[No Spoilers] Need a liquor for the Starks
So my friends and I play a drinking game with rules we made up for each episode, and on occasion those rules call for a shot. Each person has been assigned to the house of a Lord Paramount, and each house has a different liquor. I think that all the liquors match pretty well, but I don't have a great one for the Starks. Any suggestions? I've copied all the other houses below. Ideally it should be a liquor and not a cocktail, because every week there's a new cocktail that gets made, and also hopefully not something crazy expensive, so no small batch single malt that has to be imported from Scotland. I did see this post from 2 years ago on the topic, but I don't think I've seen Eristoff Vodka anywhere nearby. Thanks guys!
Arryn - Skyy Vodka
Tully - Chambord
Greyjoy - Kraken
Lannister - Goldschlager
Targeryn - Fireball
Baratheon - Jager
Tyrell - St. Germaine
Martell - Limoncello
Stark - ???
Posted May 3, 2015, 11:25 PM UTC
whisky. no brainer. just cuz they r manly
Jack Daniels - Winter Jack maybe?
Jack the mcdonalds of whiskey
Absolutely agree. I was thinking purely of a whiskey with a name to match.
Did you have a particular one in mind? I was shying away from whisky in part because the Nordic groups in Europe don't seem to be the biggest of whisky drinkers, except for the Scots. Plus, I didn't see anything else which fit into the northern theme.
i never saw the north as nordic. The iron born filled that role. I always saw them as ancient Scottish or irish kings. also they worship trees and nature and are rough unruly people so they have Celtic written all over them. Whiskey 100 % but probably a nice scotch from Ireland or Scotland.
Im thinking of nordic people as vikings not sure if thats entirely accurate or a generalization.
edit: the wild-lings are totally the Irish now that i think about it. North are the Scots
I think those traits you listed are probably equally applicable to Vikings. This sort of map is what I was thinking of for what places and cultures would best represent the Starks and their drinking habits. The problem with a nice scotch is then all the other people drinking the much less expensive liquors will probably get a little jealous.
Then a cheap whiskey. But the Vikings are the iron born cmon now
Scots are not Scandinavian ... unless you're talking about Orkney. The Starks were based on the Yorks mixed with the Scots, so I don't know how the answer to this is not Scotch. Get some Cutty Sark! Also why St. Germain for Tyrell? Brandy is a far better fit, since, you know ... they're a famous wine region.
Also grappa is better for Dorne, another big wine producer. And navy strength gin for Greyjoy. How could they have rum when they have no sugarcane?
St. Germain was for the Tyrell's because it's made from a flower (their sigil, and Loras is the knight of the flowers), it's sweeter, and because it can cover all manner of other tastes lurking beneath the surface. The Greyjoys obviously wouldn't be able to produce rum, but do we know any part of Westeros that produces sugarcane anyway? Kraken seemed to work because it is their sigil, and is a liquor associated with seafearing types.
The Starks were definitely based off of the Yorks, but if we go by that logic, pretty much everyone is going to be drinking scotch or whiskey, wouldn't they? Even gin hadn't been invented yet by that time. The drinks don't have to be so accurate or historical, it's a largely show-only crowd, and it's more for fun than accuracy.
Well ... I get what you're going for, but St. Germain isn't cheap ... and also it's the wrong flower. Tyrell's sigil is a rose, not an elder. You might, if you can, try to find a rose liqueur instead. They're really delicious — and not that much in demand, so should be cheap!
Chambord for Tully is nice, if also kinda expensive.
Well gin was the original sailor's drink-of-choice. Also Kraken rum is kinda blech. To each his own, but I'd suggest you grab a gin! Especially for a show that's so influenced by British culture, to not have a gin on there ... You might also try a sloe gin, which is sweeter.
For medieval-era distillation, it's the other way around. Gin was invented first, then whisky came later. Honestly the closest thing to whisky at the time was something like Dewars Highlander honey. Medieval liquor was such shit, it was common to throw herbs and berries and honey in it to sweeten it up.
So long as you never call Scots Nordic again, I'll give you a passing grade.