Hot pink cosmopolitans, cocktails with blue curaçao, Midori sours the color of Slimer… Walk into any cocktail bar today, and you’re likely to see at least a few candy-colored drinks on the bar.
Maximalism and guilty pleasures are the all the rage now, and bartenders are looking at pre-craft cocktail revolution recipes from the 1970s, ’80s, and ’90s—but they’re using better, real components instead of artificial ingredients. That means that spirits that are radiantly hued because of their natural ingredients—rather than colorants—are in a good position to capitalize.
As a craft distiller, you’re probably not looking to make your spirits glow in the dark just for the heck of it. But when a vibrant color happens to go hand-in-hand with the flavor profile of the spirit you’re making, that could be a real boost amid current trends. Bars want to stock these spirits to make eye-catching cocktails in a more organic way, and consumers are drawn to them on the shelves.
Here, a handful of distillers share the why and how of achieving these color naturally, building on the appeal of these products by supporting aesthetics with flavor and storytelling.