literary drinks

Moloko, as favored by Alex and his droogs

"Dandelion Wine,' as favored by Ray Bradbury. Summer in a Jar. I tasted some dandelion wine once.:)

Chartreuse, the green liqueur favored by the high-living vampires in Poppy Z. Brite's "Lost Souls".

Beer. Ulysses.

Lots of sweet iced tea in "Fried Green Tomatoes."

Anne Shirley got Diana drunk on Marilla's cordial, leading to the almost ruin of a bosom friendship. Anne of Green Gables

Linden tea. Proust.

Rainbow Soda from The Solitare Mystery.

I think the closest thing I found to the real things was the Fufu Berry soda by Jones Soda.

What about the klah (coffee-like beverage) in Ann McCaffery's Pern series?

Mate (that's Mat-ay) and Borges.

I'm not sure this qualifies, but while doing some research a couple of years back, I unearthed this recipe that was supposedly invented by Aphra Behn:

Milk Punch.
(Measures are assumed to be UK Imperial, since this comes from the end of the 17th century.)

8 Lemons
1 gallon brandy
5 quarts water
2 lbs loaf sugar
2 quarts milk
2 nutmegs

Infuse the rinds of the 8 lemons in a gallon of brandy for 48 hours
Add 5 quarts of water and 2 pounds of loaf sugar
Add the lemons' juice
Add 2 quarts of milk
Boil, while stirring, until it curdles
Grate in 2 nutmegs
Let it infuse for 1 hour
Strain through a muslin bag

Because of the expense (1 gallon brandy, indeed), I haven't yet tried it. It would be interesting if anyone who does reports back, or at least emails me to let me know how it is.

I hate to be obvious but: Absinthe & every author from the entire second half of the nineteenth century.

mmm- milk punch. followed by a shot of absinthe. mmmm...

Whisky and every hard-bitten detective ever.

(Special mention must go to Nanny Ogg's Scumble)

Not forgetting the Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster.

Of course (saw you in N&Q this morning! Hurray!)

Ooh I haven't seen it yet! Didn't realise!

FROBSCOTTLE.

And the Famous Five with their ginger beer.

Hemingway and cognac.

Some interesting facts about cognac from wiki:

- Since the early 1990s, cognac has seen a significant transformation in its American consumer base, from a predominately older, affluent white demographic to a younger, urban and significantly African-American crowd. The spirit has become ingrained in hip-hop culture, celebrated in songs by artists ranging from Tupac Shakur to Busta Rhymes to Lil Jon, among many others. It is estimated that between 60 and 80 percent of the American cognac market is African American, the majority of whom have indicated in studies that the endorsement of popular musical artists is a factor in their preference for the drink, which also spawned its nickname 'Yak' (or 'Yack'). Many have credited hip-hop culture as the savior of cognac; after nearly foundering in 1998 due to economic crisis in Asia - cognac's #1 market at the time - the cognac industry has seen its annual sales climb to approximately $1 billion in America by 2003, a growth paralleled by hip-hop's rise into the mainstream of American music.
- On the TV show M*A*S*H, cognac is Major Winchester's favorite beverage.
- The only other place where Cognac can be made, is in Uruguay. This fact is really scarcely known, but derives from the years after World War 2, when France's debt with Uruguay was forgiven, and the French government decided to give permision to ANCAP, a state-owned Uruguayan company, to name its brandy Cognac as well.