“I have seen this nimble little creature. I thought her prey and pounced at her, but with a flash she stabbed me with her flying stinger and darted away. Could she be... a Hunter?” - The Hunter referring to Hornet in Hollow Knight

Inspiration

Hornet, the "shaw"-speaking, needle-wielding princess-warrior of Hallownest, finally takes center stage with the recently released Hollow Knight Silksong. We've all been waiting for this one, myself included, since I played through the original back in 2022 to prepare (RIP). To celebrate, the XBar has developed both a cocktail and a mocktail inspired by her royal heritage and her stinging namesake. Her cocktail, a sort of "Fig Stinger Royale", uses fig-infused cognac to bridge the flavors of champagne and mint. The mocktail substitutes the alcoholic ingredients with alcohol-removed sparkling wine, a touch of spearmint, and a freshly clarified fig syrup. Why figs, you may ask? It's a bug-eat-bug world out there, and certain species of figs require the sacrifice of a fig wasp to ripen.

Workshopping

Her Royal Stinger

I first considered making Hollow Knight-inspired drinks back during my 2022 playthrough, before I rebranded my channel to focus more on cocktails. When thinking of Hornet, two details from the original game stood out: her lineage and her weapon. Hornet was born to Herrah the Beast, queen of the Spider Tribe, and the Pale King, monarch of Hallownest, which makes her a royal princess. The Hunter also refers to Hornet’s needle weapon as a “stinger.” These two aspects gave me the core of my drink idea. Champagne cocktails carry a sense of royalty, much like the Kir Royale, which elevates the standard Kir by using sparkling wine. On the other hand, the Stinger cocktail, a simple mix of cognac and crème de menthe, highlights her weapon’s sharp name. Blending the two concepts led me to envision a crimson “Stinger Royale” that could capture both Hornet’s regal heritage and her fierce warrior spirit.

Though the concept already felt unique, something was still missing to tie it all together. Before settling on sparkling white wine, I briefly considered using sparkling red wine, since its color would better match the intended appearance of the drink. To refine the idea, I turned to The Flavor Matrix and looked at central flavors that pair with red wine, white wine, and mint. Beets showed about a 50% similarity with both red wine and mint. Various berries such as strawberries, currants, and cranberries were also highly compatible with red and white wines. But it was the page on figs that truly made everything click. Figs matched aromatically with all three (about 60% with white wine, 70% with red wine, and 40% with mint) and carried an added symbolic connection to Hornet herself. Certain species of figs rely on pollination by specialized fig wasps to ripen and develop their deep, dark hues. While hornets themselves don't pollinate figs, they are fellow Vespidae, belonging to the same taxonomic family as the fig wasps.

Fig Wasps

This was my first real attempt at using fresh figs in a cocktail recipe, so I set out to test a few approaches. I began by drying some in the dehydrator for potential infusions and also preparing a syrup that could be used in either the mocktail or the cocktail. I dehydrated a few figs and then infused them in cognac (Gautier brand) for 2 days. After infusing, the cognac I used darkened noticeably, taking on a ruby hue with a figgy, almost nutty aroma. Interestingly, the infused cognac also tasted sweeter. Using a Brix refractometer confirmed this: the uninfused cognac measured about 11° Brix, while the infused version measured about 22° Brix. That's twice as sweet from the concentrated sugars of the dried figs! In the next section, I expand on how this fig-infused cognac became the base for developing the cocktail recipe. Oh, and before I forget, don't throw out those leftover figs from the infusion process! They make for a nice aromatic and boozy garnish. 

Fig-Infused Cognac:

• Combine about 39.05 g of dried black figs with 200 ml of cognac

• Leave to infuse for about 48 hours, then strain through a coffee filter

In a separate trial, I set about to make a syrup from fresh figs. I chose the ripest figs, dark-skinned and soft, and ran them through a centrifugal juicer. Surprisingly, instead of juice, I ended up with a thick puree that had to be scraped out of the machine. Tasty, yes, but not ideal for a champagne-based drink. With carbonation, clarity matters: too many particles will cause bubbles to vanish quickly and cloud the drink’s appearance. To fix this, I worked on clarifying the puree into a clean fig juice that could then be transformed into syrup.

I scooped the puree into a food processor, added a couple of drops of Pectinex Ultra-SPL, blitzed, and let it rest for about 2 hours. Slowly straining it through a fine mesh sieve, I was rewarded with a beautifully clear, deep red juice. The yield was modest, but the flavor was bright and concentrated.

For comparison, I also tried making a boiled fig syrup by simmering figs in water until softened and red-hued, then blending and straining. This batch came out diluted and cloudy despite adding enzymes to this batch too. It also carried an odd boiled flavor that didn’t do justice to the fruit.

The clarified juice clearly won out: clean, fig-forward, and concentrated. By adding sugar to bring it to about 50° Brix (similar to a 1:1 simple syrup), I ended up with a syrup perfectly suited to showcase figs without weighing down the drink. This juiced syrup became the base for the mocktail recipe in the corresponding section.

Fig Syrup:

• Blend or juice ripe black figs until you get a thick puree.

• Add 1 drop of Pectinex Ultra-SPL for every 4–5 figs, then blitz again and let rest for 2 hours.

• Pour the puree into a fine mesh strainer and allow it to drip until the liquid runs clear. Re-strain any cloudy liquid.

• Add sugar until the syrup measures about 50° Brix. My juice measured 24° Brix, so I used the formula: weight of sugar = (weight of juice × 26 ÷ 50).

