Harry Potter Butterbeer Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is Harry Potter Butterbeer made of? ›

A simple brown sugar and butter syrup gets topped with cream soda and a dollop of cream in this wildly popular drink. Next time you are having a Harry Potter movie marathon, book club meeting, or even a Halloween party, pull out all the stops with this sweet drink that even Harry, Ron, and Hermione would approve of.

However, the typical butterbeer recipe has some combination of cream soda and butterscotch syrup, topped with whipped cream. Sometimes other ingredients are thrown in the mix, like butter extract or rum extract but we'll just have to keep guessing when it comes to Universal's secret recipe.

The Butterbeer begins with equal parts vanilla vodka and butterscotch schnapps, which both supply the boozy quotient in this recipe. Cream soda provides the cold, fizzy element, and when combined, the trio yield a drink that is sweet and refreshing.

In Bon Appetit's January 2002 issue, author J.K. Rowling was asked what butterbeer tastes like, and she said: "I made it up. I imagine it to taste a little bit like less sickly butterscotch." The version sold at The Wizarding World was tasted and approved by Rowling herself.

Butterbeer was a popular wizarding beverage described as tasting "a little bit like less-sickly butterscotch". It was served at numerous locations in the wizarding world and had a very slight alcoholic content. Students of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry would often buy it when visiting Hogsmeade.

But its origin dates back much further than J.K. Rowling's films. Butterbeer, or “Buttered beere” as it was described in 1594, has existed for many centuries. At the time of the Tudors, beer was already a typical and commonly consumed drink.

Calling all Potterheads! You don't have to make a trip to Hogsmeade or Diagon Alley to get your hands on some delicious Butterbeer. Flying Cauldron's butterscotch cream soda, previously only available in a glass bottle option, is now sold in new 16-ounce aluminum cans for on-the-go magic.

Gillywater – Available at The Leaky Cauldron (plain only) and Eternelle's Elixir of Refreshment stand in Carkitt Market, Gillywater is bottled water with a little flavor and color added in.

If this is your first Butterbeer, I'd recommend the cold version. As a Harry Potter fan, this drink comes the closest to how I imagined it. It can be served in a regular cup or a souvenir tankard.

Particularly in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, there are subtle hints about its effects. One notable moment is when Hermione Granger appears slightly tipsy in the film adaptation after consuming butterbeer. This portrayal suggests a mild alcoholic content, despite it not being explicitly stated in the books.

How many types of butterbeer are there? ›

Universal Orlando offers Butterbeer in 6 different forms! Each type of Butterbeer offers unique experience. Although Butterbeer is without a doubt the most popular treat, it's a supersweet and sugary snack that isn't for everyone. I suggest trying all 6 though, because you never know what you'll like best.

There are some scenes in the Harry Potter series that indicate Butterbeer has some alcoholic content. While available for students like Harry and Ron to drink at The Three Broomsticks, a quote in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince suggests it also impacts underage muggle.

It definitely has a butterscotch flavor to it, creamy and cold. A definite "must try" if you're going to Universal.

Butterbeer is served cold in bottles and hot in "foaming tankards". In Hogsmeade, it's sold at The Three Broomsticks and The Hog's Head, although the fact that the latter pub's stock was described as "very dusty" suggests that it was not sold there very often.

You can grab hot butterbeer at The Leaky Cauldron, The Hopping Pot (in Hogsmeade Village) or Hogs Head, and The Three Broomsticks (in Diagon Alley).

Butterbeer in the Harry Potter series implies a low alcohol content, as seen through subtle hints and the reactions of characters like Hermione and Winky. At Universal Studios, Butterbeer is non-alcoholic to create an inclusive experience for fans of all ages, prioritizing accessibility and family-friendliness.

Just as Rowling imagined, there's more flavor here than sugar, or at least that's how it drinks — essentially, you're getting a butterscotch cream soda with a float of something like toasted marshmallow crème; there's no escaping the inevitable foam mustache, and while you can try, you'll never outdrink the head.

But, the “froth” in Butterbeer contained dairy and without the froth, Butterbeer is, well, extremely sweet cream soda and tastes more muggle than magical. The rest of the day, Hannah encountered much the same issue, with very few vegan options.

If you haven't tasted it, imagine creme soda with butterscotch syrup and a creamy fizzy vanilla topping. It's definitely one for the sugar fiends and unlike in the books, these versions are alcohol-free.