So I was going through a couple of drink-recipe websites and, on a whim, started looking to see if there were any superhero-themed cocktails. And yes, there are. However, the results are disappointing.
For example, the most common recipe for a Batman is grenadine and orange juice. Which, while cute (a nonalcholic cocktail for Batman, very “ginger ale pretending to be champagne”) fails the obvious test of getting drunk. Also, let’s be honest, Batman needs TWO drinks.
The Bruce Wayne: Should be a playboyish, manly cocktail, a la those drinks they keep making up for Bond films.
The Batman: Should be dark in colour and hit you like a freight train.
There are numerous drinks for “Superman,” most of which are shots and a few of which play off the red/blue colour scheme. This seems wrong. A Superman should be a down-homey old-school sort of mixed drink, like a screwdriver or Irish Coffee – something your granddad would drink when he wanted something mixed rather than just a beer or a tumbler of whiskey. But with a single exotic ingredient.
After that there are a paucity of drink options. There is nothing worth a damn called a “Spider-Man,” for example. No good “Iron Man.” (“Pick five bottles from the bar at random by pointing with your eyes closed. Pour half an ounce from each into a glass. Drink. Order six more.”) No “Hulk.” The only “Wolverine” sounds disgusting (two shots of Bacardi Limon dumped into a pint of lager).
There’s one “Green Lantern,” playing off the color with melon liquor, but it seems insufficient somehow. The only “Captain America” seems wrong (Southern Comfort, amaretto, cranberry juice and rum?). A “Wonder Woman” is… well, what you’d expect (a bunch of fruit juices and fruit liquors, seemingly selected at random). A “Joker” has a distinct lack of purple or green.
The only recipe for a Constantine has Zima in it, for fuck’s sake.
Occasionally you find one obviously not comic-inspired that works. A “Fire and Ice,” for example, is quite apropos (half and half of cinnamon schnapps and peppermint liqueur). The “Blue Devil” (Blue Caracao, obviously, with gin and lemon) works too. A “Black Widow” both looks and tastes appropriate (float Blavod black vodka on top of cranberry juice).
Note that not every superhero name works as a cocktail name. A “Donna Troy” would just be a sad, sad joke. In fact pretty much every character who’s ever been a Titan would be a sad, sad joke. If the superhero has “man,” “woman,” “boy,” or “girl” in their name, they’d better be goddamned iconic or nobody will ever order that drink because they will sound like an idiot. (So no Frog-man, Beast Boy or Saturn Girl, for starters.) Cocktail names should be memorable.
But come on, there should be drinks for all of the following, as they would sound right being said in a bar:
Phantom Stranger (far and away number one on the “should be a drink” list)
Oracle
Cyclops
Doctor Strange
Black Bolt
Haunted Tank
Ghost Rider
Shining Knight
Ever-Lovin’ Blue-Eyed Thing
UPDATE: John, in comments, writes
the Dr. Strange should be just a dry martini (gin and not vodka, I think) with an unusual garnish (a la a Gibson).
This sounds almost exactly right to me, although there is an argument that the martini be a vodka one instead given that Strange, while urbane, is still American, and that’s always said “vodka” to me rather than “gin” (which has strong Brit connotations). Of course, taste should be the final definition, and if it is a vodka martini, the vodka should be really good vodka – I’d go with Chopin, but at a minimum Ketel One or Grey Goose, no Absolut or Stoli in a Dr. Strange, thank you very much.
As for the garnish? I’m going to say a thick slice of apple, which only gets used in appletinis (ugh). But I think it can complement a martini very nicely when there’s no sweet liqueur involved – a touch of sweetness and tartness to counterbalance the toughness and elegance of the martini is very Stephen Strange.
Also, calling vodka and Red Bull a “Deadpool” is brilliant. Keep it coming, folks.
UPDATE TWO: From email:
A Phantom Stranger needs to be a drink where one type of alcohol “ghosts” into the second – you know, seems to hang suspended within the first. But I don’t know how to do that.
