Drinks in Amber

What does the House of Amber drink? When and where do they drink it? And how much do they drink?

Here are my three key takeaways from an analysis of Amber and its libation habits:

1. Amberites drink. A lot.

Hardly a scene goes by across the entire Amber series where the children and grandchildren of Oberon are not drinking something. Whether its wine, beer, or booze ... day or night ... at home or on the road ... they're drinking. They are magically never far from alcohol. Random manages to pull out a flask of wine while they're hiding from Eric's troops in the Forest of Arden. Wherever they might be in the palace in Amber, no matter the room, they open a cabinet and voila, there's a bottle. And of course Merlin can use the Logrus to retrieve beer when he needs to. Some of the Princes of Amber are even depicted drinking on their trump cards.

2. When in Amber, expect wine. But it's not the best.

Wine is the drink of choice in Amber. There are bottles of wine readily available in many rooms, and wine is served at dinners and coronations. In the Merlin chronicles, we learn about the Court of Amber's official vintner, Baron Bayle, a "minor noble" who has vineyards thirty miles east of Amber. But it is probable that wine is imported as well. Corwin notes that "agriculture has never been our forte", and Merlin tells us that Bayle's red wines are good, but he is "less successful with the whites." Also, in Knight of Shadows, Merlin comments that the wine they find at the Keep of the Four Worlds is better than Bayle's, "by far."

3. Corwin's drinking contrasts with Merlin's.

While Merlin will drink wine when it is served, especially in Amber, when it's his choice he will usually order a beer. Conversely, Corwin drinks beer on occasion, but will default to wine or booze when it's his choice. This seemingly small difference in taste serves to highlight the generational gap between them, and perhaps Merlin's anti-traditionalist tendencies. Merlin also drinks in moderation, in contrast to his father. At one pont, Merlin says "I was not in the mood for that much wine"; this is not a comment you would likely ever hear from Corwin. And in Blood of Amber, Merlin leaves an unfinished bottle of wine behind after his dinner at Bloody Bill's. This stands in contrast to Corwin, who is drunk on multiple occasions, including a spell at his tomb with Ganelon where he concludes the evening saying: "You're right. I'm drunk and bitter. I don't need that."

In their final scene, Corwin appropriately asks his son to fetch him some wine.

*     *     *

Below is a comprehensive list of all the drinking moments from the ten Amber books:

Flora and Corwin drink Irish Mist.

"I'd like a little Irish Mist," she said.

"So would I, for that matter," I replied, and I rose and fetched two. (NPIA, Ch. 2)

Corwin drinks beer.

I tore at the fresh tough-crested bread with my teeth and gulped the beer with a great hunger and a thirst. (NPIA, Ch. 2)

Julian once threw a glass of wine at Corwin.  (NPIA, Ch. 2)

Gerard and Bleys drink wine on their trumps.

In this right hand he held a goblet of wine. I felt a sudden affection for him. ... He was Gerard.  (NPIA, Ch. 3)

... flame-crowned, dressed all in red and orange, with a sword in his right hand and a glass of wine in his left. (NPIA, Ch. 5)

Flora drinks Jack Daniels.

... she walked across the room to the bar, poured herself a shot of Jack Daniels, (NPIA, Ch. 3)

Flora and Corwin dirnk wine.  (NPIA, Ch. 3)

Random and Corwin drink beer.

We drove over to Kenni Roi's and got us a bucket full of Kentucki Fried Lizzard Partes and another bucket of weak, salty tasting beer. (NPIA, Ch. 4)

Random, Deirdre, and Corwin drink wine.

Random found a skin of wine and we all had a drink.  (NPIA, Ch. 4)

Corwin drank beer and wine with Shaxpur (Shakespeare).  (NPIA, Ch. 5)

Corwin and Bleys drink wine.

I returned to Bleys' tent and we finished the bottle of wine.  (NPIA, Ch. 6) 

Wine is served at Eric's coronation.  (NPIA, Ch. 8)

Lord Rein brings wine to Corwin in prison.  (NPIA, Ch. 8)

Corwin drinks beer with Jopin (NPIA, Ch. 10)

He describes Jopin's "good brew".

Corwin drinks some "stuff" from Jopin that he has in a flask.  (TGOA, Ch. 1)

Corwin and Ganelon drink sweet white wine.

He led me to a chair, handed me a glass of pale wine that was a bit too sweet for my taste...   
After stuffing myself until my stomach would hold no more and soaking down its contents with another glass of too-sweet wine.  (TGOA, Ch. 1)

Corwin and Lorraine drink wine in his room.

"No. I'd rather talk. Have a glass of wine." (TGOA, Ch. 2)

Corwin, Benedict, and Ganelon drink wine in Benedict's tent.  (TGOA, Ch. 4)

Corwin and Dara drink wine over a picnic.  (TGOA, Ch. 5)

Corwin and Ganelon drink some kind of booze at Benedict's house.  (TGOA, Ch. 6)

Ganelon drinks beer in Brussells.  (TGOA, Ch. 8)

Corwin and Random drink something in the palace.

 Random explored a cupboard in the corner, produced a bottle and a pair of goblets.  (SOTU, Ch. 3)

Corwin and Ganelon drink wine at Corwin's tomb.

Ganelon and I repaired thither, accompanied by a good supply of wine.  (SOTU, Ch. 4)

The family drinks wine in the palace library.  (SOTU, Ch. 6)

Vialle serves wine to Corwin.

