This Bar Bellamy cocktail is a sight to behold

“This drink came about from a masterclass we hosted in August that was focused around distilling and using a micro distiller hosted by Nick Tesar and Ashley Briggs,” says its creator, Oska Whitehart from Bar Bellamy.

“We were lucky enough to have Ash lend us some very specific equipment to pull this off and have a play around with, but using any type of vaccuum distiller would work.

“I took inspiration from a few sources for the drink itself. Dani and I had recently visited Japan, during the summer where it reaches 38 degrees and full tilt humidity, and ate plenty of kakigori. This is a shaved ice dessert and is an incredible way to cool off during those hot days. We also would beat the hangover from the previous night with a Calpis Hiball, a combination of calpis and sochu in a highball, with just enough sugar and booze to cure you.

“I combined those two things, with a touch of Australian nostalgia (Blue Heaven is a notorious blue milkshake flavour, that tastes like raspberry & vanilla), and had to make it blue as [noted fan of blue drinks] Nick was in the house and it just felt right.

“We’re currently playing around with the technique and seeing if it fits into our drink program to be able to riff on this more in the future, and hopefully beat the harsh Australian summer.”

Blue Heaven
20ml Raspberry, Butter & Vanilla Distillate*
5ml Marionette Blue Curacao
5ml Calpis Concentrate
10ml lemon juice
20ml distillate discard syrup*
Fluffy ice
1 fresh raspberry
Frozen Coupe
small spoon

Special equipment needed:

• Uzuma Heavy Industries micro-vaccum distiller
• Ice Shaver, preferably an automatic Japanese kakigori ice shaver for best texture

Method:
Whip together distillate, Blue Curacao, Calpis Cordial and lemon juice with 2 small bits of crushed ice until you can no longer hear the ice in your shaker. Pour out mix into frozen Coupe. Shave fluffy ice on top of this mix. Press down lightly to slightly compact ice. Continue shaving until a large dome of ice is achieved on top of the drink, place spoon in the drink. Garnish with the discard syrup and serve immediately. When serving to guest instruct to eat with the spoon, you can taste the components together, separately or mix them about to have a slushy.

Prep:
Raspberry, Butter & Vanilla Distillate:
570g Butter Vodka*
1/2 Vanilla pod, cut lengthways and seeds scraped
140g Raspberries (frozen to break down cell walls)

Combine all in Micro Vacuum Distiller, and run on setting 2 for 1 hour. Taste final cut, and use up to when you can actively taste alcohol. For all remaining liquid add back to the undistilled solids and reserve for discard syrup. Measure alcohol content with hydrometer of distilled liquid, and cut back to 38% ABV with distilled water. Bottle, label and store. Tastes best after 1 week of resting.

To make Distillate Discard Syrup:
Combine all remaining liquid and fruit pulp with caster sugar 1:1 by weight in vacuum bag and seal. Leave in fridge to dissolve fully overnight. Next day strain through chinois. Cut syrup equal parts by volume with Calpis concentrate. Bottle, label and store refrigerated until use. When using
on the bar place in squeeze bottle.

To make butter vodka:
Combine vodka & butter at 5:1 by weight in vacuum bag, and sous vide at 60 degrees for 2 hours, place in fridge overnight to set. next day strain through filter paper to remove fat. Bottle, label and store.”