I’ve been developing café drinks for (embarrassingly) a quarter-century at this point. Y’know, for that café I’m always threatening to open. I also love science fiction.
When creators imagine future and/or alien cultures, they go heavy on the food and drink. I couldn’t be happier.
So I thought I’d bring my beloveds together for a tour of some of the most famous (or infamous) science-fictional beverages.
I’ve tweaked the recipes so that you can enjoy them without alcohol. Or not.
with infinite love and hijinks,
Shambhavi
Star Trek: Raktajino a.k.a. masala coffee
Raktajino is Klingon coffee. As a culinary phenom, its popularity has spread throughout the galaxy. Or it will.
No recipe for Raktajino is given in Star Trek canon. The only known characteristic of Klingon coffee is that it’s strong. Maybe for this reason, many fan-imagined recipes involve a dark, spicy espresso. Or maybe it’s because rakta means blood in Sanskrit.
In India, putting spice masala in coffee is definitely a thing. It’s like a reverse dirty chai. So delicious.
Here’s a basic recipe for Raktajino as it’s prepared on Earth at this time.
Mix strong espresso and hot milk laced with a medly of powdered spices such as ginger, cardamom, and cinnamon.
Add plenty of sweetener of your choice.
Get your Klingon on!
GhIj qet jaghmeyjaj!
(Klingon for: May your enemies flee in terror.)
P.S. If you find some of the recipes in this post to be a bit of a stretch, believe me, you will thank me for the Raktajino. It’s the bomb.
Babylon 5: Jovian Sunspot
Babylon 5 is one of my very most beloved science fiction series, and there is a lot of human and alien food featured on the show. The Jovian Sunspot hails from our human family in the future.
Rumor has it that the drink first took form at Zeus, a gritty little spaceport bar on Io, one of the moons of Jupiter. Babylon 5’s second-in-command Susan Ivanova is credited with co-creating the beverage.
Ivanova is also a participant in the show’s only lesbian relationship, one of the earliest to be depicted on U.S. television. The show’s creator, J. Michael Straczynski, later went on to collaborate with the Wachowskis to make Sense 8. If you know, you know.
Here’s the widely accepted recipe for the Jovian Sunspot. I only tweaked it a little. It’s “traditionally” made in layers and then stirred before drinking. Add the layers to your glass in this order.
2 oz. Coconut Cream
1 oz. Mango Juice
1 oz. Vodka (You can substitute one of the non-alcoholic versions of “vodka” or sparkling water or just leave it out.)
1.5 oz. Cranapple Juice
Want more? Check out the Babylon 5 Cookbook: Dining on Babylon 5.
Battlestar Galactica: Ambrosia
Ambrosia is the favorite brandy-esque beverage of alcoholics in both the original and reimagined BSG. Said to be fluorescent green in color. It looks something like Chartreuse. Blech!
Here’s a completely new, non-alcoholic addition to canon invented by moi.
Shambhavi’s Ambrosia a.k.a. Really Really Green Tea Cooler
1/2 cup brewed jasmine green tea, cooled
1/4 teaspoon matcha whisked into 1/2 cup of room temperature water
Lime syrup to taste
Extra sweetener of your choice
Fresh mint leaves, macerated with a mortar and pestle
1/2 cup sparkling water
Pour over ice and stir thoroughly.
Can be served topped with fresh pomegranate seeds if you want to be really fancy.
Firefly: Mudder’s Milk
Mudder’s Milk is a working class smoothie from the iconic science fiction series Firefly. Mudder’s Milk is meant to be a meal-as-a-beverage and also alcoholic pacification for the masses.
Here’s a recipe from The Geeky Chef. And below is my amended version sans alcohol! A juice bar I frequent in Portland serves a smoothie pretty much like this. I wonder if they know.
Mudder’s Milk Recipe
1/2 cup blueberry juice or frozen blueberries.
1/2 cup milk of any sort
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1 banana
2 tablespoons peanut or almond butter
1/4 cup pan-toasted rolled oats or quinoa flakes
A handful of ice (optional)
Honey to taste
Cinnamon to taste
Combine all ingredients in a blender and enjoy!
Additions that will make you a more energized laborer (or anti-empire rebel): maca powder, protein powder, cacao nibs.
The Expanse: Coffee n’ Matches
I really don’t recommend this. But on the spaceship the Canterbury (the Cant), it’s customary to add pulverized match heads to the extremely bad coffee. Supposedly, the phosphorous makes the coffee taste more like, well, coffee, and it reduces the bitterness, too.
Luckily, once the crew of the Cant trades up to their new “borrowed” Martian warship, they also inherit the ship’s store of higher-grade coffee. No more match heads needed.
100 drinks you might find at a space bar
I found this list on Reddit. It’s totally a thought experiment, but a really charming thought experiment.
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