Well, there’s two ways that I can think of to do that. The first way is to do the opposite of layering – for a layered shot or drink, you pour the heaviest component first, then the next heaviest, and so on. This prevents mixing. However, if you pour the lighter alcohol first and then pour in the heavier booze, it will plunge into the first. Ideally you want a second liquor only slightly heavier than your first, and a colored liquor being poured into a clear one.
The second way is to make a cloudy drink by taking something you don’t traditionally shake (such as a cream liqueur like Bailey’s or Amarula), making your recipe and shaking it. The cream liqueur will dissipate. However, this can just look gross rather than cool if you mix it wrong.
Both tricks require a reasonably experienced bartender, though. I can do the first, but not the second, so I am leaning towards the first method. Off to look at layering charts!
UPDATE THREE:
(suggested in email, and I’m pretty sure it works)
Phantom Stranger: Chilled cocktail glass. Pour 1 oz white Curacao into glass. Pour 1/2 oz white creme de cacao into the white Curacao, making sure not to smooth out the pour by bouncing it off the side of the glass or a demitasse spoon. Garnish with either an orange slice or a sliver of shaved chocolate. Serve immediately.
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OMG MGK, that is the sickest twist ever in our relationship.
I was just going to beg you to explain Arsenic for me:
http://fullbodytransplant.wordpress.com/2008/11/23/who-is-gertrude-yorkes/
Num Num Num Num Num Indeed.
What, no “Hex” (all I could come up with was the lame “cheap whiskey in a chipped glass likely to cut you”)? Or how about the “Marvel,” which would never have a set recipe, but any drink which the establishment owner absurdly overhypes.
I’m not good with mixed drinks, since when I drink it’s usually just something over ice, but the Dr. Strange should be just a dry martini (gin and not vodka, I think) with an unusual garnish (a la a Gibson). The Black Bolt should be made with Jager, since when I drink it I always make the “silent cough” face BB makes when he knocks down a mountain. The Cyclops should be equal parts red wine cut and soda water.
Hmm. I think there’s an obvious spot here for Villain drinks too. I would TOTALLY drink Lex Luthors, and neon green superman-killing cocktails are right up my alley.
Also, for Titans, while I partially agree, I think there’s room for a Batman And Robin, wherein a small red and green shot can be followed by the Batman end of things.
I will totally buy liquor for this party. And I have probably a month off in January. Maybe something can be arranged in T.O.
Invincible sounds like a shooter idiot frat boys would do.
All the heroes of Watchmen work for drinks, to a greater or lesser degree, but Nite Owl and Silk Specter stand out as sounding like good names.
Iron Fist would be something powerful but complicated, like a set of well executed Kung-Fu moves.
Manchester Black sounds right for a real ale. In fact, i would be shocked if it wasn’t one already.
Firestorm would be… on fire. And red.
Omega Red could be a vodka based alcopop easily i think.
This is fun!
You know, no one name has ever been able to stick to vodka and Red Bull. It’d be perfect for a character who’s energetic and a bit hard to control. “I’ll have an Impulse?” “Two Guy Gardners, please?” “Deadpools, and don’t stop bringing ’em.” Ahh, nothing’s quite right. Lord Elsworth is right, though, there definitely should be a Nite-Owl, and it should be coffee-based, no?
And whatever the Phantom Stranger is, it should be considered “in character” to (ahem) make it disappear when its owner turns his back for a moment.
Funny you should mention: some several months ago, we started working up a cocktail series based on Legionnaires (Waid version) (that was what happened to be sitting on the bar at the time). But I could not make a Brainiac because I had no chartreuse or blue curacao, and Midori is just the wrong green. So it sort of died a-borning.
Booster Gold is definitely just an energy drink.
@Garfield: isn’t a vodka and Red Bull just a Warren Ellis?
