Space cocktails from the future
by Michele Reina
Our belief is that you have to dream up the future. So not stopping at the Ballantine’s Space Glass and whisky blend, we tasked Michele Reina, Head of Mixology at the Looking Glass Cocktail Club, in Hackney, and his business partner at his own venture, Reina FBS Ltd. Dr. Georgia Billing, to dream up a selection of cocktails we will be drinking in space in the future.
In an unexpected corner of East London a group of maverick talents are quietly revolutionising the drinks industry by shaping the future of mixology. How we experience cocktails hundreds of years from now is being determined in Hackney. This creative centre of excellence for pioneering and scientifically led mixology is being helmed by The Looking Glass’ beatnik star attraction, Michele Reina. Alongside his commitments with the cocktail bar on Hackney Road, he also runs Reina FBS Ltd. with his business partner Georgia Billing, a Doctor of Nutrition and Food Science. Together, this boldly creative duo are challenging the norms of flavour perception and taste profiles from the confines of their laboratory. An experiential approach married with scientific methodologies has seen Reina FBS Ltd. create a plethora of scarcely believable concoctions that push the boundaries of mixology to otherworldly limits. We asked Michele and Georgia to dream up a cocktail menu that we will enjoy on a space station in the not too distant future.
The Green Planet*
40mL Ballantine’s
20mL Barolo Chinato Vermouth
5mL Cynar
3 drops Vegetal liqueur
The idea behind this cocktail is to create a digestif to maintain a healthy gut and settle the stomach whilst we are in space. The digestif is the vermouth, teamed with Ballantine’s in a twist on the old classic American cocktail, The Manhattan. The bitter herbal touch represents the herbs and plants that have been grown in space on the International Space Station successfully to date: parsley, basil, lettuce amongst others.
Meteor Diet
35mL Ballantine’s
5mL Chilli-Mango Bitter by Reina FBS
10mL Clarified lemon juice
20mL Turbo Tomato Cordial by Reina FBS
5mL Pimento Dram by Reina FBS
The Meteor Diet is served in a vacuum pack with biltong. The customer drinks the cocktail, tears open the vacuum pack and eats the biltong afterwards, to gain a spicy protein hit.
Astronauts combat the loss of muscle and bone mass due to microgravity by exercising for several hours per day. This cocktail is a twist of Drink Me, Eat Me, a cocktail on the Looking Glass Cocktail club’s current menu. The idea is to provide a protein and energy rich meal, that is also palatable enough to make up for the limited food choices in space. The Meteor Diet tastes like a Bloody Mary, but instead uses a scotch base with herby tomato flavours and a slight fruitiness from the mango bitters. True to the classic Bloody Mary, spiciness comes from pimento liqueur and chilli. Humans are the only animals to seek and enjoy the taste of spice, and particularly the burn of chilli, which has interesting health benefits, such as being used as a decongestant and in prevention of cardiovascular disease.
Sun Spot
40mL Ballantine’s
15mL Honey syrup
5 drops Astromatic Bitter by Reina FBS
20mL Mineral water (Ca and mineral rich)
Microgravity conditions can often replicate the sensation of having a cold due to fluid build-up in the respiratory system. In years gone by the remedy for a cold was scotch and whilst we know it’s not really a cure this cocktail honours the classic hot whisky cocktail, the Hot Toddy. It may be possible in the future to have this cocktail hot ‘on tap’, due to the slower mixing and infusion of liquids into hot water in space.
The cocktail includes water that is mineral-fortified with calcium for bone health (we imagine that one day, the water could even be made from filtered urine on a space station in the not too distant future). An alternative serve is by individual premixed bottles that can be heated by a solar-powered microwave. Having a permanent cold may affect our ability to taste, so Reina FBS Ltd. has created a super concentrated aromatic bitter with a strong taste on Earth, which can still be tasted in space. The bitters contain essential vitamins in every drop to boost energy and the immune system, especially vitamins D and K, of which astronauts are currently known to suffer from deficiencies and are importantly linked to bone and muscle health, and the balance of intestinal microbiota.
Cryogenic Christmas*
40mL Ballantine’s
20mL Panettone liqueur by Reina FBS
Being away from Earth means being away from culture and human tradition. This cocktail is served in a iced mini cocktail shaker that represents a spaceship, but tastes like a sweet Italian Christmas cake; evocative flavours that will remind you of time spent with with friends and family. The flavour profile is a twist of another American cocktail - the mint julep, which is whiskey-based and sugary with subtle herb undertones.
View From The Cosmos
40mL Ballantine’s.
15mL Coffee Liqueur.
20mL Amaro liqueur.
25mL Tobacco Liqueur.
Astronauts may miss the Earth, but also experience a phenomenon called “the overview effect” that comes from observing outer Space, bringing the realisation that humans are tiny beings on a relatively small, spinning planet orbiting a single sun within a greater universal existence.
The flavour profile of View From The Cosmos resembles the sensation of a coffee and a cigar, for space tourists to enjoy while deep in thought about home comforts and watching their world from the shuttle window. The toffee notes of Ballantine’s match with the coffee liqueur, balanced with the slight bitterness of the Amaro liqueur. Perique provides the smoky, tobacco notes.
* Can be served in any bar on earth.
Many thanks to Michele Reina, Dr Georgia Billing, Reina FBS Ltd. and the Looking Glass Cocktail Club, where all of these cocktails are available for sampling.
We’ll take whisky with us.
For more information on Ballantine’s Space Glass explore our Medium publication.
Photo Credit: Baker & Evans
