A pitch-black twist on an Old Fashioned that everyone’s raven about.
You’ll need
- 2 oz (60ml) bourbon (I used Wild Turkey)
- 0.75 oz (20ml) sarsaprilla reduction
- 2 dashes Angostura bitters
To make the sarsaparilla reduction, add 1/2 a cup of brown sugar and 1 tbsp cuttlefish ink to 1/2 a cup of your favourite sarsaparilla. Heat gently until combined. Once the sugar has dissolved, remove from the heat and allow to cool.
Add all ingredients to a mixing glass with ice. Stir until chilled. Strain into your vessel. Garnish with a feather. Serve!
“MURDER OF CROWS: Stun and damage your enemies with a thousand needling beaks.”
– Fink Manufacturing advertisment
The vigors of Columbia take a back seat in the story compared to the plasmids of Rapture, but that doesn’t mean they are less potent. With the ability to burn, throw, charm and distract, it’s a wonder than Columbia doesn’t descend out of the skies and conquer the world.
You know, other than that time that it did.
One of the most dramatic of these vigors is the Murder of Crows: a pitch black beverage that allows you to command the birds of the sky as much as the equivalent plasmid in Rapture let you control the insects of the down-below. Highly effective as a “deterrent against hooligans”, according to the advertising, no self-respecting Zealot of the Lady would be found without it.
In creating a cocktail based on the Murder of Crows, we’re left with a distinct lack of information. It has ADAM in it, of course; that sea slug juice that rewrites DNA to allow these mystical powers. But beyond that? Not much to work with.
So we turn to the world of Columbia itself and its real world inspirations to create a drink that, at the very least, looks and tastes the part.
Prefer your adventures under the sea? Try the Electro Bolt from the original Bioshock instead.
First, we have the base spirit. Columbia is so enraptured with the idea of American supremacy that it blinds itself with racism and xenophobia. Any drink, then, that comes from a world obsessed with the ‘American spirit’ should have an equally American spirit as a base. Bourbon. 2 ounces.
Next, we have the sweetener, a reduction of sarsaparilla mixed with sugar and a dab of squid ink. The squid ink gives it that dark colour and a nod towards the sea-slug-based ADAM. Far more interesting, however, is the sarsaparilla aspect. See, the advertising for the Murder of Crows in the game is based heavily upon real-life advertising. All of the vigors are. But the Murder of Crows is special in that it is almost a carbon copy of a sarsaparilla advert from the 19th century. So, of course, we have to use sarsaparilla as a key ingredient.
Lastly, we have the Angostura bitters. Cocktail buffs will now recognise this drink as a variation on an Old Fashioned: a proto-cocktail that has stood the test of time through veracity and, more importantly, simplicity. This adds a more savoury note to the cocktail, and backs up the American roots of this drink with a nod to a cocktail that may not have been all that out of place among the saloons of the Old West.
All up, this is a solid variation of an Old Fashioned that adds a distinct batch of herbal and licorice flavours to the equation. Certainly recognisable as a classic, but with a twist that makes it stand out among its cousins – much like Bioshock: Infinite itself. Cheers!
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