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8 Magical And Delicious Harry Potter Cocktails

Getting an Exceeds Expectations on your potions N.E.W.T is easier than you'd think.

The subtle science and exact art of potion-making (that's "bartending," to Muggles) is difficult, but it can be mastered.

1. Unicorn Blood

Unicorn Blood

Serves 1

1.5 oz silver tequila
1.5 oz St. Germain
(elderflower liqueur)

1 oz lemon juice

Add everything to a cocktail shaker with ice and shake (hard!) for a full 20 seconds. Strain into a coupe glass.

2. Hair Of The Three-Headed Dog

Hair of the Three-Headed Dog

Serves 1


1.5 oz tequila
1/2 cup tomato juice
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon Tabasco
1 12-oz bottle Mexican beer
(like Corona or Modelo)

2 tablespoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon chili powder

1 celery stalk, washed, root end trimmed (optional)

Mix tequila, tomato juice, lime juice, Worcestershire and Tabasco sauces. Mix salt and chili powder together in a small bowl or saucer. Rub the rim of a pint glass with a slice of lime and roll the outside of the glass rim in the chili salt to coat it. Fill glass halfway with ice, add tomato mixture, stir well, and top with beer. Garnish with celery if you like.

3. Wolfsbane Potion

Wolfsbane Potion

Serves 1

1.5 oz Scotch whiskey
1.5 oz Fernet-Branca
Coca-Cola

Combine Scott and Fernet in a shaker with ice and stir vigorously for 20 seconds, until fully chilled. Strain into a rocks glass with a large ice cube.* Top with cola, to taste.

*We used this mold to make an icy full moon. Awooo!

4. The Phoenix Feather

The Phoenix Feather

Serves 1

Lillet is a delicious wine-based aperitif you can find at most liquor stores.

2 oz Lillet Blanc
1.5 oz Campari
1 oz fresh-squeezed grapefruit juice
seltzer or club soda

Combine Lillet, Campari, and grapefruit juice in a cocktail shaker with ice and shake, vigorously, for about 20 seconds. Strain into a Collins glass filled with ice cubes and top with seltzer.

5. Butterbeer

Butterbeer

Serves 6-8

Homemade butterscotch sauce will be the most delicious here, but use store-bought if there's a brand you like. You can swap in ginger ale if you can't find a good (non-alcoholic) ginger beer, like Reed's or Gosling's.

6-8 tablespoons butterscotch sauce (depending how sweet you like it)

3 cups apple cider
1 cup bourbon whiskey
(optional)

2 cups ginger beer
Whipped cream
, for garnish

Heat cider, bourbon and butterscotch syrup in a medium saucepan until the butterscotch dissolves and the mixture is steaming hot. Remove from heat and stir in the ginger beer. Ladle into mugs and serve with loads of whipped cream on top.

6. Polyjuice Potion

Polyjuice Potion

Serves 1

We used a green juice from Blueprint, but you can make your own if you have a juicer or pick up a cup from your favorite juice shop. It should include some citrus and at least one fruit, like apple or pineapple, for sweetness. The Chartreuse liqueur adds an interesting herbal note, but you can skip if you'd rather (it's expensive).


1.5 oz gin
1.5 oz fresh-pressed or bottled green juice
1 oz green Chartreuse
½ oz lime juice
7-Up or Sprite
(optional)

Shake gin, juices, and Chartreuse in a shaker with ice. Strain into a glass (you can serve up or over ice) and top with a splash of soda if you'd like it a little lighter.

7. Felix Felicis ("Liquid Luck")

Felix Felicis

Serves 1

To make simple syrup, just heat equal parts sugar and water until fully dissolved, then cool.


1/4 oz simple syrup
1/4 oz lemon juice
1.5 oz ginger beer
Champagne or other sparkling wine

Mix simple syrup and lemon juice in the bottom of a champagne flute. Add ginger beer and fill with Champagne.

8. Amortentia

This powerful love potion is best made as a big, party-size punch, so that everyone can enjoy its embarrassing effects together.

Get the (very easy) recipe here, plus instructions for making a pretty punch bowl ice ring with fruit.

"100 points to you for getting us drunk!" — your friends

Recipes by Rachel Sanders. Styling by John Gara, Lauren Zaser, and Mackenzie Kruvant. Photographs by Lauren Zaser. Graphics by Justine Zwiebel.