“How did you know stairs were my only weakness?! Next to electrocution, explosions, rust, corrosion…” - Claptrap from Borderlands 2

Inspiration

Claptrap, the motormouthed robot of the Borderlands series, is equal parts comic relief and constant annoyance. In designing both cocktail and mocktail versions of his drink, I leaned on his most quotable lines for inspiration, from the “oil of his brow” to his threats to “teabag your corpse.” The cocktail riffs on a Rusty Nail with Scotch, honey liqueur, and a Sichuan-sesame oil wash that numbs as much as it entertains. The mocktail echoes the same arc with spiced honey, smoky lapsang, and malty Assam tea, carrying over that mildly numbing oil infusion for good measure.

Workshopping

“Motormouth” Oil

Claptrap is annoying. I may not be as familiar with the grating comedic relief as some other folks, but the Borderlands series is self-aware enough to lean into the character they’ve created. The fact that Borderlands 4 even has its own Claptrap volume slider in the audio settings makes me think that everyone is so tired of Claptrap’s motormouth that the developers gave us the ability to literally numb ourselves to his rambling. Naturally, that got me thinking.

Inspired by one of Claptrap’s weaknesses, corrosion, I decided to build his drink around the basic Rusty Nail recipe of Scotch and Drambuie, a Scotch-based liqueur. Our “Rusty Robot,” so to speak, would embody what it might be like to drink a Claptrap (not that anybody would want to). The numbness, from exposure to his robotic ramblings, would be represented with Sichuan peppercorn (also called Szechuan), known for its floral characteristics and mild numbing sensations. I imagine that the more Claptrap you drink, the more numb your palate might become from the extra exposure. Instead of just infusing the Sichuan directly though, I wanted to incorporate oil (the edible kind), in the form of a fat-wash, right into the base spirit.  Besides, as Claptrap quips in Borderlands 1, “Is a claptrap not entitled to the oil of his brow?”

For this, I tested a two-step infusion process: first infusing oil with Sichuan peppercorns, then using that oil to fat-wash the spirit. This approach carries not only the pepper flavor but also the texture and aromatics of the oil. I tried both sesame oil and grapeseed oil. I left crushed Sichuan peppercorns in the oil for about half a day, then strained them out. Next, I added the infused oil to blended Scotch (Johnnie Walker Red Label), gave it a good shake, and placed it in the freezer. By the next day, the oils had solidified and I was able to separate the washed spirit through a coffee filter. Between the two, the sesame oil infusion delivered bolder aromatics and was easier to filter than the grapeseed. Quick tip: keep the filter in the freezer. At room temp the oil liquefies and slips right through.

I did wonder about the exact infusion times, since that variable can really shape the outcome. But at this early stage, the goal was just to create a baseline to work from. Ultimately, the sesame oil wash won out: it gave me the mild numbing from the Sichuan, the nutty aromatics of sesame, and the smooth, lightly smoked character of the Scotch.

Sichuan Sesame Oil-washed Scotch

• 3 oz (90 ml) Sesame Oil

• 7 g crushed Sichuan peppercorns; infuse in oil 12 hours, then filter

• 12 oz (375 ml) Blended Scotch; add infused oil, shake to combine

• Freeze overnight, then strain through a coffee filter (keep filter cold for easier extraction)

• Store and use as the base spirit for Claptrap’s cocktail

Mocktrap (Model # M03K-TP)

For the mock version of Claptrap’s drink, I set out to use non-alcoholic analogues for all of the booze in the cocktail recipe. The two big hurdles were the infused Scotch and the Scotch-based liqueur Drambuie. This gave me a chance to dig into Drambuie itself, which I’d always known only as “that honey-spice liqueur in a Rusty Nail.”

To recreate those flavors, I focused on honey as the base. Traditional honey infusions can take weeks, but I only had a week, so I turned to sous vide. Heating the honey not only sped up infusion but also made it less viscous and easier to strain. I tried star anise, orange peel, rosemary, and saffron at 150 °F (65.5 °C) for two hours. The result was a citrusy, lightly herbal honey infusion. A second batch without citrus and with extra star anise leaned more licorice-like, reminiscent of the liqueur. The saffron wasn’t obvious in flavor, but it darkened the honey nicely so I assumed that it worked!

Speaking honestly, I’m not completely satisfied with where this infusion ended up. While it has some flavors reminiscent of Drambuie, the profile is still far from accurate. For one, I used basic grocery-store honey, whereas Drambuie is specifically made with heather honey. On top of that, even though I included some of the common baking spices, I was missing others, like angelica root or fennel seeds, that could have made a difference.

