Dwarf Beverages
Though dwarves are known for consumption of ale, there are actually few dwarf-made brews as they rarely live where they can farm grains to make them. Instead, they purchase barrels of bier from humans, and they drink it like water. To dwarves, it is a ‘soft’ drink, and even youth drink it, seemingly unaffected by its low alcohol content.
Dwarves drink honey mead made from bees that pollinate alpine or highland flowers as well as brandy made from berries that grow in the mountains and spruce-tip tonic. In valleys they are able to tap maple and birch trees to not only get syrup, but also distill spirits made from the sugary sap.
They use herbs that grow in their region, not in teas like the elves, but for adding to other beverages. Specifically, they make tinctures and tonics by adding one or more herbs to their spirits.
A bottle of fyrvatter
Alpine Dwarf Beverages
The alpine dwarves of Taluma are known for a unique beverage called fyrvatter which is distilled from maple or birch syrup. Its name comes from the high heat needed to turn the sap into the syrup used to brew and distill the spirit, but also because they prefer to drink it at scalding hot temperatures. They are able to quaff drinks at temperatures that would burn other peoples’ mouths and throats. But for a dwarf, the hotter, the better.
Plain fyrvatter is almost unheard of as they invariably add herbs or other adjuncts. There are some well-known distillery favorites, but dwarves also distill at home and each clan and family has their ‘secret’ recipes. Guldvatter is a favorite and is shipped across Taluma. The highly sought after alcohol simply has gold flakes in it, but the ornately blown glass vessels it is bottled in are almost as valuable as the drink itself (glass is important to be able to see the flakes floating in it). Caravans of Guldvatter being shipped are guarded as heavily as royal families traveling across the land.
When an alpine dwarf is sick, a scalding spirit with gamma’s (grandma) ages old herbal recipe steeped into it is the perfect remedy. Honey and spruce are two of the most common ingredients in medicinal fyrvatter. Gammas are suspected to give gappas (grandpas) fyrvatter with chamomile to promote slumber.
A unique and rare item that alpine dwarves craft is made specifically for drinking fyrvatter. Fyrvang Vessels are carved from the tooth of a red dragon - the obtaining of which makes these so rare and valuable - which gives it a special quality: it is always warm and keeps heated up fyrvatter (the best way to drink it if you ask a dwarf) hot. The fact that you have to find, and kill a red dragon (or convince it to give you one of its teeth) to obtain the fang to craft the cup makes these very expensive and only nobles or the wealthiest dwarves can afford them.
Adventure Hooks: Fyrvatter
How can this information help me running a D&D game you ask? How can you use it beyond just filler background? Well, we can help! Below are 3 adventure hook ideas to use fyrvatter in your campaign.
