Interested in mixing up some purple drinks in honor of Prince? Hint: bartenders are using Butterfly Pea Powder to give their drinks a blue/purple hue. So, if you’re looking for a way to remember this musical giant, give one of these purple cocktails a mix and toast with some of Prince’s many words of wisdom- like “Life is just a party and parties weren’t meant to last.”

Top bars around the country are now using butterfly pea powder, an indigo-colored dye derived from the butterfly pea plant to give their cocktails an exciting blue/purple hue. This all-natural ingredient is the perfect answer for achieving cobalt-colored cocktails this summer, just in time for poolside parties, backyard barbeques, and 4th of July celebrations.

Butterfly pea plants have long been used in Southeast Asia as a natural dye for savory dishes – such as Thai chor maung and Malay kuih ketan – to give them a unique periwinkle and sapphire coloring. Today, butterfly pea powder is driving exciting blue-colored cocktails into the limelight — and unlike Curaçao, it doesn’t affect the drink’s flavor.

At the Roosevelt Room in Austin, TX, Mixologist Justin Lavenue (Bar Owner and 2015 North American Winner of the Bombay Sapphire Most Imaginative Bartender Competition) incorporates the powder to achieve a petunia-like color for its namesake cocktail.

“Butterfly pea powder is an all-natural dye derived from the butterfly pea plant,” says Justin Lavenue (Austin’s Roosevelt Room), Bombay Sapphire’s 2015 Most Imaginative Bartender Winner. “Originally used throughout Southeast Asia, the powder’s purpose in cocktails is to achieve an natural blue coloring. The most interesting part is that it 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 alkalinity, turning it into a dark grey.”

The Charleston cocktail bar, 492, offers the “Disco Sour,” with butterfly pea powder blue-tinged ice cubes that melt into pink, replicating pulsing dance floor lights.

“I think the overarching trend around the industry currently, is bringing back the fun! There was a stuffy and pretentious stigma to bartending for a while,” says Gary Hayward, Bombay Sapphire North American Brand Ambassador. “You will find that new bar concepts and menus are focusing around fun themed twists on classic cocktails using kitsch ingredients. I think the pea flower does exactly that. It is fun, and color changing ingredients add a wow to the guests experience.”

“My chosen recipes were based around two popular and easy to make classics, the Collins and the Mule. I chose these drinks because they are big enough in liquid form to have a dramatic color changing effect to. The Collins has been a perfect summer serve for Bombay Sapphire for 10 years, due to the bright citrus notes in the Gin. The mule has become the new cosmopolitan over the last 2 years and in wanted to demonstrate the versatility of the drink and how you can copy/paste your favorite spirit into the simple format.”

The Petunia: Created by Bombay Sapphire’s 2015 Most Imaginative Bartender Winner and Owner of Austin’s Roosevelt Room, Justin Lavenue

Ingredients:

• 1 oz Bombay Sapphire Gin
• 1 oz Grapefruit Juice
• 1/2 oz. VSOP Cognac
• 1/2 oz. Yellow Chartreuse
• 2 dashes Absinthe
• 2 dashes Peychaud’s Bitters
• 1 tsp. Butterfly Pea Powder

Preparation: Shake well and double-strain into a Nick & Nora glass. Garnish with a Mint sprig tied around the stem of the glass

Collins Avenue: Created by Bombay Sapphire North American Brand Ambassador Gary Hayward

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 oz. Bombay Sapphire Gin
• 3/4 oz. Simple Syrup
• 10 drops of Peaflower Extract

Preparation: Build with ice in a Collins glass. Stir and top with soda leaving a 2 oz. window. Pour 3/4 oz. chilled fresh Lemon juice into a separate mini carafe.

*Present drink, carafe and spoon to guest. Instruct them to pour contents of carafe to into drink and watch the drink change color from blue to pink. Stir well and garnish with lemon twist.

Summer 75 Punch (Serves 10): Created by Mixologist Lynnette Marrero (Llama Inn)

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups Bombay Sapphire Gin
• 1 cup Butterfly Pea Flower Tea Brewed and Chilled
• 3/4 cup St-Germain French Elderflower Liqueur
• 3/4 cup Fresh Lemon Juice
• 3 cups MARTINI & ROSSI Prosecco

Preparation: Place all ingredients in a punch bowl or pitcher and mix Add Prosecco. Serve.

*Tip: Freeze edible flowers in ice and use to chill punch.

Meta-Mule-Phosis: Created by Bombay Sapphire North American Brand Ambassador Gary Hayward

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 oz. Bombay Sapphire Gin
• 10 drops of Peaflower Extract
• Top with Ginger Beer

Preparation: Build with ice in a glass and stir well. Squeeze 3 lime wedges into the cocktail and watch the color change.

Read it at Chilled

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