Romance Cocktails

with Katey Hawthorne

It’s almost GRL time—the most wonderful time of the year! Well, close, anyhow. GRL means celebrating LGBTQ romance, obviously, but let’s not even pretend: it also means parties. Parties do not require alcohol, clearly… but there’s a lot around. And I’m planning on packing some of my own just to have in the room, since running out when the bar closes is totally not an option.

In this spirit (ha! Sorry, punny…), I’ve decided to put together a list of drinks that can apply to different romance sub-genres. I hope it’s as useful to you as I plan on it being for me at in Chicago this year. These were glaned from all over the net.

Adventure

When I think adventure, I think high seas—okay maybe it’s a little outdated, but come on. What better answer than Black Privateer Punch? To make a small bowl of it:

7.5 oz 100 proof spiced rum

10 oz red wine

7.5 oz cherry juice

10 oz cola

10 pieces each of orange, lemon, and lime

A mess of cherries

Pour that into a wine glass over some ice and… yep. Sounds like an adventure to me.

Contemporary

Ah, the old staple, but always with a new twist. For just such an occasion we require a revamped classic, I’m thinking the gin and tonic’s cousin, the Gin Rickey. Start with a Collins glass full of crushed ice, then add…

Half a lime, squeezed

2 oz dry gin

Chilled club soda

For some options, try a splash of simple syrup or—my favorite, and great for those who want a little kick—garnish with a green chili with one end cut off to let the spice out. Had it like that once in Pondicherry, and lemme tell you, it’s to die for.

Erotic

Speaking of spicy, yeah. We’re doing this. I found this recipe for a blood orange and jalapeno whiskey cocktail and… y’all. I need it. Check it out. This will be the only one on this list I have not actually already tried, if only because blood oranges are not in season right now but. Man. Need. Mighty need.

Fantasy

You know how it is. You’re hanging out in a tavern with your buddies and along comes an elven princess who needs you to go on a quest. You fall in love with one of your buddies. You fight dragons. You fight each other. You make up. You screw. You live happily ever after. And what’s the best thing to drink while you’re having your fantasy romance?

Ale, clearly. Or stout. Or—wait. Both! Go for the Black and Tan, my friends:

Fill a glass halfway with pale ale (I like Bass, as is traditional), then gently—over an upside-down tablespoon if you want to get really safe—pour the stout (I like Guinness—again, traditional!) on top for a layered treat that’ll fuel all your dragon-fighting needs.

Gothic

All right, look, I’m not gonna lie, I love absinthe. This cocktail comes from a long ago recommendation by my friend Zoe E. Whitten, and I don’t know what it’s called, but it’s exceptional. And utterly perfect for curling up with a Gothic romance and feeling all, you know, Cathy in Northanger Abbey swoony.

I like to use an absinthe glass because it has the bubble in the bottom, but you can use whatever you like. Add…

2 oz Absinthe

4-6 oz Chinotto soda

Ice to taste

If you can’t find chinotto soda, try your local import shop—I used to get the San Pelligrino brand at an Italian deli in DC, and I’m looking for a place to get it in Ohio now I’ve moved! (Please email me if you know a place, oh man…)

Historical

My friends, I have tried many, many different versions of the mint julep in my time. I recommend this one. Yeah, I know, it’s a very American-style historical, but hey. Simple, elegant, fresh, and man, bourbon is the best.

Mystery

Curling up with a romance-meets-mystery is one of life’s greatest pleasures. You know what else is? Dumping some whiskey (or whisky, but I tend toward Bushmills so we’re using the ‘e’) in your hot chocolate.

So yep. That. That’s what I’m going with. Mmmmm, fall cocktails for the win.

Paranormal

Cream-based cocktails are difficult. They’re great when you’re just having one or two, but if you want to pull an all-nighter, probably not the best decision you’ll ever make. Then again, when is pulling an all-nighter ever a good choice? What the hell, let’s go for it!

Count on HGTV to bring us the Liquefied Ghost cocktail. Personally, I think you can just use vanilla vodka and plain simple syrup, to make life easier, but what do I know? (No really tho, I tried it, it was amazing.)

Sci-Fi

As a lifelong sci-fi fan, raised on Star Trek and Dune, the moment I discovered my very first sci-fi cocktail is etched in my mind forever. No, don’t worry, I’m not trying to bring you all the Klingon Blood Wine to totally mess you up while you go and read those fabulous intergalactic stowaway romances. Instead, I bring you the delightfully blue Andorian Ale:

2oz raspberry vodka

1oz blue curacao

Mint sprig

Optional: top off with some Sprite

… if not for the mint thing, which I can’t really imagine will make it safely up to Chicago, this would be the one I’d have in my room at the ready during GRL. I don’t even write sci-fi, technically, though I guess superpowers could be considered as much? I could pretend it was an electric cocktail? Whatever, it’s amazing!

So I hope this has inspired you like it’s inspired me, y’all. See you next month, with the appropriate drinks!

About In Distress

Book 6 in the Superpowered Love Series

Hopeless romantic Eddie Kim acts out his favorite ‘rescued by the white knight’ fantasies through weekly D&D campaigns, but had almost given up hope of ever getting a real one. Then Callum, a mysterious red-head with freezing superpowers and a memorable kiss, saves him from a house but disappears without a trace. Taking pity on him, Eddie’s friends look to craiglist to relocate his hero.

Unfortunately, the publicity brings down the kind of attention Callum Race been trying to avoid; he’s in town to try and clear his family name, and now the dangerous superpowered organization he needs to thwart know he’s come home again. Still, he can’t help following up with Eddie.

The heat between Callum and Eddie flares instantly, and Eddie insists on helping to undo the damage his romantic notions have done. The problem: that will mean becoming embroiled in a nefarious plot, not to mention a superpowered world Eddie didn’t even know existed a week ago. The ‘bad guys’ will try to trick and use him, and in the meantime he has to convince Cal to trust him enough to be the white knight for once–and for real–instead of the perpetual damsel in distress.

Available at: Loose Id, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and All Romance eBooks

About Katey Hawthorne