Just yesterday, Universal Orlando served up its five-millionth glass of Butterbeer. Which is quite an achievement. Given that — prior to the June 2010 opening of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal's Islands of Adventure — this beverage only existed between the pages of J.K. Rowling's best-selling books and/or could be seen but not tasted in Warner Bros. "Harry Potter" film series.
How exactly did the Chefs at Universal Orlando make Butterbeer real? Though the press release that the Resort issued last night stated that " … the recipe for (this) non-alcoholic drink is a closely held secret," that's not entirely true. Last year, for one of my very first articles for the Huffington Post, I was able to get Chef Steven Jayson — the Vice President and Corporate
Executive Chef for Universal Parks & Resorts — to reveal a wee bit about what went on behind-the-scenes during the creation of this super-popular beverage.
Steven Jayson, Vice President and Executive
Corporate Chef for the Universal Orlando
Resort. Copyright NBCUniversal.
All rights reserved
Here's an excerpt from that July 2011 HuffPost piece. Which talked about the seemingly impossible task that Jayson & his team faced when it came to conjuring up Butterbeer. Which was …
… Deliver a drink that would appeal to
hardcore Harry Potter fans as well as members of the general public. Not
to mention meet the exacting standards of series creator J. K. Rowling.
The research started early. Steven and his team made a trip to
Scotland in July of 2008, both to meet with Harry Potter's author as
well as to tour the various environs that had allegedly inspired J.K.
(which included Edinburgh's Hogshead pub). During that trip, Jayson
reportedly quizzed Rowling in regards to Butterbeer, trying to get this
author's exact thoughts on this imaginary ale.
The interior of Universal's Islands of Adventure version of the Hoghead
tavern with Butterbeer on tap, ready to be served to thirsty Harry
Potter fans.
And Steven… He has supposedly done his homework prior to meeting with J.K.. Carefully combing through all of the Harry Potter books, looking for any and all references to Butterbeer.
Mind you, given that this beverage was going to be served in a
family-friendly theme park, one aspect of this beverage (i.e. according
to the Harry Potter books, quaffing this ale can give you a bit
of a buzz) had to be dropped right off the bat. Furthermore, because
Universal Orlando wanted as many guests as possible to be able to sample
this brew (and that included the lactose intolerant), there could be no
butter, or dairy products of any kind, in Butterbeer.
J.K. allegedly agreed to these terms as Steven laid them out, but
then added a few of her own. Chief among these was that — because
Rowling believed that corn syrup was about to become the next trans-fat
(i.e. the ingredient that people now deliberately avoid whenever they're
making their food choices) — she insisted that Butterbeer be made with
real sugar.
J.K. Rowling walks past a Butterbeer cart as she
tours the Wizarding World of Harry Potter with
Universal Creative president Mark Woodbury
back in June of 2010. Copyright
NBCUniversal. All rights
reserved
So with this info in hand, Jayson and his team returned to the States
and then retreated to Universal Orlando's test kitchens. Where these
would-be culinary wizards then attempted to conjure up some Butterbeer.
"This was a pretty daunting situation," Steven recalled during an
interview which he gave during the Wizarding World's grand opening press
event back in June of 2010. "We wanted to take what Harry Potter fans
had read in the books and seen in the movies and bring it to life. We
knew that people's expectations were going to be very high. What's more,
we had to create a beverage that was good for all ages."
Jayson and his crew of cooks then supposedly spent three to four
months trying to perfect Universal Orlando's version of Butterbeer.
Company insiders told me that it took 15 to 16 tries before Steve
finally got something that he was happy with.
(L to R) James Phelps, Emma Watson, Oliver Phelps and Matthew Lewis all sample
some Butterbeer during a pre-opening visit to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter
back in the Spring of 2010. Copyright NBCUniversal. All rights reserved
Why 15 or 16 tries? As Jayson explained at The Wizarding World's grand opening event:
"We experimented with all sorts of flavors. It took a while to get
the flavor right where it needed to be. So it wasn't too sweet. That it
had this great comfortable feeling going down."
