Simple props can add to your players’ experience. Reflecting in-game meals with real food and drink at your table is fun an immersive. This post combines those two ideas into a wine bottle prop and a themed cocktail to go with it.
Even tramp freighter crews occasionally find themselves at a fancy dinner. Any self respecting noble always has a bottle of fine wine within easy reach. For me, the go-to wine in Traveller has always been Zilan Wine. Featured prominently in the classic module The Traveller Adventure, and its more recent rewrite Aramis: The Traveller Adventure. Pulling canon references from other sources makes the universe feel richer.
So, with an extra fancy dinner coming up in my Friday session, and an itch to make a prop, I decided to make a bottle of Zilan Wine. My first thought was to fill it with water and food coloring. I realized that it would be so much cooler if we could pour the wine and drink it. I’m not a big wine fan, and I wanted a different color, so I decided to make a themed cocktail. And so the Zilan Wine was born.
Here’s how I put it together…
The Wine Bottle
The bottle is a 1 liter, reusable bottle with a ceramic stopper. We had a few lying around, but you can find them on Amazon for not a lot of money. You could also use an old wine or liquor bottle. A clear bottle would be best so the purplish color of the cocktail is visible. Be sure to adjust the cocktail recipe if your bottle is larger or smaller than 1 liter.
For the label, I quickly worked something up in my image editor. That sort of thing is not my forte so I kept it simple. You can find a pdf by click on the image to the left.
After you’ve printed the label, cut it out and glue it to the wine bottle. I just used a simple glue stick. That way the label and glue washed off the bottle easily after the session was done.
The Cocktail
The cocktail is a minor variation on the Blue Moon. I wanted to make it a little sweeter and less potent — I did want us to be able to play after the dinner party scene.
Zilan Wine
To fill a 1 liter bottle…
- 16 oz. gin
- 4 oz. creme de violet
- 6 oz. lemon juice
- 4 oz. simple syrup
Pour ingredients into a mixing bowl and stir to combine. Using a funnel, pour into your empty bottle. Chill until cold, at least a couple of hours.
Shake gently before serving and pour into wine glasses or champagne flutes. This make roughly 8 servings.
Do you use any bar props or themed cocktails in your game? If so, let me know in the comments below.
