Hocus Pocus Color Changing Cocktail

Serve a cocktail and a party trick all at once with this color-changing cocktail. Butterfly pea tea and lime juice are the magicians in this recipe, reacting with one another to change from a deep blue to a light purple in front of your eyes. This recipe is similar to a daiquiri, but simply substitute the rum for another clear liquid such as sparkling water for an equally delicious mocktail.

Serves one.

• 1/4 cup dried butterfly pea flower (you can get this at southeast Asian grocery stores or online)
• Juice from 2 limes (about 1/4 cup)
• 1.5 oz rum or clear nonalcoholic liquid such as sparkling water
• 1.5 oz simple syrup
• Strainer
• Optional: metallic sprinkles to rim the glass
• Optional: Wilton star sprinkles for garnish

Add the dried butterfly pea flower to a glass and cover completely with rum or your nonalcoholic substitute. Poke the flowers beneath the surface with a utensil so that they are as submerged as possible. Stir.

Cover the glass and let rest for at least one hour and up to twenty-four hours.

While you wait for the infusion to brew, optionally add a sparkly rim to your glass.

Sprinkle metallic sanding sugar or sprinkles onto a small plate. Briefly dip your finger in the simple syrup and rim the glass. Place the glass face down on the sanding sugar, lifting up and repositioning several times to rim the entire glass.

After your butterfly pea flower mixture has sat for at least one hour, strain out the flowers and siphon the now-blue rum into a measuring cup. It's ok if small pieces of butterfly flower remain, but strain a second time if larger chunks remain.

Add one shot (1.5 oz) of simple syrup to the measuring cup with rum. Stir.

Pour the mixture directly into your rimmed glass, filling no more than 2/3 of the way. The more room you leave for lime juice, the more pronounced the color changing effect will be!

When you're ready to amaze your guests with the color-changing effect, slowly fill the glass to the brim with lime juice and watch the color shift from deep blue to light purple!

If you're serving a batch of these drinks, pre-mix all ingredients except the lime juice. Top off each glass with lime juice individually when you're ready to serve.

This trick will also work with lemon juice or any citrus. Acids change the pH balance of the butterfly pea tea, causing the color change.

Optionally garnish your drink with edible stars. I love Wilton's 0.4oz star sprinkles because they're lightweight enough to float on top of a drink, swirling magically. Edible glitter or shimmer dust would also be a great addition to this cocktail.

Garnish and enjoy!