Here’s my recipe for a John Constantine(much improved, in my opinion):
One (1) bottle of gin
Drink it. Order three more.
the incredible hulk is a fairly popular drink, depending on how popular hpnotic is in your neck of the woods. it’s a mix of equal parts hennessy and hpnotiq. it’s been mentioned in a ton of songs and was all the rage when hpno first dropped.
outside of the color of the drink, it’s supposed to power you up like gamma rays.
it is not good.
here’s a vid of somebody making one. careful, this guy is obvs a professional – http://www.eatdrinkordie.com/videos/48d7cbfdad/incredible-hulk-drink-of-the-day-from-steve-calabro-drink-slinger.
The Gotham is a solid, stiff, classic-tasting cocktail, similar to the Sazerac.
You’ll need 3 oz. brandy, 1 tsp absinthe, 3 dashes peach bitters. Coat a chilled cocktail glass with the absinthe, shake the brandy and bitters with cracked ice, and strain into the glass. Garnish with a lemon twist. (You’ll notice I make some changes to the linked recipe, which doesn’t include enough absinthe to get a good coat, doesn’t call for the brandy and bitters to be shaken, and doesn’t use a cocktail glass, all of which are so, so wrong.
The White Spider is another classic, although fercrissakes skip the simple syrup. You could make a Blue Spider with blue curaçao, or a Red Spider using 0.25 oz. Cointreau, 0.25 oz Campari, and a splash of cranberry.
Asking for a Preacher would be weird, but I bet I’d like it.
Others I think fit: Galactus, Dr. Fate, Solomon Grundy, and of course, Punisher.
Also, the Brainiac would be so strong they’d call it Brainache.
PS: The Brainiac would have LSD in it.
Also, the cocktail that Bond drinks in Quantum of Solace, that he pretends not to know the name of, is the same one he invented in Casino Royale. (David Edelstein, who is otherwise my favorite film critic, misses this in his review.) The cocktail was actually invented by Ian Fleming and it’s a refreshing change from the pre-Craig bonds where he’s seen drinking a vodka “martini” (i.e., a drink that is not a martini at all, and something no self-respecting Englishman would ever even consider). Anyway, the drink from Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace has been dubbed the Vesper, and it’s great. Although you can’t get Kina Lillet anymore, so make sure you add the Angostura bitters. And you can safely replace the vodka with more gin — it’s basically just a martini with a Lillet instead of dry vermouth and Angostura bitters instead of orange bitters.
For an Oracle drink, I’m really tempted to just suggest absinthe. It’s green, with a complicated little ritual involved, legendarily associated with clarity of mind and creativity, plus its nickname is “The Green Fairy.”
For the truly obsessive — a taste test comparing modern Lillet Blanc, Jean de Lillet (hard to get outside of France), and Cocchi Americano, which apparently tastes most like the classic Kina Lillet Ian Fleming had in mind.
See, it seems to me that a variant of “Iron Man” would be appropriate for “The Hellblazer”.
Pick out the drinks at random, trust the bartender way more than you should, keep the shots coming even when you know you shouldn’t, alienate all your friends with drunken jackassery, and suffer thoroughly afterwords.
And always count on that one friend with a car to get you home.
A Booster Gold should be Goldschlager plus blueberry schnapps, right?
And somewhat appropriately, the only drink recipe that I can find that combines those drinks (with several others) is called a Fuck You.
Man, I’ve been beaten to the punch with Oracle and Booster (and I had similar ideas.) This would be so much easier if I knew more about mixology.
A Blue Beetle should include Bombay Sapphire, something sweet, and just a splash of tequila.
A Power Girl should be some established “girl drink” plus a huge hit of bourbon. (“Wonder Woman” could also use some variant on this.)
A Wolverine should be a Molson and vodka.
The Colossus: Three shots of vodka in one gulp from a stainless steel tumbler.
The Blue Beetle: Blue curacao and tequila.
The Molly Hayes: It’s like a Shirley Temple, only the sprite is swapped out for the Smirnoff Ice variety of your choice. Also, you must be wearing a ridiculous hat.
The Grant Morrison: A nice Scottish ale, in which you have steeped some psychedelic mushrooms for three to five minutes. Write down your thoughts until you’re mauled by the werewolf.
