There are various versions of butterbeer out there, some them conveniently pre-bottled for home use, others served on-site at theme parks like Universal Studios and at Warner Bros. Studio Tour London. If you’ve been a fan of the books and movies, then you might salivate a little every time someone in the Harry Potter universe orders one of these sugary drinks. But, not everyone has the same imagination and some of the versions available to us in the muggle world don’t exactly live up to what we might have hoped for.

Some of these creations are pretty much like cream soda, perhaps with a bit of butterscotch flavoring. If you’re a grownup looking for a much more sophisticated butterbeer then look no further than this magical cocktail recipe for festive rum butterbeer.

For this drink you’ll need some butterscotch syrup. The kind that comes in the squeeze bottle is good because it’s not too thick. But, if what you have on hand is the really thick kind you can microwave it for 20 seconds or so to make it more mixable with the other ingredients. Don’t overdo it though, as you don’t really want hot syrup. In a pinch you could use caramel sauce, but it won’t have as much of that buttery flavor.

Mix your syrup with white rum and butterscotch liqueur. The butterscotch-flavored schnapps, Buttershots, is a good choice, but there are several brands that will work well for this drink. Once you have this thick mixture combined then add in some sparkling non-alcoholic cider and stir very, very gently. You don’t want to lose the carbonation in this step.

You can use apple cider and it’s readily available at the grocery. But, here’s a pro-tip: Ikea sells a sparkling pear cider which would also be wonderful in this drink.

Then top with whipped cream and you’ve got a delicious adult butterbeer that doesn’t taste like cream soda and isn’t overly sweet. To make a kid-friendly version omit the butterscotch liqueur and rum and increase the butterscotch syrup by 1/2 ounce.

This is the perfect drink to serve while watching any of the Harry Potter films in festive fashion. And with the some alterations this can totally become a kid-friendly drink to power all the wizards and witches at your next gathering.