Very rarely do I toot my own horn as much as I’m about to do with this pelagic cocktail. I truly believe it to be one of the best things I’ve ever made, and everyone I’ve made it for (including a well respected mixologist) agrees. It is a riff on an Aviation, but the changes I’ve made are so distinct and specific it really changes the drink in a superb way. I’m calling it the Pelagic Cocktail because it looks like the color of bio-luminescent plankton you see at certain times of the year. Who knows, maybe one day this drink will end up in Difford’s Guide.
To make the Pelagic you first have to make a Creme de Butterfly. This is a butterfly pea flower and lemongrass liqueur that I use for plenty of drinks like my Butterfly Sour, Butterfly Margarita, and a Butterfly Fizz. It is not difficult to make, and is critical for balancing the color. A normal aviation uses Creme de Violette, so this just replaces the base flower.
How To Make The Pelagic Cocktail
Pelagic Cocktail Ingredients
- 50 ml Magellan Gin. This is an iris infused gin that really plays well with the rest of the ingredients. It has a faint blue color due to the iris flowers, and is necessary for this drink.
- 22.5 ml Lemon Juice. Freshly squeezed, and then put through a coffee filter to remove any traces of solids.
- 15 ml Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur. There also isn’t a good substitute for this ingredient.
- 7.5 ml Creme de Butterfly. This has to be homemade as there isn’t a good bottled version, but it isn’t difficult, I give instructions here. Unlike most versions, I use way more pea flowers than you will think you will need so the final color is almost black. For all the people saying butterfly pea flowers have no flavor, it’s usually because they aren’t using enough. And since this is a butterfly pea flower cocktail you do want to use a good one.
- 1 Amarena Cherry. I remove the cherry from the syrup and rinse it off in cold water, but it still retains some Amarena syrup inside the fruit which really makes a difference in the final drink.
Add all the ingredients to a cocktail shaker with a couple ice cubes and shake well for 15-20 seconds. I use three small ice cubes and they reduce by about 50% after shaking. Double strain into a cocktail glass and drop in a rinsed Amarena cherry. The drink looks amazing if you have overhead pocket lights, since that gives it the bio-luminescent glow.
Notes
While I’m normally not a fan of Magellan gin in most drinks, I feel like it is 100% perfect in this cocktail. If you see a bottle you should definitely get it, since you can use this as a signature drink at your next get-together.
This cocktail comes in at 31% abv, or 62.1 Proof. This makes it quite a strong cocktail, but I promise you that after your first sip you won’t even feel like you’re drinking strong alcohol. The night I invented this drink I had 6 in a row while binge watching a Netflix show and didn’t even realize how much I was actually drinking.
Buy The Glass:
The glass featured in this post is the Reidel Nick And Nora. You can buy them here.
The Pelagic
Equipment
- Cocktail Shaker
Ingredients
- 50 ml Magellan Gin
- 22.5 ml Lemon Juice freshly squeezed and run through a coffee filter
- 15 ml Maraschino Liqueur
- 7.5 ml Creme de Butterfly homemade
- 1 Amarena Cherry rinsed
Instructions
- In a cocktail shaker add all the ingredients except the cherry. Add a few ice cubes and shake hard for 15-20 seconds. Double strain into a cocktail glass.
- Rinse off an Amarena cherry in very cold water and drop it right in the middle of the cocktail.
Notes
