Crown Laurel

Cypress Crown takes place in December, so its signature cocktail had to taste like something you’d want to wrap both hands around on a cold night (there are cold nights even in Florida). Crown Laurel starts with hot apple cider mulled with orange, cinnamon, cloves, and bay leaf, then gets a generous bolster of Crown Royal. It’s warm, fragrant, a little sweet, and considerably more comforting than most of what happens to the Bracken family in Book Four.

And yes, the Crown Royal is mandatory. It has Crown in the name. There are rules.

But the other half of the name has a trick up its sleeve, too.

Did you know that bay leaves, like the one used in this recipe, are what laurel wreaths were made from? Those laurel crowns you see in Greek mythology and on Roman statues? They came from the bay laurel—the same plant whose leaves you use in cooking. Yes, they absolutely smelled like the bay leaf in your spice cabinet.

That’s also where we get the expression “to rest on your laurels.”

Your author may or may not have been thinking of laurel crowns while developing the political through line involving a certain fictional Senator.

She also may or may not be extremely proud of her many-layered cocktail pun.