Drink Long and Prosper - "Star Trek" Cocktails

Growing up I had a lot of sci-fi interests, like the disco-era "Battlestar Galactica"; a Buck Rogers with a robot sidekick voiced by Mel Blanc; the Tom Baker version of "Doctor Who"; and George Lucas' first space trilogy. But the first live-action space fantasy that I ever became hooked on was "Star Trek". I discovered it back when the CBC showed the syndicated episodes on Sunday mornings after "Coronation Street". I didn't pay attention to the finer points of the plots (such as they were) of the original series, but I knew Capt. Kirk, Mr. Spock, and their friends flew around in a cool spaceship that could beam them to and from strange new worlds, where they sought out new life and new civilizations with their fists and laser guns. I kept my love of "Star Trek" to myself, as it wasn't as popular with my friends as "Star Wars" was, and its fans were mocked for being obsessive losers with bad hygiene and worse social skills by everyone else. I watched the original series whenever I saw it was on, but I didn't make watching "Star Trek" a priority until the groundbreaking "Next Generation" series debuted several years later. Whether it was the improved special effects, or the superior acting and writing, this version of Gene Roddenberry's vision was better received and more accepted by mainstream audiences. This surge in popularity also rubbed off on "Star Trek" fans as well, and with geek culture at its highest, every comic book convention and devoted cos-playing fan owes a debt of gratitude to all the Trekkies who made being a fanboy/girl and geeking out cool. With Sir Patrick Stewart returning to television with "Star Trek: Picard", get your inner Guinan on and be the hit of your Trekkie viewing party with these Star Trek-themed cocktails. It may not be the same as having a drink at Ten-Forward or at Quark's, but it will do until hologram technology catches up to our imaginations.

PLEASE REMEMBER THE PRIME DIRECTIVE - DON'T DRINK AND DRIVE

Romulan ale
Ingredients

25 mL blue curaçao
25 mL vodka
25 mL Triple Sec
25 mL lemonade

1. Pour the ingredients into a highball or any tall slim glass and stir.
   
   For an extra kick to make it more like its super potent and highly illegal inspiration, add 10 ml of Everclear.

Klingon blood wine
Ingredients

30 mL white rum
30 mL white tequila
tabasco sauce
grenadine
cranberry juice

1. Fill a glass with ice cubes, and add two dashes of tabasco sauce, and one dash of grenadine.
2. In a drink shaker, add the rum, and the tequila, and shake. Pour the contents into the glass with the ice, then top off the drink with cranberry juice until the glass is full.

The Jean Luc Picard
Ingredients

240 mL tea, Earl Grey, hot
30 mL Grand Marnier liqueur

1. Brew the tea, and pour it into a teapot. Add the Grand Marnier and stir.
2. Serve in a teacup.

The DS9 (This drink is better known as a Save the Planet, but is renamed for the space station that was instrumental in saving the planet Bajor for seven seasons)
Ingredients

30 mL vodka
30 mL melon liqueur (Midori, if possible)
15 mL blue curaçao
green Chartreuse

1. Fill a drink shaker with ice. Add the vodka, melon liqueur, and blue curacao. Shake.
2. Strain the contents into a chilled cocktail glass. Float the green Chartreuse on top and serve.

The 7 & 7 of 9 (Renamed for everyone's favorite refugee from the Borg Collective)
Ingredients

45 mL Seagram's 7 blended whiskey
7-Up

1. Fill a highball or any tall slim glass with ice. Add the Seagram's 7 and fill the rest of the glass with 7-Up.
2. Garnish with a cherry and an orange slice or with a twist of lemon (both are optional).

The Vulcan Beauty (This drink is based on the brandy-based drink the American Beauty because Vulcans make brandy, and American actress and model Jolene Blalock famously played Vulcan first officer and science officer T'Pol on "Star Trek: Enterprise".)
Ingredients

20 mL brandy
20 mL dry vermouth
20 mL orange juice
15 mL grenadine
15 mL creme de menthe

1. Fill a drink shaker with ice. Add all the ingredients and shake.
2. Strain it into a chilled cocktail glass.

Mother's Day Limoncello

Just because everyone's favourite Hallmark holiday is several weeks away doesn't mean it's not a good time to think about what you should give dear old Mom as a present. And what would be better for the woman who fed you, and put up with so much of your crap, than a homemade lemon liqueur popularized in Italy over a century ago. Traditionally made from the zest of lemons, it is steeped in grain alcohol until the lemon oil is released. The resulting yellow liquid is then mixed with a simple syrup. Served chilled as an after-dinner digestivo, it`s perfect for sipping after the dinner you made or took your mom out to, or for when you and mommy are sitting around shooting the breeze on a warm day.

20 lemons
1.75 L Everclear or 100-proof vodka
sugar
water

1. Wash and peel the lemons with a sharp paring knife to remove all the white pith from the inside of the peel (it gives the limoncello a bitter taste), or a microplane to remove the zest from the lemons. Put the skins or the zest in a clean glass or plastic container large enough to hold at least 2.5 litres.
2. Add the alcohol and seal the container. Wrap it in plastic and then in aluminum foil (to shield it from the light), and let it sit in a cool place in the back of the cupboard or in the basement for 2 to 4 weeks (the longer, the better). Shaking the container at various times isn't necessary, but it won't hurt.
3. After the infused alcohol has sat for a period, make a simple syrup by combining 475 mL water with 400 g sugar in a saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring frequently, for 2 to 3 minutes. Let the syrup cool completely by placing the pan in an ice bath.
4. Strain the peels out of your alcohol mixture (you will have to do multiple strainings if you used lemon zest) and stir in the simple syrup. Divide your limoncello into bottles, seal, and let them sit for 7 to 10 days to let the syrup marry with the lemon-infused alcohol.
5. Store your homemade after-dinner drink in the freezer, and serve in pre-chilled glasses or small ceramic cups.