Alright, I know I don’t normally post cocktail recipes. But sometimes a little change is necessary.
Yes, I am considering a Star Wars: The Force Awakens themed drink a necessity. This one is inspired by Kylo Ren, a character in this newest movie.
Unlike the guy in Penn Station who spoiled a major plot point in the movie for me, I won’t talk too much about the actual movie or character in case you haven’t seen it yet.
Seriously, after avoiding social media and news posts for a week after the movie’s release, I innocently wandered into a Penn Station for lunch, where this guy at the table next to me decided it was socially acceptable to blurt out one of the main spoilers from the movie at full volume to his friends. There was no warning or way of escaping the restaurant quickly enough. I fumed about it that whole day. But as you can tell, I’m not at all still bitter about it now.
But this is a spoiler-free drink recipe. It is actually a blackberry margarita with bit of cherry, if you were wondering. And just in case you thought I was a bigger deal than I am–no this is not officially licensed or anything. I just thought it would be fun, and perfect for any Star Wars viewing parties you might be having.
You will need:
- 6 oz blackberries
- 2 oz tequila
- 1 oz lime juice
- 2 oz triple sec
- 1/2 oz simple syrup
- 1 oz cherry juice
- Some black food coloring
- Silver sanding sugar (available in most cake decorating sections)
This is the recipe for one drink, but you can easily adapt it for a group. Toss the blackberries into a blender and measure in the tequila, lime juice and triple sec with a cocktail jigger or whatever you have. Blend until smooth, which should just take a few seconds. Unless you have a much fancier blender than I do, you’ll probably need to strain this into a glass to remove the seeds.
Once your margarita is smooth and seedless, add a few drops of black food coloring to take it from dark purple to deep black. Don’t worry, part of my recipe testing was ensuring that this margarita does not turn your teeth black. It should only take a couple drops per drink.
That’s the black layer done, and most of the drink already. The red at the bottom makes the drink creepier and more villainous, as well as hints at Kylo’s lightsaber. (That doesn’t count as a spoiler. Don’t act like you didn’t see his tri-saber months ago)
The red layer is simply 1 ounce of cherry juice and 1/2 an ounce of simple syrup. I have a bottle of simple syrup as a mixer, but if you don’t you could just add a little sugar to the cherry. This is just to make the liquid heavier so that the black layer won’t sink into it.
Rim a margarita glass with the silver sugar, using either more simple syrup or a lime wedge to make the rim sticky, then dipping the glass into a saucer of the sugar. Now for the layering, which is the most difficult part of this cocktail, but is easier than your impressed friends will think it was. You could also just use normal course sugar, but the silver is a nice hint at Kylo’s mask, and it just looks cooler.
Pour the cherry layer into the bottom of each glass, then just very slowly pour the blackberry layer over the back of a spoon. It should sink a little bit for a second and then float to the top. You could also try pouring it down the side of the glass instead of using the spoon. I’d advise just playing around with it in an extra glass if you’ve never done it before, but it’s easy to get the hang of.
Of course, cocktails are always adaptable to the preferences of you or your guests. For a stronger drink, add more tequila or triple sec. For a sweeter drink, it would actually be better to use a higher ratio of the cherry layer, because adding less alcohol to the black layer will make it harder to layer.
You could serve this on the rocks, or for a cleaner look, just chill the alcohols and the cherry juice beforehand. Enjoy, and may the force be with you.
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