To honor the wonderful story behind these awe inspiring Lord of the Rings themed creations and their humble creator, I made a cocktail that continues the story. After some unsatisfying research into Lord of the Rings cocktails, I accepted the idea that I would need to make something suitable myself. I had to embrace Tamas’s wise words: “lets figure it out and do it.” I admit, I like making new cocktails, so it was a challenge I readily embraced. It turns out, I once made a cocktail based on Sauron, the dark sorcerer, to celebrate a magical puzzle box that holds the One Ring. So I turned my attention to the White City instead, this time, focusing in on its most emblematic symbol, the White Tree of Gondor. The tree stands brittle and barren, dead in the courtyard at Minas Tirith during the time of the Lord of the Rings saga, a far cry from the beautiful, regal tree full of white flowers and fruit described in the days of the Kings. The dead tree was a descendant of many others, all grown from an original sapling of Nimloth, the ancient tree of Numenor, and remained as a prophesy to herald the return of the true king someday by blooming once again. In the movies, this rebirth of the tree occurs as if by magic, while in the original story by Tolkien, a new tree is planted.

The type of tree, flower and fruit is never fully explained and remains unattainable beyond the descriptions. The white flowers are reminiscent of jasmine flowers, as close as I could determine. Of course, this cocktail could have gone in any direction, but I tend to gravitate toward the bittersweet and I love a Negroni, so there you are. White Negronis often use alternate clear spirits like mezcal, which make for an excellent drink, and pale bitters or aperitifs such as Suze or Cocchi Americano to replace the bright red Campari. French vermouth, based on white wine, typically replaces the Italian sweet red vermouth. The flavors end up similar but the drink is pale straw or light yellow, looking nothing like a traditional Negroni. For the White Tree I made a practically clear drink, achieved with Bitter Bianco, an amaro with the full complexity of a typical red hued bitter but which has undergone a filtration to remove all color. Most red amaro like Campari actually dyed with food coloring anyway. I stuck with gin for this one, to highlight the botanicals, and infused it with jasmine to complete the effect. Here’s to the stories, may they ever inspire us. Cheers!

The White Tree

1 oz jasmine infused gin

1 oz Luxardo Bitter Bianco

½ oz dry vermouth

½ oz fino sherry

Stir ingredients over ice and strain into a favorite glass over a large clear cube. White citrus peel flower garnish.