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Wednesday, August 25, 2021

Squid Mixes: Ambrosia


In her book The Geeky Chef Drinks, Cassandra Reeder offers over 60 cocktail recipes inspired by various sci-fi and fantasy franchises.  Her Ambrosia recipe comes from Battlestar Galactica.  Ambrosia, a strong and expensive beverage, is brown in the original series and green in the reboot.  Reeder's recipe intends to create the latter, combining Navy Strength gin, melon liqueur, Triple Sec, lime juice and Angostura bitters.  The result was a melon Jolly Rancher flavor.

As you can see in the picture above, the color didn't quite work out.  For comparison, here's the photo in the book:


I know the problem: it's the bitters.  Angostura is intensely red.  Mind you, she suggested 1-3 dashes and I really like Angostura so I went with 3.  A single dash might not have had such a huge impact on the color.  Even so, if I were to create my own version, I'd swap it out for a more green-complimentary bitters - grapefruit perhaps.

I also went with a weaker gin since it's what we had on hand.  If I were to up the alcohol content (which my wife assured me is not necessary), I might swap out the Triple Sec for chartreuse.  It would add alcohol and also support the color.
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7 comments:

  1. BirgitAugust 25, 2021 at 9:55 AM

    The green does look better but the key is how did it taste. I bet I would enjoy it.

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    1. The Armchair SquidAugust 25, 2021 at 7:13 PM

      Sort of candyish. I could do with a bit more bite - flavor bite rather than alcohol.

      Delete
  2. Andrew LeonAugust 25, 2021 at 11:39 AM

    But that swap would change the flavor. A lot.
    Not that we know what a fantasy cocktail should taste like.
    I'm sure in the original series ambrosia was more of a mead.

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    1. The Armchair SquidAugust 25, 2021 at 7:15 PM

      Well, yeah! That's the fun of playing with color when there isn't much to go on for flavor. Chartreuse might bring the flavor bite I seek. It would be interesting to see what the combination with Midori brings out.

      Delete
  3. mshatchAugust 26, 2021 at 7:53 PM

    I like sweet, but there has to be a bite. Damn, I miss BSG!

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    1. The Armchair SquidSeptember 4, 2021 at 11:56 AM

      Great show - at least in the beginning. It was often rough going in the later seasons.

      Delete
  4. The Armchair SquidSeptember 4, 2021 at 11:54 AM

    I expect there are better - and greener - recipes to be found online.

    ReplyDelete