We may never do a perfect parry, but we aspire to perfect pairings. We’ll periodically update our Legend of Zelda cocktails menu with suggested beverages to celebrate your gaming successes, provide liquid courage, or help you cope with defeat. Please remember to drink and play responsibly!
Appletini
Aviation
Blue Lagoon
Banana Daiquiri
Cava Sangria
Chocolate Banana Martini
Chocolate Espresso Martini
Corpse Reviver #1
Demelza’s Demise
Demerara Daiquiri
Itzal in the Glass
½ ounce gin
½ ounce light rum
½ ounce vodka
½ ounce Licor 43
½ triple sec
1 ounce lemon juice (about ¾ fresh lemon, to taste)
2 ounces cola
Mix liquors and lemon juice in a pitcher; stir to combine. Fill an iced tea glass about halfway with ice, pour in liquor mix. Top with cola and garnish with lemon wheel.
Tequila Sour
2 ounces tequila reposado
1 ounce lemon juice
½ ounce lime juice
2 teaspoons agave or simple syrup
2 dashes Angostura bitters
1 egg white
Combine tequila, lemon and lime juices, syrup and one egg white to a cocktail shaker without ice. Shake for fifteen seconds (a dry shake), then add ice and shake again to chill. Top with two dashes bitters and garnish with lime wheel and cherry. Savor the sweet victory over sour moments of play!
Demelza’s Demise
2 ounces Pisco
1 ounce fresh lemon juice
¾ ounce Cointreau
½ ounce passionfruit syrup*
¼ ounce simple syrup
1½ teaspoons pineapple juice
3 dashes lime bitters
Combine all ingredients except bitters in a shaker of ice to chill. Strain into a highball glass with fresh cubed or chopped ice; top with three dashes lime bitters.
*Some passionfruit syrups are lighter than others. With a full-bodied syrup, such as the vibrant passionfruit from Liber & Co. used here, the drink’s flavor profile changes from sour to tropical.
Navy Grog
1 ounce dark rum
1 ounce gold Demerara rum
1 ounce white rum
1 ounce honey syrup (two parts honey to water, heated to combine, then cooled)
¾ ounce club soda
¾ ounce grapefruit juice
¾ ounce lime juice
Add ingredients to a shaker with ice; shake to chill. Strain into a glass filled with fresh crushed ice. Garnish with maraschino cherry and lime wheel skewered together with the Forked Lizal Spear you used to take out the Eventide Hinox.
Elderflower Cranberry Cocktail
2 ounces vodka
2 ounces cranberry juice
1 ounce elderflower liqueur
1 ounce lemon juice
1 teaspoon maple or simple syrup
Combine ingredients in a shaker with ice; strain into glassware of choice (we chose a Triforce tumbler).
Banana Daiquiri
2 ounces aged rum
½ ounce banana liqueur
1 ounce freshly squeezed lime juice
¼ ounce demerara syrup
Garnish: banana slice or edible gold dust
Combine ingredients in a shaker full of ice; shake to chill. Strain into a coupe or tulip glass. Garnish with a banana slice wheel or sprinkle with edible gold dust.
Chocolate Banana Martini
1 ounce chocolate liqueur*
1 ounce banana liqueur* *
2 ounces chilled vodka
Combine ingredients in a shaker full of ice; shake vigorously to chill. Strain into a martini glass and garnish with, oh why the heck not, a plate full of chocolate.
* We used a clear chocolate liqueur here.
** Tempus Fugit Crème de Banane, when we can find it.
The only time I ever enjoyed ironing was the day I accidentally got gin in the steam iron.
—phyllis diller
Picon Punch
2 oz. Torani Amer
1½ oz. soda water
¼ oz. grenadine
½ oz. Dom Benedictine B&B Liqueur
Place ice in a tulip glass (essential for this drink!) and drizzle with grenadine. Add soda water and Torani Amer and stir. Top with B&B and garnish with lemon twist.
Lemon Drop
2 ounces vodka (preferably chilled!)
¾ ounce Cointreau
1 ounce lemon juice, freshly squeezed
¾ ounce simple syrup
Mix ingredients in a shaker full of ice; strain into a chilled glass. Garnish with lemon. If you’re being fancy (we were not), dip the glass rim in lemon juice and roll in sugar…
Why do I drink Champagne for breakfast? Doesn’t everyone?
—Noel Coward
Pomosa
We Zelders love drinks with Champagne, cava, prosecco, et cetera… they’re so celebratory! And, ahem, there’s no stigma attached to enjoying them antemeridian. What’s a brunch without a Champagne Cocktail or a Mimosa? Or fighting a Guardian in the early morning hours without the Mimosa’s cousin, a Pomosa? The color almost matches a Guardian’s red-purple highlights.
This drink couldn’t be simpler: Pour two ounces of pomegranate juice (or to taste) in a flute glass; top with Champagne or other sparkling wine. (You can make it alcohol-forward by using pomegranate liqueur or pomegranate vodka, but beware the effect on perfect parries!)
