For the next video game recipe, we’re going to replicate the Estus draught from the Dark Souls franchise. I’ve already done Estus soup, but this time we’re delving deeper.

The player’s main source of healing is from these draughts of Estus, and they’re refilled when you rest at a bonfire. The player, as many of you know, is something called an ‘Undead’, because you’re cursed with the ‘Darksign’; you can’t stay dead, you eventually come back to life as spry as ever. But the more you die, the more ‘hollow’ you become until you’re one of the countless mindless zombies roaming the Dark Souls world.

And when the play dies, you respawn at the last bonfire you rested at. AKA, the player is ‘transported’ to the bonfire with their filled Estus flasks, looking a bit more wrinkly and zombie-like. Thing is, the story of Dark Souls places a huge emphasis on the twisting of time and space. So it’s not necessarily that the player’s body is warped back to the bonfire and re-animated, but more like you’re entering a different timeline where weren’t actually defeated. Possibly. It’s ambiguous like that.

So Estus is not the same magic that can actually revive felled Undead like the Darksign does. It’s not the force that’s converging entire countries closer together and putting lands into states of stasis. It’s not something that can reverse your hollowing progression. It’s something that, I guess, heals immediate stab wounds as they happen, and the like.

Also, not every character in-game is Undead. And the few confirmed non-undead NPCs are never shown drinking Estus. And the god Lloyd, a hunter of the Undead, uses a talisman that blocks Estus usage within a certain proximity. Perhaps Estus is indeed intricate to the Undead experience, as suggested by the item description, “The Undead treasure these dull green flasks.” 

Basically, Estus itself is an energy that heals Undead, and Undead only. It’s refilled at bonfires, and there’s that whole Gwyn the God and First Flame thing that’s the main plot of the Souls series. 

(“… Oh, one more thing … here, take this … an Estus Flask, an Undead favourite.”)

But Estus isn’t some holy magic. Humans exist almost in opposition to the divine of Dark Souls. We hold ‘humanity’ within ourselves, which is more closely related to the feared Abyss than the power of fire. Gwyn feared humanity. Humans are considered to be the catalyst of the age of Dark. We, as human Undead, are not reliant on fire the same way one might think when first introduced to the concept of Estus.

It’s the bonfires that heal the Undead when you sit at them. So since you refill your flasks at these bonfires, many people assume that Estus is just that. Bottled bonfire flame. After all, ‘aestus’ is latin for heat.

But there’s another interpretation – the Undead curse came into existence the same time Gwyn refused to let the Age of Fire pass, and tried to prolong the First Flame by throwing himself into it. The fact that Undead humans are revived at bonfires might be something of a side-effect of Gwyn’s pig-headedness. Humans are cursed to follow Gwyn’s footsteps in some roundabout, incoicidencial way. So long as this current Age of Fire is prolonged, we can’t die. We can’t move on. We’re all bound to fires and bonfires and the First Flame as prisoners.

Therefore, these bonfires exist throughout the world because they’re little branches of the First Flame, and your Undead curse is what reacts to the bonfires – not you specifically. So, we can say that drinking Estus is merely ‘prolonging’ your Undead curse, the same way that your Darksign is a product of Gwyn’s forced prolonging of this current Age.

So Estus isn’t the holy healing potion that people might think. It’s just bottled First Flame essence that increases your Undead life. Your Undead curse. Sure, fire can be warm and life-giving and all that, but not being able to ‘move on’ from this Age of Fire? Not being able to continue time, and stay forever bound to fire? Now that’s a curse.

(The Dark Souls series has a lot of Eldritch writing, thanks to its use of manipulating time and space. Makes sense that FromSoftware’s next game (Bloodborne) was all about that Lovecraftian genre.)

Why is all this conjecture important? Well, I was wondering what my Estus recipe should taste like. If Estus was this holy healing magic, then that’s one direction. But I don’t think Estus is the nectar of the gods. It’s literally just fire, and the Undead covet them as healing sources even though its just reacting to their Darksign.

This realization almost makes this recipe harder to make. It’d be one thing if I was trying to replicate an angelic potion of heavenly sweetness and vanilla. I’ve no idea what fire is supposed to taste like.

In my Dark Souls Estus Soup recipe, I went towards the spicy direction, in order to emulate a burning sensation. This time around, the dedication towards canon is a more serious endeavor. After all, the idea of ‘Estus soup’ was kinda silly to begin with. Estus flasks, on the other hand, is the real deal.

Who of Dark Souls history invented Etsus? It’s never said. Dark Souls is split between two extremes – either there’s some deep, artsy lore behind why something is what it is, or we just kinda have to accept it because video game logic. There’s a reason why Filianore is cradling a cracked egg when you find her sleeping corpse, but there’s probably no lore reason why items in-game glow a shiny white sprite.

