtle citrus oils, which really completes the beverage, so don’t skimp on that garnish. (It’s also key in the presentation, of course.)
White Rose
A classic flip with a bite…for Olenna Tyrell.
2 oz Gin
1 oz Maraschino Liqueur
2 oz Orange Juice
1 splash of Lemon Juice
1 egg white
You can add an optional dribble of simple syrup if you want to sweeten it. Mix all of the ingredients in a shaker with ice and shake vigorously for about twenty seconds to get it foamy. Pour through a strainer, then layer the foam on top.
Bloody Mary Oyster Shooters
A shot that is more sustenance than booze, but perfect for parties…and for Arya Stark.
Simply make up your favorite Bloody Mary recipe and pour over oysters in shot glasses.
Meereen Sangaree
A sweet sangaree (sangria)…for the endless and awkward scenes with Tyrion, Missandei and Grey Worm.
2 oz red wine (preferably a young, sweet one)
2 oz eau-de-vie (any fruit source you like)
1/2 oz Strega
1/2 oz honey simple syrup
Nutmeg
Mix all ingredients except nutmeg over ice and shake, then pour unstrained into a tall glass and grate a little nutmeg on top.
Seriously, just fast forward through any scene with Tyrion and these two.
Dead Bird
A simple shot that gets the point across…for Ser Strong.
1 part Wild Turkey or other bourbon
1 part Jägermeister
Mix equal parts of both liquors over ice and strain into shot glasses.
Bloodhound
A fruity summer cocktail…for Ramsay Bolton.
0.75 oz. Dry Vermouth
0.75 oz. Sweet Vermouth
1.5 oz. Beefeater Gin
2-3 crushed strawberries
Mix liquors in a cocktail shaker with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass, then add the strawberry mash. It looks positively gory.
Blood and Sand
An extremely drinkable whisky mix…for Daenerys Targaryen.
0.75 oz Whisky
0.75 oz Sweet vermouth
0.75 oz Cherry Heering
0.75 oz Orange juice
Mix with ice in a cocktail shaker, strain into a chilled cocktail glass and garnish with orange peel.
The Rat Cook
A delicious, devious rum cocktail courtesy of Bathtub Gin…for Walder Frey.
2 oz Aged Rum
0.5 oz Kronan Swedish Punch
1 oz lime juice
1 egg white
0.25 oz agave nectar
A few drops of Peychaud’s
Combine everything but the bitters with ice in a shaker and shake for about 20 seconds until nice and foamy. Strain into chilled cocktail glass and get a nice layer of foam on top so you can add a line of about four drops of Peychaud’s to float on top. Enjoy.
Wildfire
Another brilliant original from Bathtub Gin with quite a flare…for Cersei Brotherf*cking Lannister.
2 oz Pineapple Juice
1 oz Creme of Coconut
1.5 oz. Green Chartreuse
0.5 oz Dark Rum
Mix liquors in a cocktail shaker and serve over ice in a tall glass. And THEN, the all important garnish. Place a disc of lime atop the drink, add a sugar cube atop that and soak lightly with 151 proof rum. Light the cube on fire and let it burn down.
Sea Horse Sling
A refreshing tiki-style cocktail loaded with all sorts of liquors and juices…for #TeamTargaryen!
1 oz part Grand Marnier
1 oz Elderflower syrup
0.5 oz Dry vermouth
0.5 oz Soda water
1 oz Pineapple Juice
dash of Campari
Mix liquors in a cocktail shaker with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with an orange wheel.
This season wiped out a lot of beloved characters, but there was a small silver lining.
(Well, actually, she’s more like the cloud than the silver lining…a really cool, dark cloud throwing shade when you need it most.)
Forget Bear Island. Lyanna Mormont should be Lady of Honey Badger Island.
Lyanna Mormont gets it done, whips everyone into shape, steals every scene and she’s only ten…twelve at last count. The show’s sense of time has me a bit thrown. She speaks more plainly than most and is able to listen to others as well. She makes up her mind accordingly and doesn’t act too tortured about it all. She is cautious and bears the safety of her people with care while acknowledging the larger problems from which they cannot be isolated. Basically, she’s exactly the sort of ruler people would want, regardless of age and gender. The fact that she shatters stereotypes in a show rife with them (and gratuitous misogyny) just sweetens the deal.
For the under-21 American viewers out there (and teetotalers, too) I give you…
The Lyanna Mormont (Mocktail)
5 oz black tea, brewed strong and iced
0.5 oz Elderflower syrup
0.5 oz orgeat
4 big blackberries
1 lime wedge
Muddle the lime wedge and blackberries in a tall glass, add ice, then add the tea, orgeat and elderflower syrup and stir. If you like things sweeter, add a little bit more of the syrups, but as for me, I think this one ought to be bold and a little bitter, just like The Lady of Bear Island. Long may she re—
…
I don’t care if that is a parody account. I suddenly want to go full Misery on George R.R. Martin now…and I’m Kathy Bates. Of course my version will be called…Margaery.
“Bring her back, Mr. Man!”