Going forward, I’d like to document more detailed workshopping notes on individual ingredients and eventually arrive at a true 1-to-1 honey substitute for Drambuie. For now, what I have is a versatile flavored honey syrup that works as an adequate stand-in for Mocktrap.

Infused-Honey Syrup (66° Brix)

• Combine the following ingredients and let sous vide at 150 °F (65.5 °C) for two hours:

  • 12 oz (500 g) honey

  • 4.6 g Star Anise Pods (about 3)

  • 18 g Orange Peel (about 1 organic orange)

  • 0.2 g Rosemary

  • 10 threads Saffron

• Strain out infusables, then combine 300 g infused honey with 70 ml water for a syrup measuring about 66% sugar by weight (the same as a 2:1 simple syrup).

The other half of the mocktail drew on tea as a stand-in for blended Scotch. Who's the one getting "teabagged" now, Claptrap!? Erm—one of my favorite teas, lapsang souchong, brings a smoky campfire note, but it’s a bit too smoky to work as the base that matches the blended Scotch truly. To balance it, I researched malty teas and landed on Assam. Together, they would bring the smoke and malt that I found in the JW Red I used for the cocktail infusion.

Checking my personal tea shelf, I found a pouch labeled “Bohea Tea,” which blended lapsang and Assam. Lucky me! Fun fact: Bohea (or Wuyi) was the same tea tossed into the Boston Harbor during the Tea Party. This particular blend from The Spice & Tea Exchange also included cinnamon, orange, and clove, which further added to the spice component from the infused honey.

To prepare the tea, I infused about a tablespoon (all the tea I had left) in a full tea kettle of hot water (2.2 quarts) and let it steep for 5 minutes. Knowing it would be underdiluted, I concentrated the flavor by reducing it on a low simmer until the tea was 25% of its original volume, then strained it. That became the base for the mocktail. To carry over the “infused” quality of the Scotch, I also added a few drops of the Sichuan-infused sesame oil. This gave the mocktail its own numbing, aromatic twist while staying true to the concept.

Claptrap Mocktail

• 2 oz (60 ml) Wuyi/Bohea Tea Reduction (Spice & Tea Exchange)

• 1 oz (30 ml) Infused-Honey Syrup

• 0.25 oz (7.5 ml) Lemon Juice

• 10 drops (0.25 ml) Sichuan-infused Sesame Oil

• 1 scoop Pebble Ice

• Method: Swizzle until the ice has dissolved, pour into a glass, and top with additional ice

• Garnish: One Dehydrated Lemon Wheel

Design Drinktrap

I wanted to add a blurb about the design of Claptrap as a beverage. The way this drink was built felt more design-heavy than usual, so if it helps someone else, I’m happy to pull back the curtain and share more! As supplemental material, I’ve added a capture of my cocktail sketchbook to the bottom of the blog page as I visualized how it might look.

My first impressions of Claptrap made me associate his box-like structure with a Chinese food takeout box. The idea of opening up Claptrap’s head to sip from it felt like poetic justice for those driven insane by his ramblings. The straw would double as an analogue to his antenna protruding from the drink. An advantage of the takeout box approach is that I could craft a custom-painted container for Claptrap’s drinks. We could paint it to match his panels, add embellishments for corrosion, and more easily implement his blue lens eye.

Unfortunately, I’m not the best artist when pressed for time, so I defaulted to a glassware approach, which inspired further aspects of the drink. There’s another quote from Claptrap where he says, “Look at me! I’m dancing! I’m dancing!” (Borderlands 1). I immediately pictured swizzling the ingredients together in the cocktail glass, if only there were enough space for it.

This glassware-based concept wedged a blue-bottomed shot glass into a rectangular old fashioned glass. This gave enough space for a standard pour but not enough room for a swizzle stick to churn the ingredients. Perhaps in the future I can make enough space for a swizzling Claptrap in the glass, but for now I swizzle in the shaker first. I build the drink with a layer of pebble ice, then the little shot glass filled with more ice, then free-pour the drink over top, finishing with additional ice.

Oh, and don’t let me forget his little uni-wheeled situation! I couldn’t figure out how to balance the drink on a lemon wheel, but I could put it next to his antenna. Work with what you’ve got!

Flavor Analysis

Cocktail: Sweet, honey-forward Scotch that shifts into notes of Sichuan and sesame, with a touch of peanut-like flavor and a mild numbing finish.

Mocktail: Malty black tea with a honey backbone that evolves into more floral honey tones, ending with a gentle numbing sensation from the Sichuan pepper.