The problem I have with a Wolverine mixed drink is that Wolverine just isn’t a mixed drink kind of guy. Anything other than cheap German beer just seems out of character.
Penance – a Bloody Mary that’s approximately half tabasco.
The Punisher – Whisky; dash of strychnine.
The Mephisto – a drinking game. Order drinks for the writers of Spider-Man. Everyone loses.
Okay, how about Wolverine is a draft beer and a shot of cheap whiskey, the showglass contains a small pickled onion with 3 toothpick ‘claws’ in it.
Bonus if you shoot it with claws in.
My friends and I created a “Transmetropolitan” once. It went down okay, about about five seconds after you swallowed it, your testicles felt like they were crammed up into your stomach.
Unfortunately, no one thought to right down what we’d put in it.
See, a Transmetropolitan should be a Metropolitan gone insane. Like, take the basic Metropolitan recipe, but substitute the brandy, say, for… oh, I dunno, let’s say applejack, or Calvados, or grappa.
Alternately, you could substitute the sweet vermouth for something like Hpnotiq or Goldschlager or Midori. These would have the added benefit of upping the alcohol content of the drink, which is very Spider Jerusalem.
It’s hard to construct an appropriate Joker, because the specific gravities are wrong. What you’d really want is something that starts like a classic fun drink, then kills you. The problem is that the really deadly drinks have a lot of alcohol, and so tend to layer towards the top instead of the bottom.
Ideally you’d want a layer of Midori, a layer of Creme de Violette, then a layer of overproof vodka or something at the bottom. The problem, of course, is that 100 proof vodka wants to float, not sink. Hmm….
So a Superman would be what–Southern Comfort and Jack Daniels with a tiny bit of Grand Mariner floated on top?
A Spiderman would have to be based on an ‘old-lady’ type drink, given that Spidey’s mostly lived with Aunt May. Say, take something seriously old-fashioned like an Aviation, then mutate it?
2oz Gin
1/2 oz Lemon Juice
2tsp Maraschino liqueur
1tsp Creme de Violette
Shake with ice, strain into cocktail glass
Float 1/2 oz Irish Creame on top. Drip a few drops of Grenadine through for “webbing.”
Wonder woman’s a classical Greek type–say base it on Ouzo, add a dash of Galliano and a bay leaf?
A Black Bolt should be something that sears your throat so you can’t talk. So: Aftershock Black and something obscenely alcoholic like Koskenkorva Vodka (the 60% variety) or Polish Spirit.
Also: no Jean Grey suggestions? Ideally this would be something that seems innocuous at first, until you try to get up, and suddenly find you’ve lost control of your legs. Then you taste it again the next morning on the way out…
The Hulk:
1 shot Irish Cream.
1 shot Lime Juice.
Pour them in separate glasses, drink both at once and hold them in your mouth while the cream liquor curdles into chunks.
(It’s normally called a “cement mixer”. And it’s surprisingly tasty, despite having a terrible texture. But it’s green and grey and gets larger and more solid when you drink it – that’s The Hulk!)
Llelldorin:
What you’d really want is something that starts like a classic fun drink, then kills you.
What you want, then, is something where the high alcohol content is pretty much totally hidden until your legs fall off.
And since we also want “brightly coloured” and “fruity flavoured”, why not go with Jello shooters? Or Tequila+ Snapple Lemonade (the alcohol is invisible there! Evil!), or Cott Nectar, lemon, and vodka?
Spectre
Eclipso
Dr. Mid-Nite
Captain Cold
Black Canary
Wildcat
The Doomsday: 1 shot Bacardi 151, 1 shot Stroh Rum, 1 shot Everclear.
Call 911 before consumption. This shit’ll kill Superman.
I actually found a “Daredevil”
1 oz Bacardi® 151 rum
fill with 1/2 orange juice
fill with 1/4 cranberry juice
fill with 1/4 pineapple juice
1/2 oz Myer’s® dark rum
1 splash 7-Up® soda
UGH. Too fruity.
