FOOD NEWS
Color-Changing Tequila Makes For Magically Festive Cocktails
BY WENDY LEIGH
To make your cocktail magically change color, you'll need the power of butterfly pea flowers, which harbor natural elements that bathe your drink in bright color.
The color can change depending on what else you dash into it. Commonly steeped as tea, the butterfly pea flowers can now be poured straight from a bottle of tequila.
Rick Hewitt, founder of Unicorn Distillery, made tequila and vodka steeped in butterfly pea flowers that are cobalt blue. He gave Tasting Table exclusive insight into his method.
Hewitt tells Tasting Table that the flowers naturally produce flavonoids called anthocyanins which alter their structure and color in repose to changes in pH.
He notes that drinkers can add drops of citrus or soda water to "make the Unicorn tequila change purple" and turn it pink with "tonic, lemonade, ginger beer, or [...] lime juice."
Taste-wise, butterfly pea flower tequila is generally defined in the context of fruity and floral, but that can vary widely, depending on infusions and how it's distilled.
While the color-changing attributes of butterfly pea flower spirits are most pronounced when mixed with citrus and fizzy liquids, you aren't limited to basic cocktails.
Butterfly pea tequila thrives in classic tequila cocktail recipes, including margaritas, palomas, sunrises, Mexican mules, and many others.