City Of Starlight Gin Fizz (Colour Changing Butterfly Pea Gin Fizz)

A drink that changes colour in the glass, for a court that runs on stars.

I am re-reading the ACOTAR series on GraphicAudio, currently halfway through A Court of Mist and Fury, which means my evenings are a full cast, a score and sound effects rather than a single narrator. It is an entirely different experience to reading it, and the Night Court in particular sounds enormous. If you have never tried a dramatised adaptation, that is the one that converted me.

A tall City of Starlight Gin Fizz with indigo and violet swirling through it, a lemon twist on top and a jug of lemon juice beside it — The City of Starlight Gin Fizz: midnight in the glass until the lemon goes in.

So this week the drink does something. The City of Starlight Gin Fizz pours a deep midnight indigo, then turns violet the second the lemon hits it, with a pinch of edible shimmer suspended through it like a sky that has not settled yet. It is not food colouring and it is not a trick. Butterfly pea flower genuinely changes colour with acid, so the transformation happens in front of whoever you hand it to.

I have included a full alcohol-free version, and unusually it loses nothing at all, because the colour change has no idea whether there is gin in the glass. This one pairs perfectly with a Starlight Pavlova for a full romantasy reading night.

Three violet gin fizzes on a silver tray beside a berry pavlova and an e-reader, with a moonlit city behind — A gin fizz, a pavlova and a very long chapter. That is the whole evening.

A gentle note: ACOTAR starts as fairly tame high fantasy and gets considerably spicier from book two onward, with some real violence alongside it. If you are new to the series, my romantasy starter guide covers where to begin, and the spice level guide explains what my chillies actually mean.

What you will need

Makes 1 drink (scale up easily for book club, see the notes).

Ingredients from above: dried butterfly pea flowers, brewed blue tea, gin, simple syrup, soda water, lemons, ice and a tall glass — Everything you need, plus the lemon juice kept separate in its own jug.

City of Starlight Gin Fizz

45ml gin
45ml strong butterfly pea flower tea, brewed and completely cooled
15ml simple syrup
60ml chilled soda water
20ml fresh lemon juice, kept separate in a small jug
Ice
A very small pinch of edible silver or gold lustre dust
A lemon twist, to garnish

City of Starlight alcohol-free fizz

45ml non-alcoholic gin alternative, or simply leave it out
45ml strong butterfly pea flower tea, brewed and completely cooled
15ml simple syrup
90ml chilled soda water
20ml fresh lemon juice, kept separate in a small jug
Ice
A very small pinch of edible silver or gold lustre dust
A lemon twist, to garnish

Method

Step 1: Brew the butterfly pea, then cool it completely

Steep about a tablespoon of dried butterfly pea flowers in 150ml of just-boiled water for 5 minutes, then strain. You want it strong and properly saturated, close to ink. Now leave it until it is completely cold, and I mean cold, not lukewarm. Warm tea will melt your ice, dilute the colour and give you a sad grey drink instead of a midnight one. Make it the night before if you can.

Hot water being poured over dried butterfly pea flowers in a glass teapot, turning the water deep blue — Steep it strong. You want something close to ink, not weak cordial.

A jug of deep indigo butterfly pea tea, chilled, with ice cubes beside it — Completely cold before it goes anywhere near the glass.

Step 2: Build the midnight base

Fill a tall glass with ice. Add the gin, the cold butterfly pea tea and the simple syrup, and stir gently. It should be a deep blue that looks almost black in low light, which is exactly the point.

Deep blue butterfly pea tea being poured from a jug into a tall glass packed with ice — Gin, cold tea and syrup over plenty of ice.

Step 3: Top with soda

Pour the chilled soda water slowly down the inside of the glass so you keep as much fizz as possible. Do not add the lemon yet. That is the whole event and it is worth saving.

Chilled soda water being poured down the inside of a tall glass of blue gin fizz — Pour the soda down the side of the glass to keep the fizz.

Step 4: Add the stars

Take the smallest possible pinch of edible lustre dust and stir it through once. Less is genuinely more here. A tiny amount catches the light and drifts through the drink like something in suspension, while a heaped spoonful just makes it look cloudy and slightly grey.

A bar spoon stirring edible shimmer through a tall indigo cocktail so it drifts in suspension — One stir, no more. The shimmer should drift, not cloud.

