A Cocktail For The Stars
Thanks to Briley Lewis aka AstroBriles for writing this post!
We love parties, and even better if they’re space-themed! One of our customers — Jessica Rudd and her family — recently threw a celestial soiree, complete with our JWST glassware and a concoction she calls her Pulsar Cocktail so we had to get the recipe!
Jessica explains the story of the Pulsar Cocktail, saying, "It came about when we decided to do a themed girls' cocktail night for all the women in my family. Being the huge astronomy nerd that I am, I suggested a space-themed party, and they all loved the idea! We each came up with some fun spacey cocktails - including a delightfully creamy ‘Milky Way’ drink, and another called the ‘Full Moon’ which featured charcoal, edible glitter, and a big spherical ice cube to give the appearance of the full moon in the night sky..."
"...for my creation, I really wanted to do something with butterfly pea flower, as I had seen it used to create the fun color-changing effects in other beverage recipes. I knew I had to find something citrus-y to maximize its effects, so I figured I would base it off of a traditional lime daiquiri and make my adjustments from there. It was a huge hit, so I decided to make it again and again! I called it the Pulsar because of the fun colors that are often associated with celestial objects, and if you have enough of it, it will make you spin like a pulsar! Although hopefully not quite as fast!"
Try it yourself!
Jessica Rudd & Family's “Pulsar” Daiquiri-Style Cocktail
Ingredients:
- Between 1oz and 1.5oz of “color-changing” vodka [see below]
- 1oz simple syrup
- Between 1oz and 1.5oz lemon or lime juice, or half lemon and half lime for a fun twist! The more lemon/lime juice added, the more dramatic the color change will likely be.
- Edible glitter (optional)
Steps:
- In the cocktail shaker with ice, mix the color-changing vodka with the simple syrup. Then, pour it into a glass with “color-changing” ice cubes.
- Quickly add the lemon or lime juice to the drink, and watch the swirling colors change from a deep blue/purple to pink!
- Optional: spray with edible glitter and stir.
- Enjoy!
How to make the “color-changing” vodka and ice cubes:
Note: To make the “color-changing” vodka, Jessica uses Blue Ninja brand butterfly pea flower powder and notes that other butterfly pea flower powders & teas should produce a similar effect; however, the directions here are based on the Blue Ninja one. The butterfly pea flower is special because it changes color based on pH! This is why the lemon/lime juice is added after the other ingredients are mixed in the cocktail shaker — to allow the color change to be fully appreciated.
- Add a generous 1/4 teaspoon of butterfly pea flower powder per 250mL of vodka and mix very well.
- Optional: Add a tiny pinch of baking soda to make the vodka slightly more basic, which will enhance the color-changing effect later.
- Make color-changing ice cubes by mixing water with the flower powder in the same ratio and freezing it in an ice cube tray.
And of course, you can complete the festivities with our JWST glassware! Huge thank you to Jessica for sharing this fun story and her oh-so-fun recipe!
