PIKUBYTES

He finally broke the silence. It’s been a decade since we’d crossed into the Cauldron Lake area. Shadows were growing tall, he said. Deer sightings or some. I clenched my teeth and gripped the steering wheel tighter, its worn leather cover creaking under pressure. Small talk. Really? This fog isn’t remotely as thick as the tension, I chuckled. If this place can’t push us to confront our darkness, we’re lost to wander alone forever. But what if we met under the nightless night sky? Truly met, for once. Share a drink in the comfort of shadows. And then, only then; keep them at bay, knowing now what keeps them knocking. Let Cauldron Lake be our all-inclusive in the sense it was always destined. His eyes smiled. A pact.

Alan Wake II. A creative marvel. A book we need but don’t deserve. A game I enjoyed too much not to booze it up.

Admittedly, I’d spent a tad too long in my Mind Place ideating this drink. All sorts of obscure intertextual motifs kept cropping up, overwhelming me with intricate artsy connections, and deer oh deer, did it put me into perfectionist’s overdrive. I went out into my neighbourhood woods, seeking a wise owl to guide me. I even ate cherry pie. Alas, only creator’s block.

But more often than not, simplicity finally breaks the loop. I pressed Esc and decided to put a Nordic twist on the Irish Coffee. But I’d make it at night. The nightless night.

The ties to Alan Wake II were embodied in:

Writer’s booze. For a creatively tortured soul such as Alan, a whiskey called Writer’s Tears sounded like a good prologue. Now I just needed a dark doppelganger. And thus, enter Mr. Scratch Mr. Black. Hands down the finest coffee liqueur I’ve tasted, it introduced the darkness and the willpower to burn the midnight oil. WRITE. THAT. MANUSCRIPT. And it’s also a nod to Coffee World in Watery, a hefty chunk of the game’s worldbuilding.

Finnish flavours. I adore how the game incorporates Finnish culture, mythology, and even “pantsdrunk” into the game. So I had to hail Valhalla, a Finnish liqueur made from local herbs and vodka Koskenkorva. Bonus, it added more darkness to the drink. I hope the Old Gods of Asgard won’t mind me omitting their family moonshine… this time. And if anyone workshops a Sauna Syrup, lemme know.

Cult of the Tree. The self-proclaimed protectors of the region, this neopagan cult plays a prominent role in Alan Wake II, and so does their symbolism. I made a lil’ 3D print of their logo, but you could work with liquorice or other edibles too. The dark (pine) forests were featured frozen in the glass and all around. Yup, I literally *gathered* inspiration in the local woods.

So point your flashlight at the bar and see if you’re well-stocked for this.

Cocktail Ingredients:

30 ml (1 oz) Cold Brew Coffee Liqueur
30 ml (1 oz) Irish Whiskey
15 ml (0.5 oz) Valhalla Herbal Liqueur
Garnish: Pine twig, cult symbols

Cocktail Instructions:

1. Scream at your amateur manuscript and throw it into the bin.
2. Pace around the room menacingly. Ponder a stiff drink. But do *better*.
3. Take a rocks glass. Pour enough water into it to create a deep lake. Or is it an ocean? Nah, this one must freeze.
4. Place a pine twig in the center of the glass and secure it with string/tape.
5. Carefully put the glass into the freezer and wait till the lake’s solid (a few hours). Avoid your typewriter and inner critic while you wait.
6. Pre-chill a mixing glass in the freezer.
7. Pour the cocktail ingredients into the mixing glass. Fill ⅔ of it with ice and stir smoothly for about 30 sec until cold.
8. Take the lake glass out of the freezer and remove all bonds. Feel the dark presence creeping in.
9. Strain the cocktail into the lake glass using a Julep strainer. Wake…
10. Hang a Cult of the Tree symbol on the twig. Alan Wake…
11. Relish the cocktail as you whisper “Oh, deer” at every sip.
12. Produce a mastermind manuscript to escape the loop.
13. …Oh. Snap. ๑

Suggested Sipping Soundtrack

The pace, the mood, the voice — magnificent darkness:

The sold-out show you’ll never get tickets to:

And on that note, we’re officially closing the case of conjuring an Alan Wake II cocktail. I hope the game keeps getting acknowledged for the artistically stimulating piece it is, so do try it. What does the future hold for the Remedy’s metaverse? Well, I bet it’ll be worthy of a toast.

Thirsty for a new set of pixels? Dive deeper into my cocktail archive.

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