The Driftwood Tavern is an upmarket inn with a fine reputation and a magnificently curated museum recounting Neverwinter's troubled history, which includes sieges, coups, civil uprisings, and the devastating eruption of Mount Hotenow. Exhibits at the museum include graffitied stones from the old city walls, tattered banners from the ruins of Castle Never, and a partly melted city hall clock stalled at the moment of the Hotenow eruption. The tavern has weathered so many catastrophes that it's earned a reputation as a serene oasis in a world of violent change.
The owner, Madame Rosene, is fond of brandy and is sometimes seen putting the world to rights with old friends over a few brandy cocktails. Her patrons try to emulate her refined tastes, which ensures that her cocktails always sell well at the bar!
Brandy Cassalanter
The Cassalanter family of Waterdeep exerts a strong influence across the Sword Coast due to their heavy involvement in the banking sector, but the members of this family are definitely more powerful than popular. Rumors abound of their involvement in shady affairs, with talk of necromancy, vampirism, and tax avoidance. There is even scuttlebutt that the current Lord and Lady Cassalanter, Victoro and Ammalia, sold their own young children's souls to a demonic entity and that their eldest child and heir, Osvaldo, is chained up in the depths of the netherworld.
There was a time not long ago when the Cassalanter name was a proud one; Victoro's father, Caladorn Cassalanter, was revered as a hero across the North, and the family as a whole was loved for its philanthropy. Those are the Cassalanters for whom this refined creamy cocktail is named, not the current batch of psychopaths. Superstitious patrons at the Driftwood may order this drink as a "Caladorn" to avoid invoking the Cassalanter name and its diabolical associations.
Madame Rosene's Nightcap
Madame Rosene is an influential figure in Neverwinter—well connected, well informed, and always invested in the city's success. As proprietor of the Driftwood Tavern and curator of the museum, she has an intimate knowledge of the city's past and present tensions. She also has one other advantage up her sleeve: her cellars.
The Driftwood Tavern is one of the only intact buildings in the city to survive multiple cataclysms, and it has not only preserved the many historic artifacts collected under its roof over the centuries, but also a world-class collection of vintage wines and brandies. Madame Rosene enjoys a glass of that brandy every evening, and to share in her wealth, one must be invited to join her for a nightcap.
The cocktail on the tavern's menu does not use Madame Rosene's private reserve; one would never mix such precious spirits! But it's as close as most patrons will get to the experience of a snifter with the aloof and venerable lady herself, and it is what Madame Rosene will order if she has a second or a third drink.
Endurance
The history of Neverwinter is tumultuous and chaotic. Other cities have experienced similar levels of pain and devastation, but what makes Neverwinter unusual is that it has survived. Neverwinter has endured riots, fires, plagues, storms, coups, sieges, and a volcanic eruption so devastating that it is recorded in the city's history as the Ruining. That last cataclysm destroyed most of the city, but the city still clawed its way back.
Through it all, the Driftwood Tavern has provided a lasting tabernacle and an oasis of certainty through generations of peril. The Endurance cocktail was added to the tavern's menu as a commemoration of that history and of the tavern's place in it. Light, subtle, and summery, it is by design a hopeful drink.
Crakaneg
When Mount Hotenow erupted and the Ruining began, the dwarf Ambron Bron recalled his mother yelling at him to save the chickens. Not the gold, not the axes, not even his father's ashes, but the chickens. When they reached safety, his mother explained her reasoning: However bad things seem, you can always crack an egg. When you have chickens, you have good food in an egg—and when the chicken stops laying, you still have food.
Ambron recalled this lesson when his family returned to Neverwinter after the restoration. He took a job at the Driftwood Tavern and introduced a brandy eggnog to the menu in tribute to his mother's wisdom. However, the memory of saving those chickens, depending on them in the months after the Ruining and then eating those friends, haunted Ambron. He eventually gave up consuming all animal products and added an egg-free alternative to the menu, Craknoeg.
Vegan Variation
Almond Brandy
The exact recipe for Almond Brandy is a closely guarded secret of the Moonshae Isles. According to one tabaxi thief who came close to stealing the recipe and barely escaped the islands with her life, the fundamentals include sweet almond liqueur blended with strong grape brandy, cut with a little lime for sharpness and a dash of bitters for depth.
Given the importance that Madame Rosene places on authenticity for everything in her museum, her adoption of this recipe in the Driftwood Tavern might be an endorsement of its authenticity. It's also quite likely that the drink sells well to tourists and that regulars also enjoy the bittersweet flavor!
Littlewinter
As you may have ascertained, it is never winter in Neverwinter. However, magic can be unpredictable and so can weather. On rare occasions, these idiosyncrasies intersect, and it becomes cold enough in the city to maybe wear a coat.
Folks who have adapted to life in cold climates can usually tolerate plummeting temperatures with a shrug, but people living in warm climates seem to notice every drop of one degree on the thermometer. In Neverwinter, as soon as there's a slight chill in the air, residents call it a "littlewinter" and retreat to the tavern to order a hot toddy. This popular variation is so delicious, with its mix of maple syrup, cinnamon, and brandy, that one almost hopes for a little winter to appreciate it!
High Sun Florentines
The High Sun games are a particularly brutish "sporting" event that have been abolished and revived by successive Lords of Neverwinter across the generations, all depending on the mood of the time and how great a need there is to distract the common folk. The games see teams of adventurers—or prisoners, in most cases—attempting to navigate a shifting maze filled with monsters in a stadium of thousands of cheering fans. The fans are mostly cheering for the monsters.
Naturally, the city's grandees watch the game from more elevated positions, where they are less likely to get splashed by some errant slime. From their lofty boxes, they are served fine wines and lacy little cookies. High Sun Florentines are the absolute height of refinement and as brittle as a barbarian's bones in the jaws of a displacer beast.