As far as the creation of Estus goes, our two clues are; the whole bonfire connection, and the description of the flask that holds it – “An emerald flask, from the Keeper’s soul. She lives to protect the flame, and dies to protect it further.” Fire Keepers are people who dedicate their lives to tending and protecting a single bonfire throughout their lives. And in the last two Dark Souls games, they’re the only way you can level up.

(There is a theory that Estus soup is, in fact, boiled-down monsters or Undead. On rare occasions, you can get a free refill of Estus upon killing an enemy, kinda like how in Bloodborne, you get blood vials from killing enemies. So the Hunter harvest blood from their slain foes, and the Undead of Dark Souls can somehow absorb Estus energy on occasion. Hence, a theory on how Estus soup came to be.)

Fire Keepers are allies to the Undead. They protect the Bonfires, and therefore protect your sake. Protect from what, I don’t know. But they stand there all day, regardless. After all, the death of a Fire Keeper resulted in the snuffing of a Bonfire.

Although Estus isn’t divine ambrosia of the heavens, it’s still a concoction meant to serve you. To heal you. Not healing you of all curses and afflictions completely, but good enough. The reach of a Fire Keepers persists whenever you take a draught of Estus.

So you’re carrying around this flask of glowing liquid to swig whenever you get a Dragonslayer Arrow through your noggin. Therefore, to recreate Estus, I began thinking of protein shakes. Other people tend to go in the alcoholic direction, possibly as a homage to the whole ‘fire’ sensation. But I think of real-life Estus as a medicine rather than a drought of liquid courage.

If curing the Darksign was antibiotics, Estus would be Muscle Milk’s Non-Dairy Everyday Protein formula. Protein shakes aren’t as hokey as some might believe; while there’s no real evidence that building muscle requires a higher protein intake, using bodybuilding supplements can intake the protein (amino acids used to repair muscle tearing) while omitting the carbs, sugars, and salts irrelevant to maintaining muscle mass. 

Basically, a protein shake contains the stuff you need to repair muscle micro-injury. You can imagine a magical version of a protein shake to instantly heal your sore muscles after a workout, complete with a firey kindling animation. 

The most popular source of protein in theses shakes is whey protein. It contains all the amino acids humans cannot synthesize, and therefore must ingest throughout our diets. Soy, egg, and rice are also popular too. ‘Whey’, for those of you who don’t know, is part of the cheesemaking process – after the fat of milk has been curdled and removed to become cheese, the liquid that remains is called whey. Basically, it contains a lot of milk nutrients, without the fat.

(Boss ahead. Therefore, try Praise The Sun.)

Now, I’ve tasted a few protein shakes myself. During the beginning of my hormone replacement therapy, my legs were getting so sore from simply walking down the street. I don’t eat a lot of meat, so I decided to get protein powder and add it to my coffee. There’s a sort of … powdered milk aftertaste, but most overbearingly it’s the artificial flavoring of the powder itself. 

And like Rocky has shown us, you don’t need branded protein powder to make a ‘protein shake’. Most popular protein-shake-from-scratch is with egg whites. However, using just eggs doesn’t result in a lot of protein, so people usually add more sources of protein such as peanut butter. 

I do like the idea of using eggs. It’s poetic, since this is a ‘healing potion’, with that imagery of breaking an egg’s shell and consuming its fluid and yolk. However, consuming raw eggs in select countries (such as the USA) runs the risk of salmonella poisoning. Therefore, we’re going to use powdered egg yolk – its a popular ingredient for bakers. And only the yolk, because that’s a) where the protein is, and b) where we’ll get a nice source of yellow.

The entire ingredient list is;

• 3 tablespoons powdered egg yolk
• 2 scoops unflavored protein powder
• A cup of almond milk
• 2-4 tablespoons raw honey 
• Pinch of turmeric, chipotle powder

As with all my video-game-cooking recipes, I choose all the ingredients to emulate the time and setting. Except this time Etsus is likely not supposed to be deconstructed into groceries a peasant could harvest. However, the rule still stands – almond milk was a popular drink during the plate armor days. Raw honey instead of purified white sugar. 

The turmeric gives a deeper yellow color to the mix, and the chipotle provides the slightest smokey burn to the aftertaste. A pinch of either won’t be tasted when you take a swig, it’s only after you swallow do you feel the slight peppery bitterness of the turmeric, and the smokiness of the chipotle, along with a soft burn on your lips. Very true to Estus’ bonfire origins.

Making this protein shake is easy. Combine, stir/blend, and serve! It’s low calorie, great for energy, and it tastes perfectly decent.

Time to hit the road and reach that next bonfire, before finally tackling the boss.