Spice Up Your Campaign 2 - What's in your cup?

When I wrote my first article on food in my games, I never thought it would become something that I would talk about with so many other people. Many readers shared their unique memories with food in their games, and how they had shaped the world. I even got to talk about my ideas on an amazing podcast, and see where else the ideas of food could go in the realm of TTRPGs. So I realized I had many more thoughts that I wanted to bring up.

This article will be the second in an undetermined amount of articles going into specific elements on food. I am excited to look at some elements of food, and how they can relate to the worlds we build, as well as looking at specific types of food and how you can add the fantastical elements to them. To start this next step, I wanted to talk a bit about beverages.

What's In Your Cup?

Outside of plain water, there are many options for drinks. In this article, I am going to focus on alcoholic beverages, separated into low to medium alcohol content beverages, such as beer or wine, and high alcohol distilled beverages, such as liquor and spirits. These all feel quite iconic in the tabletop games I have played, and in fantasy media. The idea of the adventuring party meeting at a tavern, with frothy pints of ale. A fine banquet being held, with the local Duke bragging about an extremely rare vintage of wine. Or the party doing shots at the bar, seeing who can last the longest. All these examples fit perfectly into a fantasy setting.

My Experience

My experience with food started quite early on. My final year in high school, I got a job as a Butcher at the local grocery store. I stayed at that location until college, and moved to a location that, besides my previous job, focused on wider knowledge for all involved. Besides having the knowledge to process and prepare various types of meat, I also learned recipe planning. My range of skills expanded with some basic culinary training as well. This helped me develop a passion for cooking that I took outside of my place of employment. I still use these skills despite no longer working in this field.

I picked up Home-brewing in my college years. One of my classmates invited a few people over after receiving a home-brew kit. We all had fun and learned a lot. I inevitably got into Home brewing, and wanted to learn as much as I could. Around this same time, my work started offering a weekend position for a paired sampling. One person would give food and the other would give alcohol. with it. I jumped at the opportunity and started working alongside some Beer Representatives.

Fermenting 101

Yeast

Yeast,  specifically Saccharomyces cerevisiae, occurs naturally. They consume sugar, and in return, will create alcohol as a byproduct. While the main microbe at work, sometimes bacteria will tag along with yeast. Some of the earlier examples of alcohol would involve the naturally occurring yeast found on crops. Besides natural yeast, bacteria such as Lactobacillus would often also end up in the fermenting tank, which would provide different flavors. Some traditional French Farmhouse Ales, also called Saisons, have a characteristic sour note to them that ranges from slight to tart, and comes from bacteria. 

Outside of natural yeast, cultivated yeasts can bring distinct characteristics into play. The same beer pitched with different yeasts might lead to different byproducts, and highlight entirely different flavors. Yeast can also have different alcohol tolerances. Wine and liquor often have high alcohol content, and the yeast will have a higher tolerance.

Sugar

Sugar is the principal food source for the yeast, and ultimately will get turned into the alcohol in the beverage. We can pull sugar from many sources. Fruits and berries contain very concentrated amounts of sugar that are readily available for yeast to consume. This sugar is so easily fermented that it is not unheard of for wild fruit to ferment, causing an innocent animal looking for a snack to get more than they bargained for. Grains such as wheat, barley, and oats all contain sugars inside them, although it will take a bit more to make it accessible for yeast. When grains are used, they are often steeped in a hot temperature water to extract the sugars in a process called mashing. Temperature, as well as certain enzymes, will help make sugars readily available for yeast. Grain can be further made receptive to fermentation through malting, where grains are allowed to sprout before they are dried and baked. 

Different sugar sources will have different effects on the outcome of the beverage. Since the yeast is only looking for the sugar to consume, the leftover elements will provide flavors. Fruits, while mostly sugar, will impart specific colors and flavors upon the rest of the mixture. In brewing, different grains will impart different effects, as well as whether the grain got roasted in some fashion. A rye grain can impart a distinct flavor and red color that many find iconic and favorable, while oats add a subtle, smooth body.