And then — after running this prototype by his bosses at Universal
Orlando and then getting their tentative approval — it was time to see
if Rowling herself would actually sign off on this version of
Butterbeer. So they packed up all of the necessary ingredients ("Which
was something of a challenge," Mark Woodbury, Head of Universal Creative
jokingly told me at this theme-park-within-a-theme-park's opening press
event, "Getting all of that stuff past the Department of Homeland
Security") and then flew them over to the U.K.
Which Butterbeer do you prefer? The stuff straight from the tap or the frozen version?
Once there, Jayson and his team rented space in a kitchen in an
Edinburgh hotel. To give J.K. a variety of beverages to choose from,
they allegedly whipped up four variations on their Butterbeer formula
along with the version that UOR officials were hoping the author would
pick. Then Jayson's boss — Ric Florell, Universal's senior vice
president in charge of Food & Beverages — carried that tray of
drinks into Ms. Rowling.
And then J.K. carefully sampled all five glasses. And upon arriving
at the real glass of Butterbeer, Rowling reportedly took one sip and
then reportedly broke into a big smile, saying "Yes, Chef. That's it."
So Steve and his team had gotten the approval of the
notoriously-hard-to-please J.K.. But what about Harry Potter's fans and
the general public? Would they too respond favorably to Universal
Orlando's home-brewed version of Butterbeer?
Tourists queue up for their first taste of Butterbeer
The answer to that question came during the soft opening of the
Wizarding World of Harry Potter. When the line of guests standing in
front of the Butterbeer cart was almost as long as the one waiting to
get into the "Forbidden Journey" attraction.
But even so, Universal Orlando officials never dreamed that
Butterbeer would become this popular this fast with the public. With
Islands of Adventure selling its millionth mug of the stuff by January
of 2011, less than seven months after this
theme-park-within-a-theme-park had first opened for business.
"So what exactly is the Universal's version of Butterbeer?," you ask.
That information — as they say in the military — is classified. On a
need-to-know basis. What I can tell you is that this popular beverage is
prepared on property. Beyond that, UOR officials are determined to do
whatever they have to in order to keep the precise ingredients of this
super-popular ale a secret. In direct response to a series of questions
that I submitted to Chef Jayson about Butterbeer earlier this year, he
admitted that Universal has already "…implanted special security
procedures (in order) to protect the recipe."
Copyright NBCUniversal. All rights reserved
"So — that said — what is actually known about this amber ale?,"
you query. Well, there are two distinct phases to the preparation /
pouring of a glass of Butterbeer. First the bottom layer — a slightly
thickened mixture which tastes like a combination of butterscotch, cream
soda and shortbread cookies — is poured into the bottom of the glass.
Then the Butterbeer's head — which is this lighter, fluffier, less
sweet version of marshmallow fluff — is carefully placed on top of the
brown brew that has previously been poured into this glass.
Now where this gets interesting is that those who have tried to
smuggle glasses of Butterbeer out of Universal's Islands of Adventure
(and you know who you are) have noticed that — after a half hour or so
— this artificial ale loses cohesion. Meaning that the top layer and
the bottom layer then blend together, which creates this somewhat
unsightly (and — to be blunt — hard to drink) beverage.
Which — to Universal Orlando's way of thinking — is a good problem
to have. Meaning that: The only place where you get a Butterbeer as it
is actually intended to be served is by visiting the Wizarding World of
Harry Potter.
These are just a few of the Universal Orlando visitors who took part in yesterday's toast
celebrating the five-millionth Butterbeer served at The Wizarding World of Harry
Potter. Copyright NBCUniversal. All rights reserved
And that's just what people are doing. Tens of thousands of them each
day. Which is why — just yesterday, in celebration of the five-millionth serving of Butterbeer — Universal Orlando treated one thousand Islands of Adventure visitors to a free glass of the amber beverage. Which was a pretty sweet surprise, don't you think?