Impress everyone you know from bartenders to dinner guest with this striking cocktail courtesy of Alyson Brown in her new book The Flower-Infused Cocktail. Think tropical flavours of a tiki cocktail meet the botanical essences of juniper, grapefruit, passionfruit and ginger. The distinct sapphire blue colour of the Empress Gin, derived from butterfly pea blossoms, makes this cocktail extra impressive. Leftover orgeat can be stored in your fridge and enjoyed in various other classic cocktails. Velvet Falernum is a specialty liquor that can be sourced online or by chatting up a mixologist near you.
Butterflies on Saturn
Alyson Brown's stunning butterfly pea-inspired cocktail uses purple Empress 1908 gin.
Ingredients
Passion Fruit Simple Syrup
- ½ cup sugar
- ½ cup water
- ¼ cup passion fruit purée
Sunflower Orgeat
- 2 cups toasted sunflower seeds
- 1 ½ cups sugar
- 1 ¼ cups water
- ½ tsp orange blossom water
Cocktail
- 1 ½ oz Empress 1908 Gin
- ¼ oz lemon juice
- ½ oz Passion Fruit Simple Syrup
- ½ oz Sunflower Orgeat
- ¼ oz Velvet Falernum
- lemon peel to garnish
- maraschino cherry to garnish
Instructions
Passion Fruit Simple Syrup
- Combine sugar and water in a small pot and bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat. Once the sugar has dissolved completely and the syrup has thickened, remove from heat. Add the passion fruit purée and stir until combined. Cool completely before using. Store in the refrigerator and use within 1 week.
Sunflower Orgeat
- Pulse sunflower seeds in a food processor until finely ground. Combine the sugar and water in a pot over medium heat and stir until sugar dissolves completely. Boil the syrup for 3 minutes, then add in the ground sunflower seeds. Turn the heat down to low and simmer for another 3 minutes, then slowly increase the temperature to medium-high. Just before it starts to boil, remove it from the heat and cover with a lid.
- Allow the covered nut mixture to infuse for at least 3 hours or up to 8 hours. Then, strain it through 2 layers of cheesecloth, discarding the ground sunflower seeds. Stir the orange blossom water into the nutty syrup. Use a small funnel to portion the orgeat into bottles or a jar. Store in refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
Cocktail
- Add lemon juice, passion fruit simple syrup, orgeat and Velvet Falernum into a shaker with ice and shake until chilled. Pour into a rocks glass filled with crushed ice. Gently float Empress 1908 Gin on top. Garnish with a butterfly pea flower, lemon peel and a maraschino cherry.
