May the 4th Be With You Cocktails

Can we make this a yearly thing? Because in brainstorming these four cocktails for you, I came up with like, 20 ideas. That’s what happens when one has the opposite of writer’s block. I have too many dang things to create. And so I shall. There is no try. There IS do. However, there is also I-didn’t-have-time-to-perfect-all-20-of-my-imagined-cocktails, so I am giving you the four I felt most solid about. Star Wars love is real, and (I like to think) evergreen, so please enjoy! Do or do not. You get it. BANTHA MILK-SHAKE All my life, I’ve wanted to have a glass of this blue milk, the output of female banthas, served on a few planets including Tatooine and Batuu. I decided to see if I could make ice cream and blue curaçao be friends, and you know what? I think I did. I’d smuggle this anywhere. I expected to have to tweak this more, but just a test or so, and this was the fun blue boozy milkshake that my taste buds crashed landed on. INGREDIENTS ¾ cup (8 oz) Vanilla ice cream ¼ (2 oz) Cup of milk ½ oz Blue curaçao ½ oz Blanco tequila Quick squeeze of lime PROCESS Blendy blend it all! Pour into whatever glass suits your style and pairs with cantina music, the style of which (google for yourself) in the Star Wars universe is known as…jizz. Don’t at me, look it up, just doing my journalistic job. DARK AND STORMTROOPER-Y Poor pathetic Stormtroopers—just a bunch of faceless drones armed in oddly spotless white armor, doing the bidding of the dark side. I figured an extra dark riff on the Dark and Stormy was in order. Maybe a little extra boozy so the bad guys don’t have full use of their faculties—wait does that make me the bad guy? To make this extra dark and boozy (and bitter) I added a touch of one of my favorite amaros, Ramazotti, along with a dash of black walnut bitters. INGREDIENTS 1 1/2 oz. [Dark rum](Dark rum) (I used Whaler’s ) ½ oz Ramazotti Two dashes of Fee Brothers Black Walnut Bitters Ginger beer (I used Fever Tree) to top Lime wedge PROCESS Fill a tall glass with ice. In a mixing cup, stir the rum, Ramazotti, and bitters over ice then strain into the ice-filled glass. Top with ginger beer. Squeeze lime wedge on top and discard. JAVA THE HUTT Will all my Star Wars drinks be punny? Almost all. I think someone probably already made a Star Wars drink with this name, but this is my version. I wanted to do an espresso martini riff without going too off the rails. Since Jabba is not exactly a sweetheart, the bit of bitterness in limoncello seemed like a good plan. And it was. Love this drink. INGREDIENTS 2 oz. Vodka 1 oz. Mr. Black (you could probably use another coffee liqueur but this is my favorite) 1 oz. Cold-brew coffee Dash of limoncello PROCESS Shake over ice and strain into a chilled cocktail coupe. Pair with a hookah. YODA SODA This is essentially a tweaked Last Word, which hey, Yoda frequently has, no? I don’t love maraschino so added a lesser amount of St. Germain. And a dash, just a soupçon, of crème de menthe for color and a hint o’ mint, for those that will. All in all, this is so refreshing, as is the idea of following instinct and using intuit as opposed to kowtowing to algorithms. INGREDIENTS 1 oz. Gin 1 oz. Chartreuse 1 oz Lime juice ½ oz. St. Germain The tiniest dash of green crème de menthe —this is for color, but also if you don’t mind a bit of mint quite tasty—but please use precaution, don’t use a lot unless you want to only taste mint. Club soda to taste/fill this may be a process for you 2 Lime wedges, to garnish PROCESS Fill a glass with crushed ice. Shake all but the wedges with BIG ice and double strain into the glass. Top with club soda. How much you want may depend on your taste buds/how big your glass is, so if you taste this and think “meh, watered down”, maybe try a smaller glass and/or less club soda. Either way throw two lime wedges on either side of the glass to signify Yoda and/or baby Yoda ears.