You only need one neat little trick and a bit of science for a myriad of Magical Color Changing Alcohols that’ll wow your friends and family at your next get-together!
Read on to find out how you can make show-stopping cocktails with one secret ingredient! And get the recipes for the color changing cocktails (galaxy cocktails) here!
Just as I promised in my earlier post on the magical color changing lemonade (galaxy lemonade), I’m back with color changing cocktails made with COLOR CHANGING ALCOHOL! 🙂
It’s been amazing to see how much you guys loved my Color Changing Magic Ice and Galaxy Lemonade Slushie! The video on Facebook has reached nearly 2 million people now with over 10,000 shares.
Since I published that post, I’ve been getting messages from readers who tried the idea and made their own magic ice and galaxy lemonade slushies and that’s beyond rewarding! 🙂
As a side note – if you’d like to infuse your cocktail with fat-based rich savory flavor, check out my post on fat washing alcohol (fat washed butter rum).
And now I’m ready to switch things up a little, with alcohol! 🙂 I made FOUR amazing classic cocktails with not only my color changing magic ice, but with COLOR CHANGING ALCOHOL too. How awesome is that?
You can also check out my witches brew drink and phoenix cocktail, for two more amazing color-changing Halloween cocktails.
If you want to make color changing alcohol (not just color changing ice), bear with me because there’s a little bit of science behind the process.
The more you understand, the easier it’ll be for you to customize your drinks. And I’ll go through it all, step by step. If you’re here from Facebook, I definitely recommend watching the video (coming soon!) and reading the information here on making color changing alcohol.
If you prefer the easier option – then you can skip the color changing alcohol, and simply use regular alcohol along with the color changing magic ice in your cocktails. The “magic” is still mesmerizing to see, and you can go right to this post here for all those color changing cocktail recipes.
But if you stuck around, come on over, I’ve got just the trick for you to WOW your friends and family with magical color changing alcohol, that will knock their socks off! 🙂
A note about color changing alcohol
I used the same pH-dependent secret ingredient here (not so secret really) as in my galaxy lemonade slushie to color the alcohol. But there’s a catch – alcohol is naturally acidic. We already know that butterfly pea / blue pea flower tea turns PURPLE in slightly acidic (low pH) solutions.
So when you infuse butterfly pea into clear spirits like vodka, gin or tequila – you end up with purple-ish alcohol. Vodka being the most purple, with gin giving you a more Prussian blue color. You can still use this alcohol for a striking effect, and find that it changes to a beautiful pink when you add lime or lemon juice (making it more acidic). Since gin is less acidic than vodka and tequila, it’ll retain more of a blue color.
How to achieve the same color changing effect with naturally acidic alcohol
HOWEVER, there’s a simple way to neutralize vodka and tequila and create an even more splendid color change in your color changing cocktails. The trick is to add just the tiniest amount of baking soda!
Baking soda is basic (higher pH), so it raises the pH of your naturally acidic alcohol so that the butterfly pea induced color change becomes ever more prominent. One cup of butterfly pea infused vodka, requires less than 1/8th of a teaspoon of baking soda to change to a blue-shade! It’s such a negligible amount that it won’t affect the taste in any way, but it still produces that magical color change we want!
But please note that this step is optional, and if you prefer not to add anything to your alcohol, you’re more than welcome to skip this step. It only heightens the theatrics! 🙂
I use a very rough titration technique to achieve the color change. I measure out the alcohol that I’ll be using, and then use the tiniest amount of baking soda (using a flat skewer), and add it gradually to the vodka/tequila and swirl to get the blue color. You can use this method to change the color of butterfly pea infused vodka/tequila.
Just add a tiny amount of baking soda at a time, while mixing in between, until you achieve your desired color. Also note that gin retains the blue color from the outset since it’s not as acidic as vodka and tequila, so it does not require any baking soda.
You can get Dried Butterfly Pea Flower Tea
(blue pea flowers) from Amazon or Ebay (unless you live in a place where the plant grows naturally). You can get dried whole flowers, or just the flower petals or even crushed flowers. If you’re lucky enough to have access to fresh flowers, just use the fresh petals (remove the calyx).
But they do offer butterfly pea flower extract (called B’lure 
) on amazon, which looks pretty darn cool. I haven’t used it, but apparently you only need to use a few drops per cocktail.
The infused alcohol takes on the color of your blue pea flowers in a matter of hours (immediately, if use the B’lure extract). But I like to infuse it overnight. Just make sure to store the alcohol in clean, washed jars, because if your container has any acidic residue, that will affect the color.
Making color changing cocktails
You can make the cocktail any way you want! I’ve given you some options, but in order to get the effect of the color change, I wouldn’t advice using this for cocktails that require some shaking.
Prepare the drink (without the alcohol) in a glass, and then pour the color changing infused alcohol in as the last ingredient, so that you and your guests can enjoy the color change.
If you add crushed ice into the glass, it slows down the color change, making it even better (so it’s ideal for Moscow/Kentucky mules or juleps).
Alternatively, you can serve the alcohol in a glass, and then pour the lemon/fruit juice last, in front of your guests for the color change. And then top your drink with crushed, color changing magic ice too if you like! 🙂
Recipe
How to make Color Changing Alcohol (Vodka, Tequila and Gin)
US based cup, teaspoon, tablespoon measurements. Weight measurements are recommended for accurate results whenever available.
Common Measurement ConversionsIngredients:
- 15 – 24 dried butterfly pea / blue pea flowers 5 – 8 flowers per cup of alcohol
- 240 mL good quality vodka 1 cup
- 240 mL good quality gin 1 cup
- 240 mL good quality silver tequila 1 cup
- 3 clean jars
- 3 clean bottles
- Strainer and funnel
- ¼ tsp baking soda + flat toothpick
Instructions:
- Place each of the spirits in the 3 clean jars. Add 5 – 8 flowers into each jar, close tightly and lightly shake the contents to mix.240 mL good quality vodka, 240 mL good quality gin, 240 mL good quality silver tequila, 3 clean jars, 15 – 24 dried butterfly pea / blue pea flowers
- Label and leave the jars in a cool place to infuse overnight.
- When the spirits turn dark purple or blue in color, strain the alcohol into bottles.3 clean bottles, Strainer and funnel
For the vodka and tequila
- If the liquor is purple, and you prefer the alcohol to be blue, using the flat toothpick or a small spoon, transfer a pinch of baking soda into each of the bottles. Swirl to mix and check the color.¼ tsp baking soda + flat toothpick
- Repeat with very small amounts of baking soda, until it turns blue (stop adding as soon as you notice the desired blue color).
- Store all infused liquors in a cool place (or fridge or freezer), until needed.
Nutrition Information:
“This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.”
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