I’d never heard of a pop-up pub until a year or so ago. Apparently, they are drinking establishments that come to a town, set up shop for a night or two (maybe a few more), then leave to head to another town where they do it all over again.

Drinking isn’t my thing so I didn’t think I’d ever go to one until a friend of mine told me that The Boozy Cauldron Pop-Up Tavern was coming to our town and wanted to know if my husband and I wanted to go with her and her husband.

​I was intrigued because of the word “cauldron” in the title, and that’s the only reason I looked into it. Below is how they describe themselves:

In other words, it’s a Harry Potter drinking experience, but without being official, so they can’t use Harry’s name or anything else from his Wizarding World. Which makes sense, because Warner Bros. comes down fast and hard on anyone or any event that it senses is trying to cash in on the Boy Who Lived. It sounded interesting, so I was willing to pay the $80 (plus fees) for me and my husband to attend, which would include four drinks each.

My husband isn’t a drinker so he was going to go simply to support me and be with our friends for the evening. Since I knew he would have four alcoholic beverages that he wouldn’t be drinking, and I don’t drink much so didn’t want to have them there and end up drunk, I briefly considered putting a few containers in my purse so I could ​bring his drinks home and enjoy them at a later date.

Ultimately, I decided against bringing the containers because I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to pour the drinks into them without drawing attention, even though it is legal to take alcoholic drinks home in my state. I would have felt uncomfortable doing so. It turns out that I didn’t need them and that I’d made a major assumption about the sizes of each beverage. More on that soon…

We arrived at the address given to us and found that we had to walk down a narrow flight of stairs to the underground rooms of a local establishment. It was easy to see what room we were to go in because this sign was outside the door.​

And this is what we saw as we entered the room. The lights were dimmed, atmospheric music played, and people found places to sit at the various tables.

There were four sets of long tables and each table had electric candles that allowed us to read the menus at almost every seat. The menus each had a red wax sealed with a fancy ‘B’ pressed into them.

My husband and friends sat down, while I walked around to take it all in. They did a really great job of making the room look magical, and even included Hedwig. There were two tables set up where patrons could buy items, including jewelry, wands, and sweets, but I didn’t see anything that I couldn’t live without.

I also saw a table with a literal cauldron full of boozy potion bottles being kept cool with ice.

Soon the music changed and a woman came out. She went to the front of the room and told us the rules of the evening, which was basically just one. No video recording anything. Being the good girl that I am, I took no video.

She went on to spin a tale about… something that I no longer remember (maybe about the origins of the traveling tavern?), then invited us to partake in the first drink of the night.

To call it a drink is generous. Remember above when I said that I almost brought some empty bottles so I could save my husband’s drinks? This was when I realized that my large bottles wouldn’t have been needed because I had made the assumption that the drinks would be the size I’m used to seeing when we go out to restaurants. I’m pretty sure that the first drink was less than the amount of Liquid Luck that Harry drank to get Professor Slughorn’s true memory.

The first drink arrived in a small vial with a cork stopper. The liquid was clear with a blueish tint to it, and it was called Transfiguring Potion. It was described as, “An uplifting vodka concoction of sweet elements,” so supposedly it contained vodka, but I couldn’t taste it, nor did my friends.

There was some more entertainment from the woman, including a question that won someone from the audience a drink from a table full of potions. Only the small bottles could be chosen, though.

The next drink was called Buttered Beer, which is an adult take on the butterbeer enjoyed by Hogwarts students when they visited Hogsmeade. Madame Rosmerta was certainly a popular server on those days!

The description of Buttered Beer is, “A frosty drink consisting of vanilla aged Butterscotch Gold from Gatlinburg, Tennessee, and other propriety ingredients.” My assumption was that this drink had beer, but now I’m not sure. I’m not a beer drinker so I looked up Butterscotch Gold and found that it’s a type of moonshine. Honestly, I don’t know if it was moonshine or beer. The top of this drink was a delicious butterscotch tasting foamy concoction. Yum! But, like the previous drink, I didn’t taste any alcohol.

There was another brief bit of entertainment after we enjoyed our Buttered Beer, and this time the audience was asked for several volunteers. I wasn’t chosen, but I was glad for that after I saw what the selected people were asked to do – participate in a beer chugging contest. I hate beer, and the beer they had to drink was warm, which made it all the worse. The winner got to choose another one of the drinks from the potions table.

The third beverage served to us was called Dragon’s Breath and it was described as, “A mesmerizing drink derived from pumpkin, mulled apple cider, and a touch of caramel.” I love just about anything pumpkin flavored so I was excited to try this one.

This was fun to prepare because after we poured the contents of the jar into the ice-filled glass, it began to emit fog that represented the breath of the dragon. I’m pretty sure there was a small piece of dry ice hidden within the normal cubes that caused this effect, and the smoky fog was appreciated by everyone who was there.

As for the flavor, I didn’t like it, nor did my friends, which is a shame because it was one of the largest drinks. I drank it, I was darn well going to get my money’s worth, but I didn’t enjoy it. It was pretty to watch, though.

Next, we had the final story of the night and the last drink. I confess that I don’t remember which came first because it’s been over a month since we went to the tavern, but it really doesn’t matter.

The story was told by a man who asked the audience if anyone knows what an Obscurus is. I did and explained that it’s a parasitic force that is created when wizarding children repress their magic. He agreed and added a little to my answer, then went on to tell the tale of a doomed wizard and his unrequited love. It started out interesting but had nothing to do with an Obsurus so I have no idea why he brought it up at the beginning of this story, then ended flat. By that, I mean that it ended abruptly when it should have continued, it felt incomplete. The reaction from the rest of the room told me that I wasn’t the only person who felt that way.

As for the final drink of the night, we were given Black Magic, which was described as, “Muddle cucumber, mint-infused simple syrup, fresh squeezed charcoal lemonade, gold luminescence.” That doesn’t really sound good, does it? And, it wasn’t. It was worse than the pumpkin-flavored drink. Truly, it was awful, even our friends agreed with that, as well as my husband who had been given non-alcoholic versions of all the drinks.​

By the time the night ended, I felt conflicted. I REALLY wanted to love the event, but I didn’t. I liked it but was deeply disappointed by the drinks. Not only did I dislike two of the four, but there was also hardly any alcohol in them. I rarely drink so it doesn’t take much for me to feel a bit tipsy, but I felt nothing by the time we left.

When we got home my daughter confirmed what I suspected because I asked her to smell my breath. She’s got the sniffer of a bloodhound and has been known to ask me if I’ve had a drink, even if I’ve only had one. She checked and smelled nothing. That was a lot of money spent to not feel tipsy, and isn’t that the main point of something called The Boozy Cauldron?

On the other hand, the atmosphere and the staff were a lot of fun, and it was worth going for that. Having said that, I wouldn’t go again. Do I recommend anyone else go? I guess, as long as you go into it knowing that you aren’t going much in the way of alcohol in your drinks but that the stories and atmosphere are impressive.​