Vialle came in bearing a tray heavy with bread, meat, cheese, fruit, and a flask of wine.  (THOO, Ch. 4)

At his house, Bill Roth serves Corwin an unspecified drink.  (THOO, Ch. 10)

Ganelon, Bendict, and Corwin drink wine in a tent, again.

Ganelon produced three glasses and a bottle of wine.  (THOO, Ch. 8)

Corwin and Random drink wine in the library.

I took a large swallow of wine.  (TCOC, Ch. 1)

The leprecauns drink ale, and Corwin joins them.

In a smoky, torchlit hall, hordes of meter high people, red-faced and green clad, were dancing to the music or quaffing what appeared to be mugs of ale.  (TCOC, Ch. 5)

Corwin drinks wine with Lady.

I finished my wine. She moved to pour me more and I stayed her hand.  (TCOC, Ch. 6)

Fiona brings Corwin some wine after the battle at The Courts of Chaos; he also drinks with Merlin.

Fiona was beside me once more, with rations and a flask. ...  I swallowed some wine.  (TCOC, Ch. 12)

I sipped the wine and watched the storm. (TCOC, Ch. 13)

Merlin drinks Chianti with Rick Kinsky.

He switched on a telephone answering machine then, removed a stack of forms and correspondence from the blotter, opened a drawer and took out a bottle of Chianti. (TOD, Ch. 2)

Merlin drinks beer with Julia in a flashback.

"Come on," I said, aiming my beer can at a trash bin and catching hold of her hand. "Let's take a walk."  (TOD, Ch. 2)

Merlin drinks beer in Santa Fe.

A little later a cocktail waitress came by, and I ordered a beer.  (TOD, Ch. 5)

Merlin and Luke drink sangria.

We went through a pitcher of sangria, orders of pollo adova, bread puddings, and many cups of coffee.  (TOD, Ch. 5)

Bill Roth and Merlin drink beer.  (TOD, Ch. 6)

Later, they have unspecified drinks at the country club.

Random and Merlin drink wine in the palace library. (TOD, Ch. 7)

He gestured toward a chair and I took it. He crossed to a cabinet then. "Wine?" he asked. ... "Don't mind if I do." ... He poured two glasses, brought me one, and seated himself in a chair to my left, a small table between us. 

Back at the country club, Merlin orders beer.  (TOD, Ch. 7)

Shortly, the bartender came up to me. He recalled me from last night ... I had a beer from him and retired with it to the most secluded table

Merlin drinks wine on his hike from Kolvir.  (TOD, Ch. 9)

NOTE: Beer is not practical for hiking.

Luke leaves wine and booze for Merlin in the crystal cave.

"Canned goods," he announced. "Fruit; vegetables, ham, salmon, biscuits, sweets. Several cases of wine ... Even a bottle or two of cognac."  (TOD, Ch. 10)

And he drinks the wine in Ch. 1 of BOA.

Merlin is offered wine from Dave the Hermit.

He handed me the entire bottle after he'd uncorked it and opened the other for himself. For reasons involving public health I was grateful, though I wasn't in the mood for that much wine.  (BOA, Ch. 3)

Merlin orders and drinks Bayle's Piss at Bloody Bill's.

I poured some of the yellow wine into my glass and took a sip: a distinctive taste I remembered from across the years. It was okay for quaffing. Baron Bayle owned a number of vineyards about thirty miles to the east. He was the official vintner to the Court, and his red wines were generally excellent. He was less successful with the whites, though, and often wound up dumping a lot of second-rate stuff onto the local market. It bore his emblem and a picture of a dog --he liked dogs so it was sometimes called Dog Piss and sometimes Bayle's Piss, depending on who you talked to. (BOA, Ch. 4)

Merlin drinks beer in the Alice in Wonderland trip.  (SOC, Ch. 1)

Merlin and Mandor drink an "orange beverage" together.

I took a small sip of the fiery drink.  (SOC, Ch. 2) 

Bayles wine is served at a palace dinner in Amber.  (SOC, Ch. 7)

But the wine steward was already approaching with a couple of drinks on a tray.... "Bayle's Best," he observed as we took them... I sipped and saw that he was right, which heartened me a bit.

Julian, Luke, and Merlin drink wine in the army tent.  

"Let me offer you a glass of wine." ... Julian placed three cups upon the table, filled them with Bayle's Best.  (SOC, Ch. 8)

Merlin serves wine to Jasra in his chamber in Amber.

"Do you have s something stronger than water?"  "Yes," I replied, and I uncorked a bottle of wine and poured some into a goblet for her.  (SOC, Ch. 10)

Mandor, Merlin and Jasra drink wine at the Keep of the Four Worlds.  

Mandor finds some old wine from before Sharu Garrul's time, and it turns out to be quite good.

"We'd better check to see how the wine is holding up, before the lady arrives," he said then, pouring some of the ruby fluid into two of the goblets. We sampled these, and he nodded. It was better than Bayle's. By far.  (KOS, Ch. 1)

Merlin and Coral finish the bottle Merlin had opened for Jasra.  (KOS, CH. 8)

 I crossed to the table where the wine bottle I'd opened for Jasra -- how long ago? -- still stood. I found us two clean glasses. I filled them. I passed one to Coral.

Merlin reluctantly opts for wine over coffee during lunch with his mother.

If I were to use magic to summon a cup of coffe, would she resent that? Yes, I believed. She would. So I decided on a glass of wine.  (POC, Ch. 6)

In the final chapter of the Merlin chronicles, Corwin asks his son for wine. 

"Meat, bread, cheese, wine, maybe a piece of pie," he said. "Just so it's fresh and there's lots of it."  (POC, Ch. 12)