"The key chain attached draws out the Keyblade's true form and power." - Description of the Kingdom Key from Kingdom Hearts
Inspiration
The Kingdom Key is the essential keyblade in Kingdom Hearts. You obtain it in the very beginning and it serves as the basis for all other keyblades in the game (just swap your keychain, and you’re good to go!) How best to represent Sora’s first blade? I felt it most appropriate to pull inspiration from the keyblade wielder’s origin and the flagship song of Kingdom Hearts I. So here’s a cocktail that’s simple and clean, and it tastes like coconuts picked from Destiny Islands’ coastline trees.
Workshopping
Simple and Clean
Without going too deep into the lore of keyblade wielders and whatnot (it’s a long story, trust me), I’ll spoil that the Kingdom Key’s origin is the Realm of Light. In my head, a simple and clean cocktail is simple in flavor and clear in color. Having decided upon the main flavor of coconut already (a reference to the ones on the Destiny Islands) I employed a clarification technique to strip it of its opaqueness.
Many milk products will curdle when acid is added to them. In the case of many clarified cocktails, this is employed by using a citrus juice like lime or lemon. Using citrus juices in this drink could potentially alter the final color and introduce flavor complexity that I felt wouldn’t quite fit. To get around this, I skipped straight to the point and used a teensy bit of citric acid to kick off the curdling of the cocktail. After a bit of time, the solids in the milky cocktail separated, and a crystal-clear liquid formed. During our livestream I believe I added the citric acid last, and it took about 8 minutes for the separation to begin. To speed up the process, add the acid to a solution first and pour the solution into the milk instead of dropping acid granules in.
To keep things simple (and clean, naturally) I opted to use a coconut rum and a corresponding white rum to add that boozy backbone. I’m not the biggest fan of Malibu coconut rum, as it’s on the sweeter end of things. For this recipe, I opted for Don Q Coconut, which is not as sweet as Malibu and has some appreciable notes that remind me of a tropical sea breeze.
The Keychain
The Kingdom Key’s keychain is a little silver Mickey Mouse head. Since I first thought of this drink I knew for sure I’d want to get that little image into the drink somehow! I spent a couple hours trying to figure out how to use edible silver leaf to get the image just right.
According to some videos I’ve watched, this silver leaf is suppose to stick to anything that’s even slightly wet. A lot of bakery videos just wipe a bit of sugar water on cake, and it sticks almost perfectly. I first just tried painting the characteristic three circles in sugar water and applying the silver leaf, no dice. This method sucked, and removing the remaining silver leaf just ripped the image off. So much for my painting skills.
I then thought, perhaps if I just cut a stencil out and paint over it, that the silver leaf would just stick to the negative space. Wrong again. This silver leaf I’m using was too damn good at staying together (except when I touched it with my finger, then it became one with my skin and ripped apart). I tried way too many techniques here, but the one I settled on was just cutting the silver leaf with an Xacto knife while it was still in its little paper envelope. The tradeoff here is you just need to be super careful with your cutting. If you can do that, just wipe a little bit of sugar water on the glass’s surface, and apply your pre-cut Mickey face. I suppose your mileage may vary depending on the brand of edible silver you’re using, but the cheap stuff from Amazon needs that precision cutting to get things working.
Flavor Analysis
Light on flavor, this drink has an air of coconut. Smooth in texture it’s almost like drinking cooled coconut water.
Simple and Clean (Kingdom Key Keyblade)
Simple and Clean (Kingdom Key Keyblade)
- 3 oz (88 ml) Coconut Milk
- 1 oz (30 ml) Coconut Rum (Don Q)
- 1 oz (30 ml) White Rum (Bacardi)
- 2-3 drops Saline Solution
- 0.3 g Citric Acid
Method: Curdle & Filter, Stir & Strain
Garnish: Coconut Flakes or Edible Silver
More drinks inspired by: Kingdom Hearts
Guided Recipe in 60 Seconds: YouTube
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