Additional Ingredients

We have talked about yeast and a source of sugar, which will make up the backbone of whatever alcohol we create, but other additions also exist. These can vary in purpose, but all will have some sort of lasting impact on the beverage.

 Additives

When people think of beer, they also think of hops. These flowering buds grow on vine and contain bittering agents. Added originally as a form of preserving, hops in the current world can impart an array of flavors and levels of bitterness. Northeast US Hops have citrus or pine notes, while West Coast Hops often have herbal spicy notes. All hops will impart a level of bitterness to them as well.

Other additions can flavor any alcohol. Vanilla beans often get added, providing a mellow taste. Cocoa in many forms can provide a range of chocolate flavors. Spices, both local and foreign, also can be added to add a unique flavor. The possibilities are endless.

Aging

Aging can influence beverages, helping mellow and balance out flavors over time. For wine, a lot can impart from the barrel aging process. A young wine might have many harsher flavors that need time and the right environment to mellow out and become enjoyable. The ancient priceless bottle of wine exists as a trope for a reason. In the aging process, the barrel itself will impart certain flavors and characteristics to it. An oak barrel might provide specific woody notes that bring an iconic blend of flavors to the liquid.

Beer and Wine

Starting off our discussion of alcoholic beverages we will talk about beer and wine. These two types are generally quicker to make and lower in alcohol content, though that is not always the case.

Beer

The definition of beer can vary, but often comprises some specific ingredients. The fermentable source of sugar will comprise barley and then a malted grain. Traditional beers also will include hops in the boiling process, both for flavoring and preserving. While this is the strictest definition of a beer, many craft breweries will experiment, substituting these ingredients or removing them entirely.

Wine

When Wine comes to mind, often you think grapes. While grape wine is the most common, a wine often just derives its sugar from the juice of some sort of fruit. Wild berries or cultivated fruit such as peaches can make wine.

Fantasy Brews

While I could talk about brewing and winemaking at length, this article seeks to bring beverages into the fantasy world. In my previous article, I discussed a formula that I use in order to take something and make it an iconic part of the world.

You can read here, but it boils down to

1. Finding a real life analogue

2. Incorporating a Setting Specific Twist

3. Figuring out how (if at all) the more magical and fantastical elements of your world play in.

Barovian Wine - Crimson Like Blood

Our first example has us revisiting Barovia, the fog-filled lands where Strahd von Zarovich rules. Here, wine has a certain appeal that pairs excellently with the Gothic Horror. The crimson liquid that most Barovians drink has many characteristics reminiscent of blood consumed by the undead ruler of the land.

Since I want to use wine, I will look at the setting. Barovia’s lack of sunlight plays a large roll in my crafting of food in the world, and in this case, it would cause issues with growing the grapes necessary to make wine. The weather, very rainy, also creates a soil that wine grapes dislike. Now, we could find other options for the wine to fit with the setting. While grapes might not thrive, wild berries could provide the needed sugar source. Images of dark red berries, whose juice flows eerily similar to blood, comes to mind and would still get my point across. But I am stubborn and like the idea of having traditional wine in Barovia. So at this point we turn to the fantastical, which Curse of Strahd happily provides us.

(Curse of Strahd Spoilers below)

The Wizard of the Wines Winery in Barovia supplies all the wine in Barovia. As we confirmed before, grapes should not grow in Barovia, right? Well, this winery has a way. All of Barovia know of the rumors of magic aiding in the growing of grapes, but only a few know the full truth. A trio of gems enchant the nearby land. Any individual gem will provide a meager crop of grapes that creates a passable wine. Two of the three allow the grapes that make the iconic Purple Dragon Crush to grow and thrive. All three gems, and you can grow the sugar packed grapes that make the sparkling white wine Champagné Du Stomp.

This wine incorporates all the elements we want in our game. It has a real life analogue that helps the players know what to expect. You take the region into consideration, and any of the changes that might take place. Finally, you look at the fantastic elements of the world you created, and see how they might change things. Here, the wine would not exist without!

