Andorian Wedding Planner's Cocktail

From Star Trek: Strange New Worlds...

 

Well, look, I've never met a Star Trek series I didn't love, and Strange New Worlds is no exception. One of the things that has really tickled me is Captain Pike’s love of food and cooking. Sisko cooked so Pike could flambé... or something. Maybe the other way around because prequel? Anyway,  I fully intend to try my hand at some of Pike's creations in the future.

 

But this drink didn’t come from Pike's extremely impressive kitchen. It appears in the second episode of the third season, which is absolutely jam packed with cocktail moments. It was like the episode was speaking directly to my soul. Plus, seeing Starfleet officers dance to WHAM! was the skewered olive on top of the martini. 

 

The cocktail in question is served to Spock (who really needed a stiff drink just then) courtesy of a reality-bending entity known only as The Wedding Planner, delightfully played by Rhys Darby. The show doesn't describe the flavor, but the look of the rink was so striking I couldn’t resist trying to recreate it. 

 

The vivid blue-green color and what seemed like a crushed dragon fruit rim, plus the lush green vibes of the wedding, made me think tropical, fruity flavors. So I built a rum-based drink with notes of passionfruit, almond, and citrus. It’s vibrant and just mysterious enough to fit Spock’s surreal moment. Speaking of surrealist Trek foods, check out my Deanna Troi cake (aka Cellular Peptide Cake... with mint frosting). 

Ingredients:

 

For the drink:

• 2 ounces white rum
• 1 ounce passion fruit puree
• 1/2 ounce blue curacao 
• 1/2 ounce lime juice  
• 1/2 ounce orgeat
• Pinch of white or teal edible luster duster 

 

To garnish:

• Honey or corn syrup, for the rim
• Dragon fruit (pitaya) powder, for the rim,
• Orange peel 

 

 

Directions: 

1.  Cut a small slit in the center of the orange peel to help it grip the rim more securely. Set aside.
2. To a shallow bowl or plate, add the dragon fruit powder. Brush the side of the serving glass with honey or corn syrup. Press the brushed side of the glass into the dragon fruit powder, slightly rocking it to make sure the powder sticks to the syrup. Set the glass aside while you prepare the drink
3.  To a cocktail shaker, add the rum, passion fruit puree, blue curaçao, lime juice, orgeat, and luster dust.
4. Add ice and shake for 10 to 15 seconds until well chilled.
5. Strain into the serving glass.
6. Garnish with the orange peel, using the slit to secure it to the rim of the glass.
7. Prepare for wedding bells.

 

 

Serves 1 heartbroken Vulcan 

 

 

Non-Alcoholic Version: If you don't do alcohol, here's my list of general swapping suggestions.  In this case, I'd recommend getting a commercial nonalcoholic rum substitute, like Ritual or Free Spirit's NA rum. Swap the blue curacao liqueur with blue curacao syrup. From there, make the drink as written.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Two sci-fi cocktails in a row... The next recipe will be food, on my honor as a follower of Surak. If I break this solemn vow, may my katra be lost and my logic forsaken.