7 Cocktails to Make the Game of Thrones Finale Go Down Easier
Photo: Helen Sloan/HBO
So here we are, on the cusp of the Season 5 finale of Game of Thrones. Like Jon Snow, we know nothing about where the show will go in its final outing of the season — the books have long since stopped being a guide — but one thing’s for sure: every viewing party is a little more fun with some drinks.
Regardless of who lives or dies Sunday night, you can be a star with these simple recipes, thanks to Maria Banach of the Polish blog gruszka z fartuszka. Pick your favorite — are you House Lannister or House Stark? — or make them all and watch your friends burst into a drunken rendition of "The Rains of Castamere."(Note: Because these were translated, the amounts were converted from millimeters to ounces, hence the uneven numbers in the ingredients below.)
HOUSE STARK
You’re a Stark if: Your sense of honor is greater than your sense of survival.
Ingredients:
3.4 oz tonic
1 oz gin
1 tablespoon lemon juice
For the decoration:
Fine sugar
Lemon juice
The sugar edge: Pour the sugar into a shallow dish. Rub the edge of the glass with lemon juice, then put the moistened edge into the sugar. Leave it to dry.
In the meantime, pour the tonic into a plastic container and put it in the freezer. When the tonic is completely frozen, crush it with a spoon and add to a martini glass (freezing the glasses is well worth it). Add the lemon juice and gin.
HOUSE LANNISTER
You’re a Lannister if: You always pay your debts.
Ingredients:
0.7 oz grenadine
3.4 oz of mango juice
2.3 oz white rum
Ice
For the decoration:
7 tablespoons of sugar
1.7 oz of date syrup
0.7 oz of water
Pour the water, syrup, and sugar into a small saucepan. Heat on low heat until the mixture turns into a thick caramel (do not mix!). Put the edge of the glass in the syrup. Take it out, holding the glass upside down for a moment, and then put it aside and let it completely solidify.
Pour some ice cubes into a glass. Pour the grenadine, then turn a teaspoon upside down so the convex side is toward the top of the glass. Place it against the side of the glass above the level of the grenadine, then carefully pour the mango juice over the spoon back so two layers are formed. At the end, add the rum.
HOUSE TULLY
You’re a Tully if: Your weddings are to die for.
Ingredients:
1.4 oz of strawberry syrup
1.7 oz Blue Curacao liqueur
Sprite to taste
Ice
Put the ice in a glass. Pour the strawberry syrup, then get another teaspoon and carefully add Blue Curacao to the drink to create two distinct layers as mentioned above. Add Sprite for a little fizz and lightness.
HOUSE BARATHEON
You’re a Baratheon if: You’ll do whatever it takes to fulfill your destiny.
Ingredients:
1.7 oz of water
1.7 oz of honey
1.7 oz gin
1 oz lemon juice
1 oz of fresh orange juice
Ice
For the decoration:
Orange
Lemon
Mix the honey with water and heat it up in a small saucepan. When the mixture boils, take it off the heat and let it cool down. Pour 1 oz of the cold syrup into a shaker. Add the remaining ingredients and thoroughly shake everything together. When they’re combined, pour them into a glass over ice. Add garnish of your choice.
HOUSE TYRELL
You’re a Tyrell if: You’ve got plenty of money to go with your schemes and dreams.
Ingredients:
4 mint leaves
4 basil leaves
1 tablespoon sugar
1.7 oz lime juice
2.7 oz gin
About 1.7-2.7 oz of tonic
Sprite to taste
Ice
For the decoration:
Lime quarters
Mint leaves
Basil leaves
Crush the basil, mint and sugar thoroughly with a mortar in a shaker. Add the lime juice, gin and ice cubes. Shake and pour into a glass. Add some Sprite as a complement. Garnish with lime quarters and the herb leaves.
HOUSE GREYJOY
You’re a Greyjoy if: You always pay the iron price, even at extreme cost.
Ingredients:
1/3 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
3 orange slices
15 ml lemon juice
0.5 oz of Cointreau
2 oz of whiskey
Pour the ginger and the orange into a shaker and crush it. Add the lemon juice, Cointreau and whiskey and thoroughly shake. Pour the drink through a strainer into a glass with ice cubes. (Even better are iced stones, as used for whiskey.)
HOUSE TARGARYEN
You’re a Targaryen if: You possess great power – and maybe a streak of madness.
Ingredients:
Drop of grenadine
1.7 oz of a clear, strong rum
A little bit of a spirit (like a clear, strong Schnapps)
Pour the spirit into the glass and carefully turn the glass so the wall of the glass is covered in alcohol. Pour out the excess. Put a drop of grenadine at the bottom of the glass. Fill with rum. Light it on fire (use a long lighter like you use to light a grill) and, after a moment, blow it out and drink.
H/t to imgur user neatshotsoflife, through whom I found this amazing blog.