Shaw! (The Cocktail)

Having developed a fig-infused cognac, I was ready to test it in a drink. The classic Stinger cocktail is often considered unbalanced and not especially enjoyable, but it's a place to start. Using a ratio of 2 parts infused cognac to 1 part crème de menthe, the result tasted strongly of cough syrup, strikingly similar to Sambucol, the black elderberry supplement, though with a nuttier undertone. To expand my trials, I replaced the crème de menthe with a custom rum-based spearmint liqueur. This version leaned very vegetal, reminiscent of fig skin but intensified. For a third attempt, I reached for a bottle of amaro, which frequently appears in recipes billed as “elevated” or “improved” Stinger variations. Two in particular, the Midnight Stinger by Sam Ross and the Stinger that "Doesn't Suck" by Jean-Félix Desfossés (Truffles on the Rocks), both use Fernet-Branca: one as a substitute for the mint and the other as an addition. In my first test, however, the Fernet completely overwhelmed the fig-infused cognac, even at a 5:1 ratio. Still, I felt their approach was worth exploring further and resolved to give it a fair trial.

To move forward, I drew inspiration from two established recipes: the French 75 and Truffles on the Rocks' Stinger variation. Both provided useful guidance for how champagne, cognac, and mint elements could be balanced. The French 75 generally places champagne at roughly three times the volume of the spirit, while the Stinger variation from Truffles on the Rocks shows Fernet at about nine percent of the total drink. These benchmarks helped shape my first demo drink. My initial tests with crème de menthe leaned too heavily toward mint, leaving the drink unbalanced. Reducing the mint liqueur allowed the cognac to stand out and let the fig character come through more clearly. At that point, I began to appreciate how the drink’s finish seemed to settle into a balance between fresh mint and savory fig. Exploring Fernet as a substitute for crème de menthe added intriguing herbal and vegetal flavors, but in full substitution, the fig notes were overpowered. I found value in both ingredients: the crème de menthe for its contribution to the finish and the Fernet for the complexity it added as the drink evolved. Combining a touch of both, with Fernet used more sparingly, created a nice balance. It's wild to me how long the evolution takes with the final ratios, and even more surprisingly, how different the drink tastes within the first second versus about a minute after. 

While I am pleased with the final results, I still see room to improve this recipe. First, I want to refine the infusion process so the fig flavor remains strong throughout the drink. Second, I would like to experiment with a fig spirit such as Mahia to see if it can enhance the fig character during the drink’s evolution.

Git Gud! (The Mocktail)

For the mocktail, I set out to combine three main components: a sparkling non-alcoholic brut wine (standing in for both champagne and Cognac, which also come from grapes), the clarified fig syrup, and a touch of mint. The fig syrup was already prepared, so the main challenge was finding the right way to incorporate mint flavor. My previous attempts with dried leaves or sugar macerations always left behind an unattractive green tint. To avoid that, I experimented with pure, colorless spearmint essential oil. Straight drops were far too strong, so I created a simple dilution, a "spearmint essence water" instead. Although the oil didn’t fully dissolve, shaking the mixture emulsified it enough to work in the drink. I was concerned the emulsion might break in the glass, but in practice it stayed stable and blended smoothly.

Spearmint Essence Water

• Combine 110 ml of water with 0.1 g of food-grade spearmint essential oil (I used LorAnn).

• Shake vigorously to temporarily emulsify before using.

To find the right balance, I added the non-alcoholic brut wine to the fig syrup in stages. The first pours were thick and dominated by fig sweetness. As more wine was added, the drink shifted toward a brighter balance, with pear notes becoming more noticeable. At around a 6:1 ratio, the tart wine and sweet fig seemed to balance out. Depending on the strength of the syrup or the wine used, I’d place the sweet spot anywhere between 5:1 and 7:1. With additional champagne, the syrup’s deep red color gradually lightened to a blush tone, so I added a tiny amount of red food dye to keep the color aligned with Hornet’s cloak.

Once I was satisfied with the champagne-to-syrup ratio, I turned to the mint. I began cautiously: a quarter teaspoon of the spearmint essence water was barely noticeable. At half a teaspoon, it lifted the pear notes. Three-quarters of a teaspoon proved to be the ideal amount, bringing everything together with a subtle freshness that complemented rather than overpowered. Rounding up to a full teaspoon didn’t change the flavor much but made measuring easier.

As I found a balance, one unexpected delight was the foam that developed on top of the drink while I tested the ratios of wine to fig syrup. It bubbled vigorously and completely unexpectedly!! When it happened, it reminded me of the last time I worked with an enzymatically clarified ingredient. In particular, Skylar’s mocktail, part of my Date Everything! series, which produces a thick white foam, while the cocktail version does not. Both Hornet’s and Skylar’s mocktails rely on clarified fruit juice using Pectinex Ultra-SPL, and I suspect that process is responsible for the extra foam.

Hornet Mocktail

• 0.75 oz (22.5 ml) Fig Syrup

• 1 tsp (5 ml) Spearmint Essence Water

• (optional) 1 drop Red Food Dye

• 4 oz (120 ml) or Top with Non-Alcoholic Brut Wine (Fre)

• Method: Build in glass. I recommend mixing in the dye before topping with sparkling wine.

• Garnish: Skewered Dried Figs and White Thread

Flavor Analysis

Cocktail: The cocktail begins with prominent cognac and champagne notes, then gradually shifts into a mint-forward, botanical character. Bright champagne and herbaceous mint evolve into a fresher mint profile, finishing with the savory depth of fig.

Mocktail: Flavorful and effervescent, the mocktail carries a gentle fig sweetness that cushions crisp, slightly tart notes of apple and pear. A faint hint of mint lingers in the background, lifting the fruit flavors and enhancing the sparkle of the non-alcoholic champagne.