Puncheons & Flagons – A D&D Themed Cocktail Book to Enhance your Fantasy Themed Mixology

When it comes to video game themed cookbooks, I’m starting to amass quite the collection, Elder Scrolls, Destiny, D&D (three of them now), multiple Legend of Zelda cookbooks, Final Fantasy XIV, and even Dragon Age. Imagine my surprise when my friend and fellow D&D player sent me a text regarding Puncheons & Flagons, an official cocktail book. Being that it was released on August 27th, it was quite good timing on his part. Not that I NEEDED yet another themed book, but how could I say no? Time for an impromptu review!

While most of the cookbooks I have already include some interesting drinks, I didn’t have anything that was exclusive to imbibing. Since I already have the other official D&D cookbooks, Heroes’ Feast and Flavors of the Multiverse, I had a good idea of what I was buying before I ever clicked on a preview: beautiful pictures and great recipes all wrapped up in a wonderfully themed book. P&F takes you throughout the establishments of Faerûn as each chapter is broken up into one specific place and base spirit.

In fact, that’s what really drew my attention to this book; how well organized it is. Each section is quartered off by your type of alcohol, splitting the book into ten different chapters:

  • Gin
  • Whiskey
  • Vodka
  • Rum
  • Tequila
  • Brandy
  • Wine
  • Exquisite Rarities – Essentially other liquors not feature. Amaretto, coffee liquors fruit based drinks, etc…
  • Beers and Ciders
  • Nonalcoholic (for the kids, or those choosing not to act like a lush at your table) – my table is going to ignore this section

This allows me to quickly hit up the section of whatever type of alcohol I’m feeling for the session. Being a bit of a gin drinker as of late I popped the book open, and started perusing when it didn’t take long to come across something quite dazzling: The Astral Plane.

I’m the type of person who enjoys a good “fru fru” drink, and hey, that’s ok, right? There’s something stylish and sophisticated about taking gin and mixing it with alcohol made from violets and elderflower. The edible glitter was new to me and wasn’t necessary, but does add a bit of a trance as you twirl the glass in your hand. From a taste perspective, though it depends on the gin you use (I went with a gin called The Illusionist for the first drink and Dogfish Head the second time) the violet and elderflower definitely give it a nice sweet taste overall. Regardless, having a couple of these will set you up perfectly for your session.

But if gin isn’t to your liking there are plenty of recipes to go after as well as some nice tips in the intro that mention good bar etiquette and what tools to keep on hand.

Overall, definitely worth the price if you’re the type of person who loves experimenting behind the bar and has a crew that would appreciate a couple of cocktails or loves diving into new, weird drinks. Most importantly, take note of what drinks you want to try first, alcohol ain’t cheap after all.