Corpse Reviver #1
1 ounce cognac
1 ounce Calvados
½ ounce sweet vermouth
Combine ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice and shake to chill. Strain into a coupe or martini glass; sip slowly until revived.
Gin and Tonic
2 ounces gin
4 ounces tonic water
1-2 tablespoons lime juice, to taste
Fill a glass about one-half to two-thirds full of ice. Add the liquid ingredients. Stir. Enjoy. (We certainly do.)
This classic drink should be garnished with a lime wheel. You can also flavor your tonic with blood orange, thyme, basil, or a host of other juices and herbs. Experiment – try one for every dragon and one more for every spring. Then go to bed.
Manhattan
2 parts whiskey or bourbon
1 part sweet vermouth
1-2 dashes bitters
Maraschino cherry
orange peel
Rub an orange peel around the rim of a cocktail glass. Combine the whiskey, vermouth, and bitters in a cocktail shaker with ice. Strain the drink into the glass. Add 1 to 2 maraschino cherries. Feel as if you should be sitting at the Waldorf-Astoria with J. Pierpont Morgan.
Aviation
2 ounces gin
½ ounce maraschino liqueur
¼ ounce crème de violette
¾ ounce freshly squeezed lemon juice
Add all ingredients to a shaker with ice and shake vigorously. Strain into a coupe. Garnish with maraschino or brandied cherry. Wonder what you did wrong that it didn’t transport you to a quaint bar that famous writers and aviators might have frequented.
Vodka is a kind of hobby.
—betty white
Kamikaze
1 ½ ounces vodka
1 ounce triple sec
1 ounce lime juice
This drink is essentially a vodka margarita, so feel free to experiment with the amount of lime juice, depending on your taste.
Simply mix all ingredients, and shake with ice. Strain into the glass of your choice and garnish with a lime wedge.
French 75
The French 75 is named for a
75-millimeter artillery cannon used by the French in World War I. Drinking it while battling Vah Medoh’s cannons made us feel like a true flying ace….no matter what Revali or Teba might say.
1 ounce gin
½ ounce lemon juice
½ ounce simple syrup
3 ounces Champagne (or other sparkling wine)
Shake the gin, juice, and syrup with ice and strain into a champagne flute.
Top with Champagne, and toast your victory.
Whiskey Sour
2 ounces bourbon
¾ to 1 ounce lemon juice (depending on your taste)
¾ ounce simple syrup
Shake all ingredients with ice; serve in an old-fashioned or rocks glass with fresh cubes of ice. Garnish with an orange wheel and/or cocktail cherry.
Cava Sangria
This drink is best begun at least a few hours before you intend to enjoy it; even overnight works. The amounts listed below should yield three to four champagne flutes full, or two highball glasses. You can also whip up a whole pitcher if you keep the cava-to-base ratio.
Making the base: pour one cup Licor 43 (a Spanish liqueur with citrus and vanilla notes) in a pitcher. Slice one lemon and two limes and add to pitcher. Stir in 1-2 ounces of orange juice.
Add a cinnamon stick if you like the flavor. Toss in slices of a green apple if you like! Cover and chill.
When ready to drink — er, serve — strain the liquid into flutes. Add chilled Spanish cava (use prosecco, Champagne, or other sparkling wine if you must) at a ratio of two parts chilled cava to one part base. Enjoy!
You can also mix the whole lot with the cava and serve over ice, fruit included, in highball or other glasses. Toss the cinnamon stick if you go this route; no sense fighting over it.
I distrust camels, and anyone else who can go a week without a drink.
—joe e. lewis
Demerara Daiquiri
2 ounces light rum
I ounce freshly squeezed lime juice
¾ ounce demerara syrup
Add the ingredients to a shaker with ice; shake until well chilled. Serve in a coupe with a lime twist or wheel. NOTE: you can use regular simple syrup instead of demerara but…why?
Key Lime Pie Martini
1½ ounces Licor 43
1½ ounces vodka
1 ounce pineapple juice
1 ounce half and half
Shake all ingredients with ice and serve in a martini glass. Garnish with a lime wheel or sprinkle crushed graham crackers on top. Our version, pictured at left, is graham- and hence gluten-free. (Come to think of it, we were lazy that day, and thus it’s also garnish-free.)
Alcohol gives you infinite patience for stupidity.
— SAMMY DAVIS, JR.
Blue Lagoon
1 ounce blue curaçao
1 ounce vodka
4 ounces lemonade
Shake curaçao and vodka with ice. Strain into a highball glass or something tall and sleek if you’ve got it.
Add ice and lemonade, stir lightly to combine. Enjoy!
Lost Bank Martini
We roamed all over the Tumlea Heights, even shooting a flaming arrow to a lantern on the opposite bank at a narrow point of Bloodleaf Lake, all in our quest to return blue fire to the Akkala Ancient Tech Lab. Hence, the name of this cocktail, modeled after its Left Bank cousin.