Dwarven Ale

For our second example, we can make a dwarven ale. An iconic piece of fantasy lore. I like to have a twist on the standard formula. The first thing we think with Dwarves is how sturdy and resilient they can be, living in the earth itself. To me, this aligns with a dark and heavy beer like a Stout or Porter. Something with a lot of body, and potentially a hefty amount of alcohol. 

Now, looking at the setting, we can differentiate the Dwarven Ale. You have a few routes you can go here. You can stick with the standard grain that goes into beer and ale. Maybe the Dwarves have farms where the barley grows. Maybe nearby Halflings grow enough to trade, receiving tools in return. But for me, I want to lean into the underground nature. Instead of grain, the Dwarves grow a starchy crop that thrives in the dark. Maybe potatoes or yams, or maybe a particular mushroom! 

Now that we have an idea for our Dwarven Ale, we want to lean into the magic and fantasy of the world. The idea of a mushroom based ale might already feel pretty magical, but I want to go a little further. Looking at the dwarves, I want to tie this to them. Perhaps instead of aging in wood barrels, the dwarves craft casks out of stone. This could impart distinctly different flavors as they try to honor the mines they live and work in. 

This pdf guides you on how to add one of a few legendary templates to your monster. It adds legendary actions, reactions, and HP depending on how legendary you want your monster in question. With this guide, I could make sure that my Lake Monster could match the party hit for hit.

High Alcohol - Spirits and Liquor

Similar to beer and wine initially, higher alcohol beverages require a further process to concentrate them, raising their alcohol content. Often done through the act of distillation, this process involves heating the fermented liquid and capturing the ethanol, the drinkable alcohol, and removing any methanol, poisonous alcohol. In fantasy, liquor has many places. Whether the noble invites a party of adventurers, showing off his wealth with an imported brandy, or the party does shots of cheap whiskey at the nearest bar (before turning it into a battlefield), liquor can pop up.

Liquor can start with entirely different ingredients. A great example is tequila, which comes from a cactus. Specifically the Agave Cactus, this plant is harvested and then cooked and milled before becoming fermented. Some distilleries embrace the traditional methods to make a truly unique spirit.

Fantasy Spirits

You can always stick to standard liquor in your game, but liven it up. Once again, the mists take us and we enter Barovia. Like a particular hotel, you can check out any time you want, but you can never leave. 

Barovian… Brandy?

We laid the groundwork above for Barovia, noting that grapes and wine will create most of the wine available, but where does that leave liquor and spirits? Looking back at my PREVIOUS ARTICLE, we can tell that tubers grow well. Lots of potatoes and other starchy tubers. Traditionally, fermented potatoes make Vodka a neutral grain distillate (means it has no flavor). The nice thing about vodka, and other neutral spirits like it, is that you can flavor it however you want. Gin comes from a spirit that gets herbs, including the iconic juniper berry. Perhaps we use Spruce Tips to create a bright and cheerful drink.

Wine Grapes can also play a part in this as well. Since we went through all the process to build up the Wizard of the Wine Winery, it would only make sense to ‌make liquor with it somehow. In the real world, distilled wine becomes brandy. The solids that remain after the winemaking process can also ferment, and this creates a liquor known as Grappa. The possibilities are endless.

Final Thoughts

Food can tell us a lot about the world we build, but beverages are as important as well. The specific beverages consumed by people in a region can say a lot about the world in both loud and subtle ways. Looking at how real world brewing works, we came up with a list of what goes into creating an alcoholic beverage. How it comprises something to supply a source of sugar, like a grain or fruit, along with the microbes, to turn those sugars into what we know for wine. Additives can change flavors, and aging can help mellow out a harsher young beverage. This gives us a general idea of what to think about when we want to include in our games when making a beverage.

With the above in mind, I am creating a guide for creating interesting beverages in fantasy settings. I am a big fan of rollable tables and it uses that. You will be able to check out a pdf copy as well as a digital rollable table (over on derfdice).