Mermaid Colada

October 13, 2017

You might be able to find PSLs and cozy sweaters abound, but I am NOT ready to give into all things Fall. I am a huge Tiki-phile and one of the best parts about Tiki culture is the escapism it
brings. It could be snowing outside, but you can walk into a Tiki lounge and be immediately transported to a far flung island local. Another great part about it? The rum drinks! Although Tiki
drinks are tropical, they are made with ingredients you can mostly find year round. One of the most loved (or loathed, depending on who you are asking) is the Piña Colada. Piña Coladas
can be enjoyed anytime, which is a good thing because I crave them often – my not so guilty pleasure! You can always find a pineapple and coconut cream (key here: don’t use sweetened
coconut syrup or coconut milk) at the grocery store and rum has no season. I recently whipped up a blue hued Mermaid Colada with another tasty ingredient you can find easily at the store:
Tropicana Premium Lemonade.

This post is sponsored by Tropicana Premium Drinks. All opinions are my own. Thank you for reading and supporting the partnerships that keep the cocktails flowing on Craft + Cocktails!

Celestial, unicorn, and mermaid smoothies have been flooding feeds for the past year or so. These brightly colored treats are eye catching and delicious. I was thinking, surely smoothies shouldn’t have all of the glory, right? I decided to take the mermaid trend and make it a little more fun…by adding some booze of course! Although the bright colors are visually appealing, I shy away from using food dyes in any of my concoctions, turning to natural alternatives for getting vibrant shades. Bright blue is often hard to obtain naturally. Though I have used Butterfly Pea Flower before, it changes to purple with added acidity so it would come out purple with the Tropicana Premium Lemonade and pineapple juice. Instead, I turned to the sea to capture the blue hue: spirulina. Spirulina is a blue green algae packed with lots of vitamins and amino acids, making it perfect for an ocean inspired Mermaid Colada cocktail!

Green and blue green algae comes in powdered form or capsules and can be found online (this is the one that I used). Spirulina can be a bit tricky because it does have a “sea flavor” to it, but it perfectly masked by creamy coconut, sweet pineapple juice, spicy rum, and tart Tropicana Premium Lemonade. The lemonade is made with no artificial sweeteners or flavors which I feel good about mixing into my drinks. Tiki drinks always go all out when it comes to garnishes and the Mermaid Colada is no different! I topped mine with kiwi, starfruit, pineapple, coconut flakes, and pineapple leaves, two made to look like a mermaid tale of course! I also added mermaid hued white chocolate shells I made (you can find the mold for the mini shells here and the natural food dye I used here) to top it all off. I plan to keep mixing these Mermaid Coladas as it continues to get colder, even if I have to wear a parka!

Mermaid Colada

serves 1

glass: fluted or hurricane glass

5 oz Tropicana Premium Lemonade, frozen*
2 oz white rum
2 oz coconut cream
1/2 oz pineapple juice, frozen*
1/2 banana sliced, frozen*
2 dashes angostura bitters
1 capsules spirulina/blue green algae
garnish: pineapple leaves, starfruit, kiwi, coconut flakes
optional: white cocktail seashells

Directions
Start by freezing Tropicana Premium Lemonade and pineapple juice in an ice cube tray a few hours before making a cocktail. Add sliced banana into a plastic bag and freeze until frozen.
Add the first 6 ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth. Pour a quarter of the drink into a hurricane glass or tall glass. Open the capsules of spirulina over the blender to get the
powder out. Blend 1 second, it will be swirled. Slowly pour the rest of the cocktail into the glass. Using a chopstick or pick, swirl the two layers to create an ombré effect. Garnish with pineapple
leaves, tropical fruit, and coconut flakes.