We have passed the 40% mark for the crowdfunding, and to celebrate here is a little cosmically inspired cocktail for you all. And it was designed together with NASA!

I was curious what future astronauts might be drinking on Mars or on the Moon, using ingredients exclusively grown there. To make sure, I had to speak with experts: Dr Laura Fackrell and her team from the Biotechnology and Planetary Protection Group at Caltech JPL (NASA). They are working on simulated soils to see what could be possibly grown by future astronauts on another world.  

It is easy to grow cyanobacteria, so you can easily get blue spirulina. Strawberries and other berries can grow hydroponically, so you don’t even need soil. And potatoes and beets should give you vodka and sugar respectively. With those ingredients and without further ado here is a Martian Martini for you!

INGREDIENTS

• ¼ of a teaspoon spirulina powder
• 1 teaspoon simple syrup
• 2 ounces (60ml) vodka
• 1 ounce (30ml) strawberry flavored liquor / juice

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Add a handful of ice cubes to a cocktail shaker.
2. Add all ingredients to the cocktail shaker.
3. Shake until well combined and spirulina powder has dissolved.
4. Add a cherry or raspberry to the bottom of a martini glass.
5. Strain the contents of the shaker into the martini glass to about 3/4 full.

To make non-alcoholic: replace the vodka with seltzer and the liquor with juice.

More on how the ingredients can be grown on Mars:

• Spirulina: Grow some cyanobacteria on Mars soil harvest and make a powder out of it, that is of course a whole process in itself.
• Simple syrup: We cannot really grow canes or agave or honey, but you could grow beets and make some beet sugar and make a simple syrup out of that.
• Vodka: The classic growing potatoes on Mars (thank you The Martian and then fermenting them to make the vodka.
• Flavored liquor: This would be a bit trickier, but hydroponics could come in handy to grow small fruit plants such as strawberries.

I hope you enjoyed this tasty update! Please keep on spreading the word about the Invisible Rainbows book, and if you want more cosmic cocktails there’s a recipe card and a full talk that I deliver on it, so check out the pledges!

Wishing you clear skies,

Alfredo