After going on a nostalgic binge of all the Harry Potter movies during the pandemic, I knew I wanted my Halloween cocktail to be Harry Potter-themed. It was easy coming up with initial ideas but not so easy to bring them to fruition (others I considered were something Lemon Drop related for Dumbledore’s favorite candy and a drink evoking the Pensieve). Ultimately, I landed on a concept that was timely given the pandemic and fun to embellish: Phoenix Tears.

If you’ve read the books or have general fantasy knowledge, you know that Phoenix Tears have magical healing properties. While this cocktail won’t magically heal you, it is packed with powerful immune boosting ingredients that will help keep you healthy: honey, ginger, calendula and grapefruit. I took a chance hoping that the flavors would play well together and was pleased that it paid off!

The cocktail is built on a base of my favorite British gin (because thank you for Harry Potter, England), Sipsmith London Dry Gin. Aside from having a stunningly beautiful presentation, this gin is such a solid juniper-forward variety for mixing cocktails. I often gravitate toward American gins with more varied botanicals but always come back to this one when I want a classic gin.

Next, I built a syrup from honey and calendula. Calendula has a mild lightly tart and somewhat nutty flavor that I optimized by letting the syrup steep for 2 hours. If you’re working with any dry botanicals in your cocktails, I recommend getting them in bulk and storing them in air-tight containers. This will save you money and give you more flexibility for future creativity. I found my dried calendula flowers on Etsy, but you can also grab them on Amazon or at a local bulk health foods store. The excess will make for a great herbal tea to get you through winter.

I added the ginger component through one of my favorite bitters and used fresh-squeezed grapefruit juice to balance the sweetness of the honey and add a bit freshness. The resulting cocktail starts with rich nutty smoothness finishing with the brightness of juniper and citrus. It’s unexpected in the best possible way.

If you’d like to go all out and replicate the garnish, you can pick up orange feathers and food-grade gold spray paint at Michael’s (I used food-grade paint instead of spray paint to avoid any unpleasant smells). I lightly misted the feathers, then connected three with some orange electrical tape and used a small bubble of the same tape to connect the feather trio to the glass. This was pretty fast to do for a couple of drinks and would be equally efficient for a larger gathering!

Phoenix Tears

1.5 oz London Dry Gin
0.75 oz honey calendula syrup*
2 oz fresh grapefruit juice
3 dashes ginger bitters
Gilded orange feathers, for garnish

Shake ingredients with ice until chilled, then double strain into a tall coupe glass. Garnish with feathers and enjoy among magical folk and muggles alike.

* To make syrup, pour 1 cup nearly boiling water over 1 cup of dried calendula flowers and 0.5 cup honey in a small saucepan. Stir to dissolve honey, they cover with lid and allow to steep for 2 hours. Drain and store excess in the fridge for up to 3 weeks.

Thanks to Belen Aquino for the stunning cocktail photography.