Judge of the Dead: Cocktails From Hell

2 1/2 oz. Sagamore Double Oak Rye
1 oz. King’s Ginger
rinse St. George Absinthe

Stir Rye and Ginger liqueur with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass rinsed with Absinthe. 

King Minos, King of Crete sent scores of young men and women into the custom styled labyrinth to be devoured by his son the half bull Minotaur. After his untimely death by the hands of the daughters of King Cocalus in a scalding hot bath he became the Judge of the Dead on their way to Hades with Aeacus and Rhadamanthus. This is the second* in the Cocktails From Hell series inspired by the good folks at Cryptocurium for their Parcel of Terror subscription themed “A Season in Hell” where each month a new sculpt is sent out to subscribers as we count down the days to all of our journeys to the afterlife.

“Wait!” you may interject, “if these come out every month, why is this the first one since January when you posted Charon’s Obol?” Well, I’ll reply, life sent me to do a grueling task in a city I thought I’d like a bit more than I did and I asked Jason to hold on to a couple of months of the subscription so they didn’t pile up on my doorstep or get stolen while I was away. This one was delivered on the day I left for Baltimore and I just got home a little while ago. I will post the ones I’ve missed when I get them all. I also ended up ordering a bunch more Cryptocurium stuff in the mean time so I’m guessing I’ll have a big box of evil showing up in the near future.

This drink I based on a drink called The Judge that I found on Absolut’s site because I always need to have some kind of foundation to filch a drink. I was considering trying to blend it with the King’s Calling (as Minos was a King before he was a Judge) but I feel like I may save it for something in the future. The Judge Cocktail is super simple and I made it with a swap of the Apricot Brandy for the Ginger Liqueur and I did get the idea of using something Ginger from the King’s Calling which is made with Ginger Beer. I was thinking of using a Ginger Brandy to keep the same idea of a flavored brandy in this, but went with King’s Ginger Liqueur since it’s a little nicer and, well, Minos was a King before he was a Judge.  I would have loved to use SNAP as SNAP was the king of all Ginger Liqueurs but, as far as I know, it’s still discontinued.

I did make this with a local Rye from Baltimore which was the second best thing about my trip down there. Added a nice wash of St. George Absinthe for good measure.

Also included with this edition of Parcel of Terror: A Season in Hell, is this portrait of Lilith by Brandon Zimmerman. Along with these are the descriptions and backgrounds of the items with lengthy backstories to their inspiration. I do appreciate that this portrait of Lilith, based on the background given, is far from the flattering, hypersexy Lilith most artists choose to represent. As much as I love hypersexy goth occultists that almost always call themselves Lilith at some point in their lives, it’s refreshing to see a deviation.

*While the second to be inspired by the Season in Hell, it’s now the Fifth overall, I ended up categorizing Baphomet on the Beach, The Devil’s Pope and Pazuzu as Cocktails From Hell as well.