Mix It Up

The Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster. Is there another fictional (or even real-world) mixed drink as well-known to geeks and nerds everywhere? Like much of the larger Hitch-Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy universe, it doesn’t make much of a direct appearance in the story itself, but establishes the character of the setting and the people who occupy it, especially given how early it appears in the story. The original 1978 radio play text (unchanged in the 1981 television version) is a great bit of writing, but it’s expanded upon greatly in the 1979 novel with the actual recipe for the “best drink in existence.” Each ingredient comes from a different planet, each with its own story or tradition, and, even though we never get to see any of these worlds (or their contribution to the Gargle Blaster), the sequence does a massive amount of worldbuilding and tone setting. And that’s one thing that’s interesting about cocktails - unlike most real food, they’re specialty preparations that stand out on their own, frequently featuring (as with the Gargle Blaster) a selection of exotic ingredients that ostensibly require some effort to obtain, and requiring some skill on the part of the preparer. So even aside from the effect a mixed drink has on the characters themselves (who, in the case of earlier HH2G versions, seem to be charging eagerly into oblivion), it gives the audience a microcosm of the world beyond whatever seedy joint it’s being theoretically served in. Fiction here is reflecting our own world, where various places pride themselves on specific cocktails, and we even have “mocktails” for people who want the storied experience of a mixed drink without the actual alcohol. So this week, in honor of both the creator of the creator of the Best Dink in the Existence and the unofficial start of summer, we thought we’d talk about how cocktails and other mixed drinks are a form of worldbuilding, and how to make yourself the storied bartender your characters (and audience) come back to time after time, whether at the table or on the page.

- B

A: There's a definite relationship between fictional alcohols and the type of story they're found in.Even their names can gives you an idea of the world you're in. Take Klingon bloodwine for example. If you’ve gone through a Star Trek series long enough to hear them talk about Klingon bloodwine, you probably already have a good idea about Klingon culture, but hearing it called "bloodwine" instantly evokes the violent nature of the people that drink it. You don’t even need to know that it's made from the same serpent worms that are the primary ingredient in gagh. Looking at it from the other direction, certainly our own real-world drinks convey a number of ideas just from associations with their brand names. Think to yourself what comes to mind when you hear "Natty Boh," "Fosters, " "Guinness." Even non-drinkers who are only vaguely familiar with the beverages in question connect these brands and the cultures from which they originate (however stereotypical those associations may be) and have an idea of what to expect, wherever they are.

Naturally, this is something you can include in your own games and settings. Douglas Adams’s Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster (or should we say it's Zaphod's creation? It'll be Adams either way) does wonders just with its name: "Pan Galactic" - this drink spans big distances. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big those distances are. "Gargle" - something that's likely refreshing in a way. Something that will clean your palette completely... even if it is in a "paint thinner" sort of way. "Blaster" - well, this drink is obviously going to kick you on your butt. The actual description of the drink draws comparison to mundane items we’re all familiar with: lemons and gold bricks.

You can easily use both names and descriptions to expand (or even improv) your game setting. At your fantasy inns, don’t just have them sell ale - sell Dwarven Wolfsilver ale. "Wolf" almost brings to mind something to do with werewolves, and "silver" dwarves' legendary prowess at metalurgy. Or perhaps wolfblood is one of the ingredients and it's aged in silver-fitted casks. Want to make your game even weirder? Take some Dr. Suess-like creature, and have the drink imbued with its glandular secretions. You just added a weird drink, industry, and creature in one swoop. It doesn’t even have to be an alcoholic drink! It could be milk from a strange animal (blue Bantha milk again?) or some unusual fruit you’ve created specifically for your setting. The weirder, the better in my book! You can even let player ideas reign in this subject - while it does expand your world, you don't need to be the one who comes up with every aspect of a created drink. 

B: We still shouldn’t downplay the significance of the drink’s psychoactive effects, of course! After all, Zaphod Beeblebrox wanted something capable of (metaphorically…?) bashing his brains in. He created the Pan Galactic Blaster for himself and those like him actively seeking extreme inebriation. This, along with other “party hardy” elements of the series suggest aspects of the universe that may not line up with the experiences of the current audience, particularly younger and/or geekier kids. (If you read the books as a kid and haven’t revisited since,you may want to look up the stakes in Ford Prefect’s favorite drinking game.) While it’s impossible to escape the significance of alcohol in the lives of both Douglas Adams and his original audience in a time when social drinking was more common, the Gargle Blaster sequence conveys that this is a series that will be equal parts wondrous and mundane, sublime and sleazy. It’s a quick preview of Adams’s skill in presenting ordinary people and situations in extraordinary places and circumstances.

The Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster was far from the first sci-fi alcoholic concoction, but where it differs from Romulan ale or that… green stuff Scotty had, is that it’s the product of both the gathering together of a galaxy’s worth of ingredients (they’ve all “hitch-hiked” to a single location, if you will) and the singular efforts of a specific creator and/or bartender. Rather than emblematic of a culture, it’s an individual story all its own. Even within a created setting, then, a mixed drink adds an additional level of exoticism and adventure - they're a perfect fit for those Orientalist internationally-themed nightclubs frequented by detectives and the like, suggesting the novelty the era still held for the (literal) fruits of colonial extraction, refrigerated and delivered direct in your drink of dubious legality. Now take that and add it to your own Wretched Hive of Scum and Villainy, or maybe it's being served by a wealthy client... or antagonist. Even if you don't present the ingredients up front, it's a good idea to have a story or two behind some of the ingredients - particularly if it's a tabletop RPG and your players have the kind of characters who ask "what's in this, anyway?" The geographical range of the drink's components tell their own story: somewhere isolated might have few ingredients, locally sourced, but a place in the city should have stuff from all over - especially if it's a (space?) port town.

You should always adjust for your audience and/or players, though. We're a lot more conscious of alcoholism and other adverse effects today than we were when Adams dreamt up the  Gargle Blaster, and certainly more than the days of Sam Spade or Indiana Jones. We're also more aware of people trying to avoid exposure to alcohol, even in fiction. Whether it's someone trying to stay sober in real life or its out of religious conviction, take it seriously if someone at your RPG table seems uncomfortable when intoxicants enter the story. And remember, mocktails aren't simply the purview of the modern era! If your player character is a private eye wrestling with alcoholism, but staking out a suspect in a seedy bar, there's plenty a bartender could prepare for them, no questions asked. Not everyone needs to undergo the lemon/gold brick experience.

Food and drink are some the most fun ways to make any setting seem real and inhabited, and I'm always glad when a creator puts a little thought into them. If you're stuck coming up with something (or just want to see the full breadth of concoctions people in our world can come up with), there are plenty of books and websites full of historic cocktail recipes. The past, as we love to say, is another planet country, so anything we import should be plenty exotic. Now get mixin'!

Send questions, comments, and your most embarrassing cocktail recipes  to neversaydice20@gmail.com.