Happy Birthday Mr. Howard: Cimmerian Mulled Brew

4 oz Hot Mulled Mead*
1 oz Kraken Spiced Black Rum
1/2 oz Mead Base Absinthe
2 dashes Bitter Truth Pimento Dram

Build all ingredients in a warmed, Primitive Stone mug and stir with a Cinnamon Stick.

We say happy birthday to one Robert E. Howard today, January 22nd. Born in 1906, Robert E. Howard is best known for his pulp hero, Conan the Barbarian. He was a contemporary of one H.P. Lovecraft and they often corresponded about ideas and mythos. There is a collection of Howard stories that have direct reference to Lovecraft’s mythos that I may try reading again after I’m done with Lovecraft’s Dream Cycle series and Howard’s own Conan the Cimmerian Barbarian: The Complete Weird Tales Omnibus, both of which I’m currently working through.

I figured an honorary drink should be something that was dug up from some Hyperborian reference, thus the Mulled Brew. Mulled brew is described, at least in Conan Exiles, as  “a special brew, heated and loaded with mulled spices, heavily warms a soul even on the longest of winter nights”.

This drink get’s added as yet another entry into my Cocktails From Beyond that are influenced by works of fiction, other than H.P. Lovecraft (since he has a whole category of Mythos Absinthe Drinks all his own). As a bous, here  is a super-quick portrait here of the man who created Conan himself. I feel like I should make a better one in time, but also go back an draw a picture of Poe from the post the other day.

*Mulled Mead
1/2 tsp Allspice
1 Cinnamon Stick
1/2 tsp Whole Cloves
½ tsp Nutmeg
Half a thumb-sized piece of Ginger
1 slice of Orange rind
1 slice of Lemon rind
1 bottle of homebrewed mead

Make a cheesecloth mulling spices bag, and put the citrus peeland all the other spices inside before tying a tight knot in the top. Pour the mead into a saucepan, and drop the spices bag inside. Gently heat until warmed through (do not boil), and serve