Double check the Imperial Guards aren’t watching before you mix up a batch of this highly illegal rum & Chambord cocktail.
You’ll need
- 1.5 oz (45ml) Stolen white rum
- .75 oz (20ml) Chambord
- 2 dashes Peychaud’s Bitters
- 1 dashes Angostura Bitters
Add all ingredients to a mixing glass filled with ice. Stir vigorously until chilled. Strain into your chosen vessel. Call someone an n’wah. Serve!
“Skooma is distilled from moon-sugar, which is sacred to we who worship the moon and stars. But those who use skooma for pleasure quickly become slaves to its visions.”
– Zulana
Skooma is a pretty messed up substance. You can say that it’s basically catnip for Khajiits, but if you look into the background of the drug, it’s seriously gnarly.
Not only is it made of super-poisonous nightshade, not only is it incredibly addictive, not only can it potentially kill you the very first time you use it, but it’s also often used as a way to literally enslave people. If they don’t do the work, you don’t give them their skooma. Trust the Dunmer to come up with something like that.
Depending on the Elder Scrolls game you play, even the hero themselves can fall prey to this addiction—and no matter what divine or daedra you pray to, no matter how many potions you take or spells you cast, you can’t get rid of the need for skooma.
But it’s not all bad. The Khajiit of Elsweyr are almost daily users of moon sugar and skooma without ill effect, and it’s supposedly used for religious ceremonies as well as in cuisine and, of course, for recreation.
Looking for more Elder Scrolls cocktails? Check out the Pride of the Isles for that Aldmeri touch of class.
When designing this drink, I wanted to call back to the home of these frequent skooma users; the soft sands and warm jungles of Elsweyr, as well as create a beverage that was subtly habit-forming: tasty, interesting and smooth.
The combination of the fruity rum and Chambord alongside with the subtle spice of the bitters does that admirably; the fruit for the jungles and the spice for the deserts. It’s a drink that goes on a journey, starting light and fruit sweet, then transitioning into more heavy savoury flavours and ending on a light spice note—exceptionally interesting, constantly evolving sip by sip.
And that makes a Skooma: fruit and spice and subtlety and flavour. Definitely one to make you come back for more.
Cheers!
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