
Goblin Alchemy’s new tasting room in Scranton offers 15 different meads, brewed at their meadery in Harrisburg.
Photo Credit — Gabrielle Lang, The Weekender
The goblin is in the details
SCRANTON — The Ritz Theater is not simply a theater anymore — it’s the new NEPA hub for elevated alt culture. Inside the upgraded and reinvigorated Ritz Theater are plenty of devilish, or shall I say fiendish, surprises.
There’s the historic theater itself of course and Noir Dark Spirits, a creepy cool standalone restaurant and bar, but also added on-site since its 2024 re-opening is Black Cow Cookies & Cream, The Thirteenth Realm, Vanity Artistry Salon, and a new Pennsylvania-made meadery at the end of the hall that I had to see for myself.
Opened in April 2024 and continuing to build, Goblin Alchemy is the latest addition to The Ritz Theater. Sip their delicious signatures meads like a real Viking and set off on an epic quest in an environment designed for geeks, goths, and gamers.
Use the space as you wish! Pick your poison and claim a drinking horn while playing Dungeons & Dragons. Bring your own food and games. Go axe-throwing, meet up with friends, write your novel, or just come soak up the fantasy-friendly vibes.
“I wanted to be able to go someplace and feel comfortable in my own skin, right? And I couldn’t find one, so I built one,” said Mead Guru at Goblin Alchemy, Jason Heaslet.
Mead is all the rage right now. This honey-based beverage is made by fermenting honey with water and yeast, and it’s often referred to as the world’s oldest alcoholic drink. Who would have guessed this historic staple of the Middle Ages would start trending again in the 2020s?
Goblin Alchemy makes all their own meads out of their homebase meadery in Harrisburg, which opened about five years ago in Broad Street Market. The Scranton location is the tasting room, and it highlights not only all Goblin Alchemy’s meads but all the brand’s personality too.
Jason Heaslet is the Mead Master at Goblin Alchemy. He and his son, Chase Heaslet, utilize a wide variety of fruits, spices, flavors, and honeys to create 15 different signature meads, all at 14% alcohol. Jason Heaslet started making mead during his time in the Marines, specifically his “Viking Style” of mead.
He explained, “Vikings would start a batch, they would go raiding, and then they would come back and drink it all. So, it’s a single fermentation. For me, I started making mead as a Marine, so I would start a batch, we would go on maneuvers, and we would come back and drink it all, like a Viking.”

Swing by the geek-forward spot to experience distinct, delectable flavors you just can’t find at the store. Free samples are available to taste test, and you can always take a bottle to go or to stay.
After my visit, I took home a bottle of Siren’s Song for myself because a snowstorm was coming and I needed to be prepared! This is Jason’s son, Chase Heaslet’s recipe made with notes of mesquite honey and Granny Smith apples.
“Now mesquite honey doesn’t taste like smoke or barbecue like most people would think. It actually tastes like cotton candy. So, you put it with Granny Smith apples and now you’re drinking a candied apple, not a caramel apple, but a candied apple at 14%,” explained Jason Heaslet.
Goblin Alchemy also offers a seasonal brew based on a traditional Russian honey-based winter drink from the 12th century called Sbiten, like a mulled mead. Goblin Alchemy’s take is called Winter Wolf, which I got to taste-test as well — and it tastes like Christmas! This mead incorporates cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger. It’s also definitely meant to be sipped hot to keep you cozy through those Siberian winters.
Their latest creation was made for Valentine’s Day! Euphoria comes in a potion bottle and was created for Jason Heaslet’s wife, Margaret Heaslet. The couple has been married 33 years and she’s also a major part of the business. Stash this laser-etched love potion with flavors of strawberry cacao in your pack, you might need it along the journey.
“I’ve sent quite a few of my meads in for competition, and I have won everything that I’ve sent in,” said Jason Heaslet. “I’ve got a couple of golds I’ve got a couple of silvers and a couple of bronze. And the Siren Song actually won a double gold best of show.”
Jason Heaslet used to work in I.T. and recently retired when he invited a buddy to his D&D game, fourth-generation farmer and fellow geek Dan Brown. Heaslet would bring his homebrewed mead to sessions until Brown asked for him to come make it for him! Turns out Brown’s farm wasn’t exactly a dairy barn — he owned winery, Deerfoot Vineyards!
From there, they created a mead brand based on their common love for Dungeons & Dragons. Jason Heaslet’s go-to D&D character has been a goblin alchemist named GristleGlug for 30 years, which became the namesake for the mead company and you can greet his familiar, Bob, as you step into Goblin Alchemy.
“Everything is a D& D reference for us,” said Heaslet.
From there, Jason Heaslet’s meads became such a successful part of Deerfoot Vineyards that he and his son spun it off into their own company.
“And then I started making mead with my son, who now owns Goblin Alchemy as a business and it’s been fantastic. We have a lot of fun with it!” said Jason Heaslet.
Venue owner Josh Balz re-opened The Ritz Theater in the beginning of 2024 and have since been filling up the joint with awesome not-your-average businesses. Heaslet already knew Balz because they both support industrial metal band, Suicide Puppets. In fact, Goblin Alchemy makes a special mead for the band called Blood of the Familiar!’
Jason Heaslet recalled, “He (Josh Balz) actually posted something on Facebook that he’s got extra space here at The Ritz and was wondering what to do about it. And I was like, ‘Want us to come take a look?’ And he was like, ‘You provide an experience, not just a product. Yes, please!’”
The Heaslets have a lot of ideas for this space, which is A LOT bigger than it looks at first glance! Piece by piece and pour by pour, they’re developing something special for the gamer/lore community of Scranton — not to mention the mead heads.
“We wanted to grow it organically. So, people can see us as we evolve into what we are calling, The Dungeon at the Ritz,” said Heaslet.

