Perfect for a hot summer’s day or to recover after a long adventure in the wilds, the Luminous Adra Potion from Pillars of Eternity 2 is a cool, refreshing way to enjoy one of the most expensive materials on Eora. And yes, it glows in real life too!
You’ll need:
- 1oz gin
- 1.5oz green Chartreuse
- 1oz lime juice
- Crushed, frozen tonic water
Method
- Add first 3 ingredients to a small glass (old-fashioned glasses work well)
- Stir to combine.
- Carefully pile the crushed frozen tonic water on top. Make sure to leave a little room on top; as the ice melts, it can dribble over the edge!
- Garnish with mint and a straw.
- Serve!
- Optional: Turn off all the lights, shine a blacklight on the drink and enjoy the glow-show.
“Y’know, there was a time when we Eothasians used to raise a toast to the grace of our god—before we blew him up, I mean—using a special drink only made for religious occasions. Every temple had its own recipe, though, so I dunno how sacred it really was. Here, let me show you the recipe my brother taught me…” – Eder, to The Watcher, date unknown.
Adra: the mysterious, crystalline substances that rises in strange pillars all over Eora. Used in jewellery, sculptures, art and Engwithan religious rituals, its nature is one of the most defining conundrums of the Pillars of Eternity series. Every revelation about this odd substance simply raises more questions.
So, obviously, the player is gonna juice it up with soul power, crush it and drink it like it’s god-damned Adderall.
Obviously.
Despite this literally-insane act, it turns out that drinking luminous Adra (the super-charged version of regular Adra) is something of a cure-all; it heals, it restores, it even gives you back a touch of youth. No wonder, then, that it quickly became one of the most valuable commodities in all of Eora.
This version of a Luminous Adra Potion does justice to both the game and your taste buds. It’s sweet, it’s sour, it’s herby and very, very more-ish. If you’re a fan of Mint Juleps, you’ll be a fan of this!
Best of all, due to the presence of quinine in the tonic water, this cocktail will even glow under a blacklight!
Want more Pillars of Eternity-inspired cocktails? Leave me a comment in the replies below and tell me what you want next!
Why these ingredients?
Tonic Water
Luminious Adra Potion is… well, luminious. Outside of using radioactive material as one of the ingredients, that left me flummoxed as to what to use instead—glowing cocktail components are few and far between.
After a little research, I discovered that quinine, present in tonic water, happens to glow under blacklight, as anyone who has had a crappy G&T in an equally crappy club can attest.
After a few tests of freezing, I found that tonic water can be frozen and crushed, though it will turn out a little slushier than just freezing pure water. I suspect that has something to do with the high sugar content in the tonic water I used, but it was definitely serviceable and, best of all, still glowed under the blacklight.
Gin
The Adra resolved, the next problem was the “reagent” and the “solution”; both frustratingly non-specific potion ingredients. With so little information, I decided that discretion was the better part of valor and backed away from pure replication, instead relying on my own experience to inform what would make a good tipple when combined with tonic water.
The obvious combo is a gin and tonic, so the gin became the “solution”. Considering alcohol is ethanol mixed with water, it is a literal solution in the chemical sense, I count that as a win.
Green Chartreuse
The “reagent”, on the other hand, was a little more vague. What did old-school herbalists and alchemists generally use with their solutions to make a healing salve? Herbs, of course—herbal tinctures were all the rage, and still are in many home remedies. In fact, that’s the original use of things like Angostura Bitters and, yes, you guessed it, Chartreuse.
The fact that gin and green Chartreuse are a classic combo, used in the ever-delicious Last Word cocktail, was only a bonus.
Want more video game inspired cocktail recipes? Check out the rest of the recipes on Experience Bar!