“The Cornish beer tasted of home, peace and long-gone security.”

As you should know from reading the books, Cormoran Strike loves Doom Bar!

Doom Bar is a beer produced by Sharp’s Brewery, which was founded in 1994 in Rock, Cornwall. Ninety percent of Sharp’s sales are from Doom Bar, so Strike has many Doom Bar-loving brethren. The ale can be found all around the UK, and also in Italy, Sweden and Japan. The drink is a smooth, tasty bitter, with a pleasant aftertaste which only makes you want more!

Strike drinks Doom Bar on many occasions throughout the books. He is known to drink Doom Bar with his oldest friend, Dave Polworth, in The Victory Inn in St. Mawes, Cornwall.

Early on in The Cuckoo’s Calling, Strike goes to his favourite pub, The Tottenham, a pub on Oxford Street (now named The Flying Horse). Here, he orders a pint of Doom Bar and attempts to drink away his sorrows.

A little later in the book, Strike’s meets his client, John Bristow, at the Serpentine Bar and Kitchen in Hyde Park and orders himself a Doom Bar, seating himself on a bench overlooking Serpentine Lake.

Again in The Cuckoo’s Calling, Strike finds himself back at the Tottenham. On this occasion, Strike drinks eleven pints before being rescued by Robin Ellacott, who walks him back to Denmark Street, stopping off to get a kebab on the way. This is a very memorable chapter, for it is one of the few times that Strike actually opens up to Robin about his personal life. He also tells her repeatedly what a nice person she is.

Strike also drinks Doom Bar when he meets Detective Sergeant Eric Wardle in The Feathers pub near Scotland Yard to discuss the Lula Landry case.

In The Silkworm, Strike visits the house of his friend and former colleague Richard Anstis, who greets him with a pint of Doom Bar before discussing the Owen Quine case. Later in this book, he once again finds himself at his favourite pub, The Tottenham, trying to drown his sorrows with pints of Doom Bar.

In Career of Evil, after being sent a woman’s severed leg, Strike and Robin make a trip to The Tottenham to discuss Strike’s three suspects and, of course, to drink Doom Bar! Later in the book, Robin comes here by herself to drink lots of wine, attempting to drown her own sorrows. Strike finds Robin here and orders a pint of Doom Bar for himself, before taking her to Hazlitt’s hotel. This is another memorable chapter in which the two of them open up to each other about personal matters.

I don’t know about you, but we have fallen in love with Doom Bar ourselves, and consider a pub worth visiting if Doom Bar is on tap! Let us know in the comments below your thoughts on Strike’s favourite beer.

Please remember to drink responsibly — and to imbibe in alcoholic beverages only if you’re of legal drinking age!