Butterbeer the recipe for ultimate Harry Potter experience (2024)
Beth J. Harpaz
Got butterbeer?
Harry Potter fans are all abuzz about butterbeer, and they've got the foamy mustaches to prove it.
The cold and creamy, frothy drink is the most popular food item at the new Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Orlando with visitors lining up to try it.
"Then they would walk around and have this mustache on," said Sabrina Sampson, 11, of Richmond, Va., who described the drink as tasting "like cream soda. It was somewhat thick, and it was really sweet, and then it got salty as you swallowed it, like butterscotch."
"It's interesting that one small thing they can sell for a few dollars is getting as much attention as the rides," said Gabe Travers, who reviewed the park for WESH.com, the NBC affiliate in the Orlando area.
Immediately after The Wizarding World's June 18 opening, butterbeer was one of the most searched-for terms on the Internet.
A butterbeer recipe on MuggleNet.com got 3,445 hits when the park opened, up from an average 350 daily views before the opening, according to MuggleNet.com spokesman Andrew Sims. Now the recipe is averaging 1,200 daily views.
Even DISboards.com, a site for fans of Disney World, has a separate thread for comments related to Universal's butterbeer.
Universal would not release its butterbeer recipe, but press materials describe the drink as "reminiscent of shortbread and butterscotch."
In the Harry Potter books, butterbeer appears to have an inebriating effect, and some older online recipes include butterscotch schnapps, but the Universal version is nonalcoholic.
In Bon Appetit's January 2002 issue, author J.K. Rowling was asked what butterbeer tastes like, and she said: "I made it up. I imagine it to taste a little bit like less sickly butterscotch."
The version sold at The Wizarding World was tasted and approved by Rowling herself.
Visitors to the park see a large wooden barrel that bears the word "BUTTERBEER" as soon as they enter, and they can buy it from a street cart and inside The Three Broomsticks restaurant and Hog's Head pub.
Butterbeer is sold in two varieties, regular and frozen, but many people buy both.
The consensus among online fans appears to be that the frozen version is more delicious.
The drink is drawn from a tap, like a beer, and the dense, whipped topping is added from a separate tap. It's served in cups, about $3 ($4 for frozen) for a disposable cup and about $10 ($11 for frozen) for a hard plastic souvenir stein.
What is Butterbeer? In the Harry Potter books, it's a butterscotch-flavored drink that the students would enjoy when visiting Hogsmeade. Butter beer is recreated using cream soda, butter syrup, butterscotch, and cream.
Where to find it: In Diagon Alley, you can get Butterbeer ice cream at Florean Fortescue's Ice-Cream Parlour, Leaky Cauldron or The Hopping Pot. In Hogsmeade, you'll find it at Three Broomsticks.
Start with the creamy foam. Combine heavy whipping cream, powdered sugar, vanilla extract, a pinch of salt, and 1 tbsp of butterscotch in a mixing bowl. Whisk the cream until the mixture starts to thicken.
The version sold at The Wizarding World was tasted and approved by Rowling herself. Visitors to the park see a large wooden barrel that bears the word "BUTTERBEER" as soon as they enter, and they can buy it from a street cart and inside The Three Broomsticks restaurant and Hog's Head pub.
↑ In the film version of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, however, Hermione Granger appears to act slightly tipsy after a visit to the Three Broomsticks Inn where she was shown drinking some; this can be seen just before the discovery of Katie Bell.
Butterbeer had a slight alcoholic content and although was safe for children to drink, it could affect creatures (such as house-elves) if consumed in to high a quantity. Harry enjoyed his first Butterbeer in Hogsmeade.
The name of the fictional drink implies that there is beer (or some sort of alcohol hiding inside) that kids shouldn't indulge in. Good news, though! There is no alcohol inside butterbeer. It is packed with sugar instead!
In Hogsmeade, it's sold at the Three Broomsticks Inn and the Hog's Head Inn, although the fact that the latter pub's stock was described as "very dusty" suggested that it was not sold there very often. In Diagon Alley, the drink had been known to be sold at the Leaky Cauldron.
It is super hot in Florida almost year-round, and we think that the frozen butterbeer is the most refreshing option if you're looking to cool down and enjoy all that the Wizarding World has to offer.
This is a reality. But its origin dates back much further than J.K. Rowling's films. Butterbeer, or “Buttered beere” as it was described in 1594, has existed for many centuries. At the time of the Tudors, beer was already a typical and commonly consumed drink.
A simple brown sugar and butter syrup gets topped with cream soda and a dollop of cream in this wildly popular drink. Next time you are having a Harry Potter movie marathon, book club meeting, or even a Halloween party, pull out all the stops with this sweet drink that even Harry, Ron, and Hermione would approve of.
Just as Rowling imagined, there's more flavor here than sugar, or at least that's how it drinks — essentially, you're getting a butterscotch cream soda with a float of something like toasted marshmallow crème; there's no escaping the inevitable foam mustache, and while you can try, you'll never outdrink the head.
Calling all Potterheads! You don't have to make a trip to Hogsmeade or Diagon Alley to get your hands on some delicious Butterbeer. Flying Cauldron's butterscotch cream soda, previously only available in a glass bottle option, is now sold in new 16-ounce aluminum cans for on-the-go magic.
It's good but very sweet, so I only need one in a great while. Hot butterbeer is the best version (hot, cold, frozen) if you're there at a time of year that isn't scorching or you get there early. It's just butterscotch soda with a lot of froth. It's good in the sense that it's sweet treat.
Just as Rowling imagined, there's more flavor here than sugar, or at least that's how it drinks — essentially, you're getting a butterscotch cream soda with a float of something like toasted marshmallow crème; there's no escaping the inevitable foam mustache, and while you can try, you'll never outdrink the head.
These barrels contain the popular wizarding drink, Butterbeer. It is served both cold and hot and has a slight alcoholic content that seems to impact house-elves much more than humans.
Introduction: My name is Nathanael Baumbach, I am a fantastic, nice, victorious, brave, healthy, cute, glorious person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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