I’m spending lots of time with my butt planted on the Farting Sofa these days, trying to get both some work for my business and some needlepoint completed before the birth of my new granddaughter, now due in slightly over three weeks. But I had to pop in for a couple of celebratory toasts.
First, the latest installment of the Three Broomsticks Podcast has dropped, where I had the privilege of appearing alongside my good friends and fellow Strike Scholars Beatrice Groves and Nick Jeffrey to discuss character and thematic connections between The Cuckoo’s Calling and Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. Even better, my trademark nickname for Matthew made it into the episode title. This is the first in a series of podcasts that will look at each of the Strike books and their connections to the corresponding volume in the Harry Potter series.
Second, “Mr. Galbraith” tweeted the first picture above today, with a notation that Robin has one of those drinks in Sleep Tight, Evangeline. The drink is called “Churchill’s Courage” and is a speciality of the Rivoli Bar at the Ritz. What we do not know is if Robin has her drink at the start of STE, when she goes to meet Ryan for his birthday/potential proposal, or later in the book. JKR/RG tweeted some weeks ago that STE was 2/3’s complete, and historically, tweets have come from the part of the book currently in progress. It does seem like a pretty powerful drink to have in front of a known alcoholic who is struggling with his sobriety. But then again, we can’t deny that Robin needs one after the events of THM.
It was specifically stated in The Hallmarked Man that Robin and RFM were meeting in the restaurant, not the bar, though I assume you can order cocktails and have them brought to your table. The tweeted picture appears to have been taken in the Ritz’s Secret Garden, which opened in May 2026; you can see the patio and plants in the background, and well as the green embossed menu in the center of the table. So, this is not where Robin would have dined, unless she did some time-traveling. Note also that the cocktail appears to be garnished with a goldenberry* (or possibly a persimmon?) rather than the Rivoli’s usual dehydrated orange slice.
So, is Robin imbibing the liquid courage in order to get up the nerve to end things with Ryan, to recover from the bombshell Strike dropped on her at the end of THM or both? Or, do Strike and Robin get a do-over at the Rivoli later in the book, where they finally clear the air under the watchful gaze of Leda and the Swan?
In any case, here’s the recipe. I am sure many Strike readers will be learning how to butter-wash bourbon and mixing one up to enjoy as they start their initial reading of STE. If sales of white port spike around publication day, we’ll know why. What is most interesting to me is that this drink, with butter-washed bourbon and a hint of vanilla, sounds like a grown-up version of Butterbeer.** So could Churchill’s Courage be a Muggle version of the iconic wizard’s beverage?
As regular readers know, I am going to be seeking connections to Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince in STE; unfortunately, if this pans out, it suggests the drink at the Ritz might not go so well. Harry, Ron and Hermione visit Hogsmeade and go to the Three Broomsticks for butterbeer, but actually decide to cut the trip short because they are having such a bad time. The weather is cold and miserable. Harry is first accosted by Slughorn at Honeydukes, who nags him about skipping out on Slug Club meetings, then he catches and nearly strangles Mundungus Fletcher for stealing and pawning Sirius’s valuables. On the way back they witness Katie Bell’s encounter with the cursed necklace. And all the while, Harry is feeling jealous of Dean, who is there with Ginny, to whom Harry has finally acknowledged his attraction.
I know I am not alone in hoping that, if the Ritz goes badly, it goes badly with RFM, not CBS.
*A rather awesome fruit I sampled for the first time in Peru last summer. It is known there as the aguaymento.
** I’m wondering if a dash of butter extract would be an acceptable substitute. The best and easiest recipe for butterbeer that I know is to mix two tablespoons butter extract and two teaspoons rum extract into a two-liter bottle of cream soda.
Looking forward to your discussions. In the meantime thanks for the butter extract idea. Not gonna butter wash bourbon. I think it would be easier but lots more expensive to fly to London and order the drink at the Ritz bar. I hope Robin and Strike are doing surveillance at the bar and they have a good time. Murphy better be history pretty soon. The fatigue is real. And I did not know you deserve credit for Flobberworm. That nickname is great.
Will wait to see if you're right about weather Robin is breaking up with Ryan, or if her and Strike manage to break down barriers, yet again in a later part of the novel.
Have recently gotten into the novels of Dennis Lehane, if you're familiar with any of his works, and am making my way through the original run of Law & Order as well.