Daredevil would have to be something deep and spicy, reflecting the gritty nature of Hell’s Kitchen, and strong enough to make you go blind.
I’m not a mixologist, but here goes.
Two parts Campari (a red liquor), one part Goldschlager (little flakes of yellow gold), and a splash of peppermint schnaps.
It’s red and gold, cinnamon/peppermint spicy and just slightly bittersweet…
Add a cherry with a toothpick through it to turn it into a “Karen Page”.
The Nightcrawler
Saw this one somewhere: it’s dark blue and will have you crawling up the walls and jumping every-damn-where.
1 can Blue Demon energy drink
6 shots espresso
3 shots vodka
I think the Doctor Strange is straight-up vodka with a splash of vermouth (which, as has been pointed out, is not a martini), with a single hot clove skewered on an incense stick.
@John: I’ve heard your “Hulk”/Cement mixer referred to as the Blowjob’s revenge.
I’d always thought Batman would dig a Manhattan without the cherry, while Bruce Wayne mixes champagne with something -way- harder.
Since there’s no point to Superman’s drinking, as I’d presume he can’t get drunk, I wouldn’t have thought of a drink for him.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incredible_Hulk_(drink)
Turns out there is a hulk drink.
This sounds almost exactly right to me, although there is an argument that the martini be a vodka one instead given that Strange, while urbane, is still American, and that’s always said “vodka” to me rather than “gin” (which has strong Brit connotations).
This is crazy-talk. Cocktail mixing is an American art form, dating back to at least the early 19th century. Gin was an essential ingredient in many early cocktails, and is of course used in many of the classics.
Vodka was virtually unknown in America until after WWII. It is not used in any classic cocktails. It is basically useless for cocktail-making because it is, by law, “without distinctive character, aroma, taste or color.” Vodka cocktails are for philistines. Dr. Strange is no philistine.
Crap vodka certainly is, but I challenge anybody to drink a fine sipping vodka like Chopin or Zyr and tell me it doesn’t have a distinctive character and flavour.
Well, I don’t know much about mixology, but this is too cool an idea to pass up.
Nightwing: something dark and bitter. This should be chased by a Starfire, which is orange and packs a kick. Alternately, chase it with an Oracle, which is like a Batman, only it has a cranberry garnish and is mixed with chipped ice to take its legs out.
Supergirl: something sweet mixed with something not aged nearly long enough. Should pack a surprisingly strong punch.
Phoenix: Something involving cinnamon schnapps. Don’t drink unless you feel like throwing up later, because you will be seeing it again.
Wolverine: Open up a can of Molson. Drink it. Repeat until you can’t remember your own name.
Squirrel Girl: almond liqueur+orange juice (basically, a fuzzy navel, but with almond liqueur instead of peach schnapps. It’s a bit nutty and a bit sunny.)
(Yes, I realizes this breaks your “must be iconic” rule, but Squirrel Girl actually sounds like a name for a cocktail. Also, I should give the obvious “I don’t actually drink much alcohol, so I have no idea how these would actually taste in practice” warning.)
I took the liberty…
I just discovered this last night, and I now realize that it should be called a Green Lantern.
Absinthe and ginger ale.
Proportions are up to the individual drunk; I favor a 1:5 ratio myself. This is proper absinthe, mind you, not the fake stuff. But it works better than you’d expect. The licorice flavor and the mellow sweetness of the soft drink, the 120-proof madness and the stomach-settling ginger.
Absinthe in its traditional form is the Green Fairy, an otherworldly feminine entity of temptation and hallucination. This is more masculine, more accessible, more contemporary, but still going to put you on another fuckin’ planet.
The Green Lantern.