A small spoonful of edible silver lustre dust on dark stone beside a violet cocktail — The smallest possible pinch. This is genuinely as much as you need.

Step 5: Pour the lemon at the table

Hand the glass over with the little jug of lemon juice beside it and let whoever is drinking it pour their own. The indigo turns violet as it falls, and the shimmer moves with it. Garnish with the lemon twist and drink it fairly promptly, because the colour keeps shifting towards pink as the acid works through.

Lemon juice being poured into a blue butterfly pea cocktail, turning it violet and pink as it falls — The moment the lemon hits. This is why you hand the jug over.

Close-up of blue and violet swirling together through a bubbling cocktail as the acid works through — Blue to violet to pink, and it keeps moving while you watch.

Cosy Kitchen Notes

Cold tea or no colour. This is the one rule. Butterfly pea tea that goes in warm will wreck both the temperature and the depth of colour, and no amount of extra flowers will rescue it afterwards. Brew it ahead and chill it properly.

Brew it stronger than feels sensible. Diluted butterfly pea is a washed-out denim colour, not midnight. If your tea looks like weak cordial in the jug, it will look like nothing at all once it meets ice and soda.

The lustre dust has to say edible. Craft glitter and non-toxic glitter are not the same thing as food-grade. Look for lustre dust or edible glitter specifically labelled for food use, sold with the cake decorating supplies.

A spoonful of food-grade edible glitter on dark marble beside a violet cocktail — Check the label says edible. Craft glitter is not the same thing.

Make it for book club. Batch the gin, butterfly pea tea and syrup in a jug and keep it in the fridge, top each glass with soda to order, and put the lemon juice out in a small jug with a spoon. Everyone does their own colour change, which takes about four seconds and reliably derails the conversation.

Two tall violet gin fizzes with lemon twists beside a carafe, candles and a stack of books — Batch the base, top to order, and let everyone pour their own lemon.

Sober-curious swap. This is one of the rare drinks where the alcohol-free version is not a compromise. The colour, the shimmer and the transformation are all doing the work, and none of them involve gin. Add a little more soda and nobody will feel they missed out.

Quick answers

Why does a butterfly pea flower cocktail change colour?

Butterfly pea flowers contain anthocyanins, the same pigments that colour blueberries and red cabbage, and they act as a natural pH indicator. In a neutral drink they read as deep blue. Add something acidic like lemon or lime and the pigment shifts through violet towards pink. It is a genuine chemical reaction, not a dye, which is why it happens in front of you rather than needing to be stirred in.

Three tall glasses side by side showing butterfly pea tea at blue, violet and pink as more lemon is added — Same drink, three different amounts of lemon. That is the pH indicator at work.

What does butterfly pea flower taste like?

Very mild. It is faintly earthy and grassy, closest to a light green tea, and in a drink this size it mostly disappears behind the gin and the lemon. You are using it for colour rather than flavour, which is why the syrup and citrus matter so much to the finished taste.

Where do you buy butterfly pea flowers?

Dried butterfly pea flowers turn up in the tea section of larger supermarkets, in Asian grocers, in health food shops and easily online. They are inexpensive and a small bag lasts a very long time, since you only need a tablespoon per brew. Butterfly pea syrup works too if you would rather skip the brewing, just cut the simple syrup back to compensate.

Can you make this without alcohol?

Yes, and it is just as good. Swap the gin for a non-alcoholic alternative or leave it out entirely and add more soda. The full alcohol-free version is in the ingredients above, and the colour change behaves exactly the same either way.

The Last Sip

The City of Starlight Gin Fizz takes two minutes once the tea is chilled, and it is the only drink I make that people actually stop talking to watch. Midnight to violet, a drift of shimmer, and a lemon twist on top.

Hands pouring lemon juice into several blue and violet cocktails around a candlelit table — Four seconds of colour change, and the conversation stops dead.

Pour one for your next romantasy reread, or set it down beside a Starlight Pavlova for the full reading night spread. Full pairing lives on the Saturday Night Sip, Snack & Smut page.

A violet gin fizz beside a plate of pavlova with dark berries, an e-reader and candles — One fizz, one slice of pavlova, one more chapter.

Hand them the lemon. Let them do the magic themselves.

City of Starlight Gin Fizz (Colour Changing Butterfly Pea Gin Fizz)