The Gagarin Gimlet

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So we've established  we can create our own spirit that is financially viable for use behind a cocktail bar. Now it is time to actually start creating recipes that can theoretically be replicated off-planet. 

First we need to establish the rules of any 'space' cocktail.

1. No ingredients you cannot supply in space. In a financially valid method that is. This includes any fresh fruits, juices, or anything that will perish in the long journey into space.
2. Water is acceptable. We did find ice on mars after all - if we are assuming a scenario where we can survive long-term in space, we have access to some form of distilled water. This includes ice. 
3. We need to keep our costs down. The aim of this blog is to provide solutions to future drinking-related issues, and the main one that popped up straight away was how damned expensive it is to get weight off of earth and into our hypothetical space-man bar. We need to minimize weight to minimize cost.
4. The spirit has to be able to be replicated in space. Nothing with an appellation control - no tequila, no cognac, no champagne. 
5. Nothing carbonated. As we covered already, carbonation doesn't work in space. So no collins or fizzes - by normal methods anyway...

So we have our neutral reconstituted spirit - vodka in it's basest form. Now we can create something we can call a cocktail, albeit a simple one: we are going to tackle the humble (vodka) gimlet.

Usually a combination of gin and lime cordial, this should be simple enough to replicate. Weight, however, is the biggest driver of cost behind these cocktails, so a bottle of Rose's lime will cost many times more than our reconstituted space hooch.

To tackle this issue I've turned to a powdered, concentrated alternative- citric and tartaric acid. 

these look...tempting?

Citric acid is most concentrated in lemons and tartaric most concentrated in limes; citric acid provides the sour of lemons whereas tartaric provides the 'tang' of limes. By combining the two of these with sugar I was able to create a reasonable facsimile of the flavour of lime cordial. 

But what about the viscosity of the cordial? For this I added xantham gum, a natural thickening agent,to the batch and then a hefty dose of our neutral space spirit. To replace the water volume lost without the cordial I added an ounce of mineral water.

A few seconds in an immersion blender to break up the solids, then a brisk shake and fine strain, and we have our powdered gimlet. 

The drink has a nice viscosity due to the xantham gum, which also helps the bubbles from aeration remain in suspension. They slowly settle and rise bursting with a pleasant citrus aroma. 

Recipe follows below: 

The Gagarin Gimlet

Named after Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, (officially) the first human to enter space.

50ml (1 3/4 oz) neutral spirit

30ml (1oz) mineral water

1/4 tsp citric acid

1/8 tsp tartaric acid

1/8 tsp xantham gum

1 tsp castor sugar 

Combine all in boston tin and blend with immersion blender for 60 seconds to break up solids. Shake with nice cold ice, fine strain into a chilled glass. No garnish because there are no limes in space. 

Notes

-Working with these acids requires a soft touch - they are very concentrated. The first attempt I had at this recipe used 1/4 tsp tartaric and 1/2 tsp of citric and nearly stripped the acid off my teeth. 

-You can't recreate the color of a gimlet without additives - there is none of the chlorophyll from limes in the acid, so once the bubbles slowly clear after shaking (~3 minutes) the drink becomes crystal clear while retaining the oily texture from the xantham.
-The blending stage is a must - xantham clumps up very easily and without this stage you end up with thick, lumpy jelly-like leftovers in your final drink.