Axe throwing is now available and more continues to be built. One axe throwing parlor is ready to play and the second is almost complete! Throwers must be 18 and older or at least 16 with a chaperone, but all ages are welcome in the rest of the venue.
One of the most important things to the owners was creating a comfortable and inviting “third space” for all guests, a place where people can relax and connect outside the daily grind of the home and workplace.
“People come in all the time and go, ‘So how much does it cost to get a table?’ Nothing,” said Heaslet. “We don’t do reservations. It’s first come, first serve. Just come and grab a table or two and hang out.”
Come host your next Dungeons & Dragons session at Goblin Alchemy. Heaslet said people come in to play PathFinder on Saturdays and they have plenty of games available for anyone stopping in. The local gamer community is already making it their own and “gamer fuel” is on deck with sodas, energy drinks, candy, chips, and all the snacks you need to get comfortable while playing.
“We’ve got some people coming in and playing Magic the Gathering. We’ve got people that brought in Final Fantasy the card game, which I didn’t even know was a thing, but it turns out it is!” said Jason Heaslet.
Goblin Alchemy encourages visitors to make the experience their own; order food from Noir, grab some ice cream on the way in, or get take-out from another nearby Scranton restaurant. They card everybody because they do sell mead, but everyone is welcome!
“A family came in with three young girls. They came and played Candyland and Chutes and Ladders. They go, ‘Is this okay?’ And we’re like, ‘Oh, absolutely!” recalled Jason. “As long as you’re playing and having fun, that’s the point.”
Goblin Alchemy is pulling out all the stops as they complete the set-up and add more events. They’ll soon host live music, starting with Invasion of the Bards on Wednesday, Feb. 5 with Kitchen Teeth, Gus the Savage, and Atari+Mari at 6:00 p.m.
Heaslet is also an experienced Dungeon Master himself and aims to start running regular games — and he has plenty of cool ideas to enhance that gameplay too! So, stay tuned on their Facebook and keep stopping in for more to come.
They say the goblin is in the details! Jason Heaslet custom-built all the furniture and even designed a rune that he laser-etched into the tables. It’s not just any custom rune either, it’s the alchemical recipe for mead.

Goblin Alchemy also features unique merch to fit with the mead, the games, and the lore. Really get into character by purchasing your own functional drinking horn to set alongside your next D&D session! They also have umbrellas, dresses, beanies, shirts, and other cool ways to rep the spot.
So many awesome visions came together to make this space its own mythical escape, right down to the flickering lights like torches on the wall and custom-made wine boxes recycled from cigar boxes.
“The whole thing is, people want to have an experience, right? So — we want to give it to them,” said Heaslet. “ We don’t care what you play. Just bring your friends, bring your family, bring your games and come and have some fun.”
Jason and Margaret Heaslet both talked with such passion about every area, every room, every story that I couldn’t help but smile as they explained the background behind each bottle art and new addition! Who doesn’t love motivated people loving what they do and sharing that love with the community?
Nerds, there’s finally a cool home made just for you in Scranton at The Ritz Theater. Start a new quest to Goblin Alchemy!