Cocktails delivered by broomstick? We hope so.
World-famous wizard Harry Potter would be 40 years old now. Chances are he’s now got a beard to go with the signature glasses and is probably big into craft beer and cocktails made from distilled, foraged roots. I think I spotted him falling out of a bar in the Northern Quarter the other week. He should know better by now.
The team set about re-watching the films, reading the books and exploring old Tudor recipes
If you were a fan of the impossibly successful Harry Potter books and films, you’ve probably hankered after a foaming tankard of Butterbeer - that butterscotch-beer combo that those kids were surely too young to be drinking.
Manchester bartenders Ian, James and Cat, the team behind Lockdown Cocktail Club - a cocktail kit delivery startup was born (like so many) from furlough-fuelled boredom - are firm HP fans.
So in the spirit of mixology meets herbology, their latest brainwave is a Harry Potter inspired Butterbeer kit that makes it as easy as abracadabra to knock up the Hogsmeade hooch.
The creation of the Harry Potter Butterbeer kit
James had long wanted to create a “real, alcoholic” Butterbeer so the team set about re-watching the films, reading the books and exploring old Tudor recipes for “buttered beer”. A whole lot of boozy experimenting (lots of muggle-ing, we imagine) in the name of very serious research later and they reckon they’ve cracked it.
We all need some escapism in these gruesome times, so what the hell? Turn your living room into The Three Broomsticks Inn, bang some quidditch on the telly (there’s no other sport on right now, is there?) and sup a few pints of this sweet, butterscotch bevvy.
Cocktails at home are still a thing, right?
If you’re not sold on the Butterbeer, there’s a more universally appealing Zoom night cocktail kit - that we’re pretty sure would work even better with your friends actually in your house rather than onscreen.
It includes Espresso Martini, Beggars Banquet, Italiano 75, Jungle Bird and Pornstar Martini cocktails as well as beer and other bits and bobs.
We hear there are plans for Star Wars, Marvel and Lord of the Rings inspired kits in the future too.
Do home delivery cocktail and meal kits have legs after lockdown is over? We hope so. It’s great to get out there and socialise again after all this time without it, but we’ve relished being able to get the best kind of care package (ones filled with food and booze, obvs) delivered to our doors and we reckon there’s room for both types of indulgence.
You can order Lockdown Cocktail Company’s Butterbeer (from £24.99 for a two-portion kit) here.
Read next: Hawksmoor has launched a range of Cocktails at Home
Read again: 'It sure fits the post-apocalypse pandemic mood' - District, Oldham Street, reviewed
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