1 ½ ounce gin
1 ounce elderflower liqueur
1 ½ ounce sauvignon blanc
1 ounce fresh lemon juice
1 ounce simple syrup
Combine ingredients in a shaker of ice, shake lightly and then strain into a martini glass or, if you have one, a glass inspired by the blue flames of Hateno and Akkala.
Electricity is actually made up of extremely tiny particles called electrons that you cannot see with the naked eye unless you have been drinking.
— Dave Barry
Electric Iced Tea
This variation on the Long Island Iced Tea isn’t for the faint of heart, but the Faron Tower and quests to retrieve the Rubber Armor required copious amounts of cocktails, so there it is. We have no shame about this.
½ ounce vodka
½ ounce light rum
½ ounce tequila
½ ounce gin
½ ounce limoncello
1 ounce sour mix
1 ounce lemon lime soda
Pour ingredients into a highball or collins glass. Add ice and stir well. Garnish with lemon, and tackle that tower!
like the glass they were served in.
NOTE: If Electric Iced Tea is too booze-forward for your taste, try an Electric Lemonade. Combine 2 ounces vodka, 1 ounce limoncello, and 1 ounce sour mix. Top with lemon lime soda to taste.
Appletini
Verdant, tart, and refreshing — perfect for losing oneself in the woods.
- 1 ½ ounce vodka
- ½ ounce green apple schnapps
- ¼ ounce lemon juice
- Apple slice to garnish
Mix ingredients with ice, shake or stir, then strain into a martini glass and garnish.
Elderflower Champagne Cocktail
Serve upon discovering the first Great Fairy:
1 ounce elderflower* liqueur
1 ounce gin
1/2 – 1 ounce lemon juice (to taste)
1/2 simple syrup
3 ounces Champagne
Mix all ingredients except Champagne in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake vigorously. Strain into flute, top with Champagne. Garnish with lemon twist, sprig of rosemary, or a tendril of Silent Princess if you’re feeling brave.
*Elderflower’s name makes it particularly appealing to Zelders. It will appear in several of our cocktails.
There comes a time in every woman’s life when the only thing that helps is a glass of Champagne.
— bette davis
We were assisted by Pisco Sours.
Mix the pisco, syrup, juice, and egg white in a cocktail shaker. Add ice and shake vigorously so the egg white foams. Strain into an old-fashioned glass or coupe and top with bitters. Serve immediately. (Note: consuming raw egg white poses a risk for food-borne illness.)
Pisco Sour
Pisco is a type of brandy produced in Chile and Peru. Perfect when you need a lift, or when you’re seeking the appropriate gear for climbing a tower!
- 2 ounces Pisco brandy
- 1 ounce simple syrup
- 3/4 ounce key lime juice (or substitute regular juice)
- 1 egg white
- 2 or 3 dashes bitters
Chocolate Espresso Martini
Upon awakening from a 100-year slumber, or any time you need to be alert (pretty much always in Hyrule), assemble the following:
2 ounces vodka
1 ounce chocolate liqueur
1 ounce half-and-half
1 shot of espresso
Combine ingredients in a shaker of ice. Strain into a suitable glass and float a coffee bean on top, if you have any. (Try searching under any suspicious rocks in your pantry.)
Mai Tai
When you’re headed for the coast, embrace the tiki lifestyle:
1 1/2 ounces white rum
3/4 ounce orange curaçao or triple sec
3/4 ounce lime juice
1/2 ounce orgeat
3/4 ounce pineapple juice
1/2 – 1 ounce dark rum (to taste)
Add all ingredients except dark rum in shaker with crushed ice. Shake lightly. Pour into an old-fashioned or highball glass. Float the dark rum on top. Garnish with a lime wheel, slice of pineapple, or orchid flower.
No amount of physical contact could match the healing powers of a well made cocktail.
—david sedaris
Old Fashioned
Recommended when questing with Impa and Purah.
- 2 tsps simple syrup (or one sugar cube)
- 1 tsp water
- 2 dashes bitters
- 1 ½ ounces bourbon
- 1 orange twist
Stir the syrup, water, and bitters (dissolve the cube if you use one) in an old-fashioned glass. Add one large ice cube or a handful of smaller cubes. Pour the bourbon over the ice, stir, and garnish with twist. Add a maraschino cherry if you’re feeling festive.
Margarita
- 2 ounces tequila (blanco o reposado work best)
- Juice of one lime, about 1 ounce
- 1/2 ounce orange liqueur (Cointreau o Triple Sec; but if you use Cointreau, add 1/2 ounce simple syrup)
- Salt for the rim of your glass (optional)
Mix the three liquid ingredients, stir, and serve over ice. Garnish with lime wedge (or a jalapeño skewer). For variations on this theme, try adding agave syrup or a fruit-flavoring syrup or juice for fun!