A Short History Of Klingon Bloodwine In The Star Trek Universe
This post contains spoilers for the season 2 premiere of "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds."
Klingons have one of the most interesting cultures in "Star Trek," and like many cultures, theirs has a heavy emphasis on food and drink, particularly bloodwine. Bloodwine has been the Klingon beverage of choice for as long as there have been Klingons in "Star Trek," (unless you're Michael Dorn's Worf, of course, and you prefer prune juice), but it's still a tiny bit mysterious to non-Klingon drinkers and it apparently packs quite a punch.
In the season 2 premiere of "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds," both La'an (Christina Chong) and Spock (Ethan Peck) drink bloodwine in order to appeal to the Klingons for diplomatic reasons, with some pretty entertaining results. But what is bloodwine, exactly? Is it simply that — wine made from blood? And how strong is it? Turns out, "Star Trek" episodes throughout the franchise have answered most (if not all) of fans' questions about the beloved alien beverage.
According to the 1999 official "Star Trek" cookbook, bloodwine is made with fermented blood and sugar. That makes it closer to bloodrum, really, which explains why it is notoriously strong. The drink has been a part of "Star Trek" lore for decades, so let's dig into the history of this potent potable and try to figure out why some non-Klingons seem to love it and others don't fare as well.
Wine made for warriors
Most of what we know about bloodwine comes from episodes of "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine," "Star Trek: The Next Generation," and "Star Trek: Voyager." The drink occasionally appears or is referenced in the other shows, but "Deep Space Nine" and "Next Generation" in particular had lots of the bloody beverage because of the first Klingon Starfleet officer, Worf (Michael Dorn). In fact, bloodwine first appeared in season 2, episode 8 of "Next Generation," "A Matter of Honor," an episode in which Worf's brother Kurn (Tony Todd) asks him to perform a Klingon ritual suicide. It would appear most often in "Deep Space Nine," as the Klingons are featured heavily, first as antagonists under the influence of a Changeling pretending to be General Martok (J.G. Hertzler) and then as allies in the fight against the Changelings and the rest of the Dominion.
Martok and Worf would even discuss their favorite vintages (2309 was apparently a very good year for bloodwine) and Worf reveals that he likes his bloodwine "very young and very sweet" in episodes of "Deep Space Nine." Jadzia Dax (Terry Farrell) brought a barrel of bloodwine with her when she served alongside Worf and Martok on a mission into Dominion territory, ingratiating her to the Klingon crew in record time. In the season 2 premiere of "Strange New Worlds," Spock and La'an both chug some of the drink to do the very same thing, to slightly different effect.
One heck of a hangover
So what do the non-Klingon bloodwine drinkers have to say about the beverage? While undercover aboard a Klingon ship, shapeshifter Odo (René Auberjonois) said that "except for the taste ... it's not that bad." Ensign Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome) of the U.S.S. Cerritos is complimentary of the beverage and gets plastered on the stuff with a cartoon Martok. In "Strange New Worlds," La'an sits and has a drinking contest with several different individuals, managing to put back mug after mug of bloodwine without spewing or passing out, which is pretty impressive but makes sense given her heritage. After all, she's related to Khan Noonien Singh, the genetically engineered superhuman who became an authoritarian dictator on Earth before being put into stasis, so it's entirely likely that she has some better-than-average resistance to toxins, including alcohol. It's also possible that she's just a total badass, so who knows?
Spock, on the other hand, has a few mugs of the stuff with his new Klingon comrades, proving himself to the warriors and earning their trust by handling the potent beverage. Vulcans are stronger and faster than humans, but it seems like they're not that much better at holding their booze, as Spock has a horrible hangover the next day when he goes through his debriefing. Oh well, it was worth it to avoid an intergalactic incident! I just want to know why they don't have hangover cures in the 23rd century — they have teleporters and warp-speed travel but all they can offer for hangovers is some aspirin and a "live long and prosper"? C'mon.