Harry Potter and Butterbeer

There are a lot of opinions out there when it comes to making the most famous drink in the Harry Potter universe. When the drink was introduced in the books, lots of fans tried to come up with recipes based on the way it was described, and now that Warner Brothers has an official recipe that's made at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Florida, people have attempted to recreate the experience they had with the butterbeer at the park. Now, I don't know if there's such thing as a butterbeer expert, and I probably can't claim to be one anyway, since I haven't actually been to the park in Florida and tasted the butterbeer, but I do have a fair amount of experience with it. Back when midnight premieres of the movies were still happening (I believe this was for the premiere of the sixth book), my friends and I made a very simple butterbeer recipe, then bottled it elaborately so we could show off to all the other people waiting in line. This recipe is very very sweet and pretty artificial tasting, but it's definitely not bad, especially if you're just having a single glass.

Simple Butterbeer
(From Mugglenet)

Ingredients
1 cup club soda OR cream soda
1/2 cup butterscotch syrup
1/2 tablespoon butter

Measure butterscotch syrup and  butter into a microwaveable bowl. Heat on high for 1 to 1 and 1/2 minutes, or until syrup is bubbly and butter is completely incorporated.
Stir and cool for 30 seconds, then slowly mix in the club or cream soda. Mixture will fizz quite a bit.
Makes two servings, and can be easily multiplied.

Then, this past summer, my friends and I had a party for Harry Potter's birthday, and we got a little more complicated with our butterbeer recipe. The following is the version of the recipe for those of you under twenty one, but butterbeer is actually described as mildly alcoholic in the books, so if you really want to be accurate, omit the rum extract and add about half a shot of rum per drink. This recipe is less artificial tasting than the one above, though approximately as sweet. If you like, you can use club soda or ginger ale to lessen that effect. We also skipped the whipped topping for reasons of it being too sweet, but I'm leaving it in the recipe as an option.

A Somewhat More Complicated Butterbeer
(From The Huffington Post)

Ingredients
1 cup light or dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons water
6 tablespoon butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cider vinegar
3/4 cup heavy cream, divided
1/2 teaspoon rum extract
Four 12-ounce bottles cream soda

In a small saucepan over medium, combine the brown sugar and water. Bring to a gentle boil and cook, stirring often, until the mixture reads 240 F on a candy thermometer.
Stir in the butter, salt, vinegar and 1/4 heavy cream. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
Once the mixture has cooled, stir in the rum extract.
In a medium bowl, combine 2 tablespoons of the brown sugar mixture and the remaining 1/2 cup of heavy cream. Use an electric mixer to beat until just thickened, but not completely whipped, about 2 to 3 minutes.
To serve, divide the brown sugar mixture between 4 tall glasses (about 1/4 cup for each glass). Add 1/4 cup of cream soda to each glass, then stir to combine. Fill each glass nearly to the top with additional cream soda, then spoon the whipped topping over each.

I wish you luck in your future butterbeer endeavors, whether you choose one of these roots or one of the 500 other options on the internet!

Bonus Photo: Harry Potter's Birthday Cake, made with Julia Child's Reine de Saba avec Glaçage au Chocolat recipe. If you're going to have a Harry Potter Birthday Party, get serious about it.