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Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/685968
www.cheersonline.com 36 • June 2016 TREND WATCH By Melissa Dowling A NATURAL WAY TO CREATE BLUE DRINKS Blue cocktails are festive, eye-catching, trendy and perfect for Instagram photos. Most bartenders have relied on the orange-fl avored liqueuer Blue Curaçao to turn their drinks the right hue of blue. But several are discovering the magic of butterfl y pea powder, a natural dye derived from the fl owers of the butterfl y pea plant. Originally used throughout Southeast Asia as a natural dye for savory dishes and teas, butterfl y pea powder gives cocktails a vivid blue coloring. It also changes color at different pH levels, with lower pH levels/higher acid turning it from dark blue/purple into a bright, light pink, and at higher pH/higher alkalini- ty, turning it into a dark grey. That's why Justin Lavenue, owner at The Roosevelt Room in Austin, TX, recommends using butterfl y pea powder for high-acid drinks. "Cocktails with highly alkaline ingredients, such as orgeat, coconut cream, avocado, basil, cucumber, ginger, mint and peppers can turn the drink gray when used in conjunction with the powder," he says. Lavenue fi nds that butterfl y pea powder doesn't really affect a cocktail's fl avor when used. But it can affect the texture, so mixologists should use it sparingly. "The powder doesn't fully dissolve in solution (alcohol), so it can leave a grainy texture if used in too high of a quantity," he notes. GETTING THE BLUES Although it's been popping up in cocktails for over a year, butterfl y pea powder is still fl ying under the radar. One of the early adaptors was Lago at the Bellagio in Las Vegas. The restaurant's signature Lago cocktail uses Absolut Elyx vodka, Mancino Vermouth Secco, orange blossom syrup and butterfl y pea fl ower extract. It's served with a seasonal fl ower ice sphere and priced at $19. Lynnette Marrero, a bartender at the Llama Inn in New York, discovered butterfl y pea powder this year. Blue cocktails have been trending for a while, "but the only way to make them before have been with chemical coloring," Marrero says. "Butterfl y pea powder is great because it's all natural." Pandan, another Southeast Asian plant, is a similar example of a natural dye for food and cocktails, Marrero BUTTERFLY PEA POWDER The Petunia (created by Justin Lavenue) 1 oz. Bombay Sapphire gin 1 oz. Grapefruit juice ½ oz. VSOP Cognac ½ oz. Yellow Chartreuse 2 dashes Absinthe 2 dashes Peychaud's bitters 1 tsp. Butterfl y pea powder Combine ingredients and shake well. Double-strain into a Nick & Nora glass. Garnish with a mint sprig tied around the stem of the glass.