Giant Champignon

          The Giant Champignons are a common mushroom in the dwarven clans of Koria. They grow in large fields beneath the surface and are mostly left alone. The dwarves tend to them by taking a close look on nutrition and water supply, sometimes getting rid of various pests, but thats about it.   The Stonekin were the original dwarven clan and the first to use the Giant Mushrooms as they discovered them. They tried to eat them raw, cooked, and baked. Having a fried mushroom with bread around it and just with sauce is a delightful snack.   Not long after they tried to make drinks out of the mushrooms, especially the Giant Champignons. Which worked quite well and after the first clans split from the Stonekin clan, they took a few mushrooms with them.   In this way the Giant Champignon spread all over Koria, mostly in the proximity of Dwarves, but are also seen in the area of various human settlements or just in the wild.     The Giant Mushroom needs two things: water and nutritrions. Some say they need sunlight as well, but that is not really true. The mushroom thrives even without sunlight, the only difference one might notice is in colour. Giant Champignons are sapped of colour and look a bit like white, wet marble, while normal Giant Champignons look like... well, very big champignons.     Since dwarves are very creative with their food and supplies, they tried to find out if you can not only eat the Mushroom, but also drink it. The first result was considered more of a soup and just tasted like a thick mushroom soup.   The next thing was Giant Champignon Beer. They brewed it the same way as every other beer they have and succeeded to a degree. But instead of yeast they need to use baking soda, which sounds a bit counterintuitive, but it works. The beer is a bit stronger than human beer and sits between human beer and normal dwarven beer, so around 7-10% alcohol, normal dwarven beer tends to tickle the 15% mark.   Alright, we have beer, what now? Ale? Yeah, sure, why not make Giant Champignon Ale, the first Gray Ale you will find? It sits around 6% alcohol and has a dark-gray colour with black sprinkles in it, those are parts of the shroom itself. The texture is surprisingly a bit rough, but this makes the ale a good drink for long evenings.   Giant Champignon Mead is made with forest honey and crafted like every other mead out there with yeast, honey, and patience. Depending on the charge it has a gray-white-yellow colour - like if you mix honey with curd - and sits around 18-20% alcohol which makes it the second-strongest mead in Koria.   Giant Champignon Liqour is a berry-based drink and has the mushroom as an additive. You let it sit for roughly a year - two are better - and you have a dark, tar-like substance which eases the mind, loosens the tongue and brings you joy. At least while drinking it. We don't talk about the mornings after. Normally it has 20-25% alcohol.   Giant Champignon Whiskey is a really, really solid one. It is distilled in large copper kettles and has a clear, sometimes slightly gray colour. It smells a bit like frost and the Giant Champignon and can get up to 80% alcohol, normally sitting around 45-50%. And is relatively expensive.   Giant Champignon Licorice is not a dwarven invention by default. The normal licorice comes from various human settlements and the dwarves buy the ingredients - including the sweet roots - to create the Giant Champignon Licorice. It is black in black, looks like tar, feels like tar, smells like a Giant Champignon and beats up your tongue. Mostly used to stay awake for a few more minutes.   Giant Champignon Cookies/Dough. The dough is the basis for cookies, cakes, pie... you name it. It looks like churd with black/gray sprinkles in it, smells nothing like the mushroom itself and creates very fluffy cookies.