There’s a columnist for Gourmet who created a Green Lantern earlier this year, but after seeing the photo (and pending a tryout of Noah Brand’s idea) I think this should be the Swamp Thing:
http://www.gourmet.com/food/2008/06/the_recipe_greenlantern
I haven’t tried Chopin yet, but I’ve tried Grey Goose and Ketel and other comparable vodkas, and the only perceptible difference between those and bottom-shelf vodka is in the quality of the water used. Vodka is distilled until it is almost pure alcohol (96-97%) and then cut with water, so the taste of the added water accounts for the vast majority of the variation between vodka brands. This is not unimportant — I mean, you could plausibly argue that Evian has a distinctive character and flavor too. But that doesn’t mean it’s going to stand up to vermouth or bitters or citrus or other typical cocktail ingredients.
Vodka is best on its own, ice-cold, in a chilled shot glass.
Also, in blind tastings, low-end vodkas like Smirnoff routinely do better than boutique vodkas. Case in point.
There is an Incredible Hulk.
3 oz. chilled Hypnotiq, with 3 oz. of chilled Hennessy. It’s not a dark green, and granted, it tastes a bit fruity, but that’s the beauty of the drink. Sure, it seems all weak and “sissy-fied”, but it only takes a couple and you will get SMASHED.
…
Just noticed that a few other people have brought it up, with one saying that it’s not good. To that I say it really depends on who’s making it, because a good one has just the right balance to level out Hypnotiq’s usually too sweet taste.
Also, just found a real nice recipe for Kryptonite.
* 1 oz. Curacao, blue
* 1 oz. Rum, overproof/151 proof
* 1 oz. Sour Apple Pucker
* 1 oz. Sour Watermelon Pucker
* Fill with Red Bull
You build this in a hurricane glass, and it just sounds like it will destroy you.
While staying clear of the “Gin vs. Vodka” argument, can I recommend a slice of Pink Lady apple as the garnish?
It just seems correct with Strange’s reputation as a ladies man, and it has a nice tart sweetness that would compliment a drink nicely.
“The White Spider is another classic, although fercrissakes skip the simple syrup. You could make a Blue Spider with blue curaçao, or a Red Spider using 0.25 oz. Cointreau, 0.25 oz Campari, and a splash of cranberry.”
A _Scarlet_ Spider. I mean, comeon.
I’m betting the Constantine contains Zima because it’s not actually legal to make someone a drink with lighter fluid in it.
A _Scarlet_ Spider. I mean, comeon.
D’oh.
No idea what to put in it (I’m no good at mixology, though I want to try some of these), but my friend was wondering what drink would be named after the famous Marvel character originally though to be Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver’s father: i.e., Robert Frank … the Whizzer.
Oracle is Barbara Gordon, right?
…Shouldn’t it just be a Paralyzer?
I can’t believe there hasn’t been a “woman in refrigerator” of some kind yet…
Oh, I just thought. Rorschach should be something very, very sweet and clear, with a drop of black food colouring in it, served immediately while the drop keeps swirling around.
What about the Bizarro?
And the Haunted Tank should have Southern Comfort, obviously, but what else? A bit of Kaluha?
No way am I drinking anything called a Manhunter, btw. But a Thor…that might be fun…..
The Cyclops: A shot of peppermint Schnapps, with a thin layer of Campari resting on the top. Like Cyclops, you’ll either love it or hate it.
I found this and this a while back, haven’t tried any yet, but they sound good to me.
I contend that the Rorschach should taste horrible, so whatever variant of Jägermeister and milk looks right.
The Spider-Man should be a mixture of white whine and cherry soda.
The Joker should be absinthe and lime kool-aid.
The Lobo: Jagermeister and ipecac. nuff said.
I don’t drink, so I order a Bruce Wayne when I go out… ginger ale in a champagne glass.
the Hellblazer:
1 oz absinthe
1 oz gin
ice
serve in glass with salt-n-vinegar on the rim.
the Demon Constantine:
1 oz absinthe
1 oz gin
serve in glass with salt and vinegar on the rim
drop in shot of Jaegermeister
Drink down QUICK.
the Joker:
Blueberry puree
White chocolate liquour
a thin layer of absinthe on top
Serve with purple and/or green umbrella