After a long day killing and/or dominating various orcs and uruks, even an undead ranger with the spirit of an Elven wraith could do with a drink.
How to make the Wraith & Ranger
You’ll need:
- 200ml chilled Guinness draught
- 200ml chilled hard dry apple cider
- 15ml sambuca
- Pour the cider into a tall pint glass.
- Carefully layer the Guinness on top using the back of a spoon.
- Add the sambuca from a height (about 10cm or so). Mind the splash!
- Serve.
Be especially careful when layering the Guinness; it’s very easy to miss the spoon or fail to slow down the liquid enough, especially if you are using a pint glass. The densities are different enough that a little bit of a muck-up can be fixed, but remember that slowly does it!
Based on the Poor Man’s Black Velvet.
Variations
- Witch King: Replace the cider with dry champagne and put the Guinness in first.
- Orc & Uruk: Replace the sambuca with Black Strap rum.
- Dunedain: Make a Witch King but replace the sambuca with blueberry liqueur.
To make your own variations, try replacing the sambuca with fruit liqueurs. Blueberry and raspberry are a good place to start. The apple cider can be switched out for pear, or even other ciders if you’re feeling adventurous. Lastly, remember that Guinness is a stout: try out some other brands or types (such as chocolate stout) and see what you make of it.
Cider and Guinness? Really?
Yes, really! This drink, which is a variation of the Poor Man’s Black Velvet, combines the wonderful astringency of cider and the smooth texture of Guinness to create something with all the best features of both. Think of it like a Guinness fruit cake in a glass, with a kick of sambuca to bring out the latent sweetness of the cider and the licorice of the Guinness.
It might be a strange combination, but Guinness cocktails actually have some serious pedigree to them. In fact, the original Black Velvet (equal parts Guinness and champagne) first appeared as far back as 1861 at Brooks’s Club in London.
The original Black Velvet (equal parts Guinness and champagne) first appeared as far back as 1861.
History buffs will know that this was around about the time that the entire United Kingdom was in mourning for the death of Prince Albert. Everyone and everything was wearing black, and the resident bartender at Brooks’s decided that the champagne should be no different. So, he threw some Guinness into the champagne to turn it black, and the rest is history.
Not everyone can afford champagne, of course, so the working class of the UK and Ireland decided to replace the champagne with sparkling cider instead; that’s hard cider for you Yanks. I highly recommend trying them both; the difference in flavour is enormous and they are so easy to make.
Talion and Celebrimbor might disagree on a lot of things, but I bet they’d both be fans of this particular tipple. Maybe you are too! Let me know in the comments below, and make a suggestion on what game cocktail you’d like made next!