The Pelagic Cocktail

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The Pelagic Cocktail

Very rarely do I toot my own horn as much as I’m about to do with this 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

Pelagic Ingredients: Magellan gin, Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur, Lemon Juice, Creme de Butterfly

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.

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.

pelagic cocktail
Even without the black background the drink just looks like it glows!

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. 

pelagic cocktail picture

The Pelagic

The Pelagic cocktail is a specified riff on an Aviation, using an iris infused gin, and creme de butterfly instead of creme de violette. It's truly a drink that looks like bio-luminescent plankton floating in the sea.
5 from 1 vote
Prep Time 2 minutes
Total Time 2 minutes
Course Cocktails, Drinks
Cuisine American
Servings 1 drink
Calories

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

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. 
Keyword Aviation, Cocktail, cocktail variations, Creme de Butterfly, Pelagic Cocktail

The Pelagic Cocktail

pelagic cocktail picture
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The Pelagic Cocktail has also appeared in my series: 5 COCKTAILS WITH BUTTERFLY PEA FLOWERS

2 Comments

  1. […] enticing. From cocktails like my SLOE GIN GRAPEFRUIT to the most popular drink I’ve invented, THE PELAGIC COCKTAIL, there’s a gin for […]

  2. […] Hurricane Cody has an ABV of .2617, putting it stronger than a Monte Cassino (25%), but less than The Pelagic […]

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