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Cocktail History
The Saturn is a classic tiki cocktail that was created in 1967 by Joseph “Popo” Galsini in California. Named for the Saturn rocket that sent Apollo into space, the recipe combines several traditional tiki ingredients including citrus, passion fruit, velvet falernum, and orgeat in a frosty, blended format, but instead of rum, it uses herbal gin as the base spirit.
Cocktail Ingredients
To make this cocktail, you’ll need the following ingredients:
Gin: This is a spirit made with juniper berries, botanicals, and alcohol. We used Dancing Goat Distillery Death’s Door Gin because it has classic and clean botanical flavors. For a mocktail version of this drink, try MONDAY Zero Alcohol Gin in place of the gin.
Lemon Juice: This is the liquid juice of a lemon. We used freshly squeezed lemon juice.
Passion Fruit Syrup: This is a sweetener made with passion fruit juice, cane sugar, gum Arabic powder, and benzoic acid. We used Liber & Co. Tropical Passion Fruit Syrup.
Velvet Falernum Liqueur: This is a liqueur made with ginger, lime, almond, cloves, sugar, and alcohol. For a mocktail version of this drink, try BG Reynolds Falernum Bar Syrup in place of the velvet falernum liqueur.
Orgeat Syrup: This is a sweetener made with roasted almonds, orange blossom, sugar, and water. We used Liber & Co. Almond Orgeat Syrup because it’s delicious and high quality.
Lime Peel: This is the peel of a lime that has been rolled and stuck on a cocktail pick.
Cherry: This is a fruit that has been soaked in brandy and rich syrup. We used Luxardo Maraschino Cherries because they’re high quality and delicious.
Bartending Tools
To make this cocktail, you’ll need the following bar tools:
Jigger: This is used to measure and pour ingredients. We used the Japanese jigger from the A Bar Above 14-Piece Silver Bar Set.
Boston Shaker: This is used to shake ingredients. We used the Boston shaker from the A Bar Above 14-Piece Silver Bar Set.
Hawthorne Strainer: This is used to strain out ice and solid ingredients after the cocktail is shaken. We used the A Bar Above Hawthorne Strainer.
Paring Knife: This is used to cut ingredients. We used the OXO Good Grips 3.5 Inch Paring Knife.
Juicer: This is used to juice citrus, fruits, and vegetables. We used the ALEEHAI Manual Fruit Juicer.
Blender: This is used to blend up ingredients. We used the Cuisinart SPB-7CH SmartPowder Electronic Bar Blender.
Tasting Notes
The Saturn has a muted aroma that combines citrus and passion fruit followed by a tastefully herbal and citric initial taste that turns into an exotic aftertaste of sweet passion fruit and nutty orgeat.
Our Opinion of This Cocktail Recipe: While gin in a tropical drink is somewhat unorthodox, what really set the Saturn apart is its eclectic combination of three very different tiki mixers. While it was tasty, Kendall found it to be a bit too busy to crack her favorites list. And Alex felt similarly, but he did lean into its eccentricity a bit more.
Which of our palates is yours most like?
Find out if your palate is most similar to Alex’s or Kendall’s by answering five questions.
Which of our palates is yours most like?
Find out if your palate is most similar to Alex’s or Kendall’s by answering five questions.
Alex’s Take: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
“This drink tickled my exotic, fruity itch pretty well, with gin and lemon giving it the balance it needs and all of the other ingredients coming in clutch to give it flavor. The combination of falernum, orgeat, and passion fruit is a bit indescribable, but it certainly works well to give the Saturn an exotic flair that makes it a little too crushable.”—
Kendall’s Take: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
“I’ll be honest, I expected to enjoy this cocktail quite a bit more than I did. I have liked gin as a base in tropical recipes in the past, but in this one, I found the flavors to be a bit muddled together or one note. I think I’d like it a lot better with tequila, which would turn this into a drastically different drink. It is still good with gin; I was just left wanting a bit more from it. It’s still worth a try though if you have a hankering for something tropical with gin in it.”
Recipe
This cocktail recipe was adapted from Steve The Bartender’s Cocktail Guide by Steve Roennfeldt.
Add gin, lemon juice, passion fruit syrup, velvet falernum, orgeat syrup, and cubed ice to a blender.
Blend for 10-15 seconds or until desired texture.
Pour into a lowball or tiki glass.
Garnish with lime peel and cherry.
Ingredients
Directions
Add gin, lemon juice, passion fruit syrup, velvet falernum, orgeat syrup, and cubed ice to a blender.
Blend for 10-15 seconds or until desired texture.
Pour into a lowball or tiki glass.
Garnish with lime peel and cherry.
Make It a Mocktail: Use MONDAY Zero Alcohol Gin in place of the gin and BG Reynolds Falernum Bar Syrup in place of the velvet falernum liqueur to try a booze-free version of this drink.
Shop Glassware & Tools
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More Tiki Cocktails
If you like this tiki cocktail recipe, here are a few others we’ve tried that you may enjoy:
Caribe Daiquiri: A rum cocktail made with pineapple juice, lime juice, simple syrup, and a lime slice
Junior Colada: A pineapple rum cocktail made with coconut liqueur, pineapple juice, lime juice, coconut soda, and pineapple fronds
Tia Mia: A mezcal and rum cocktail made with lime juice, orange curaçao, orgeat syrup, a lime wheel, a mint sprig, and an orchid blossom
Junior Colada: A pineapple rum cocktail made with coconut liqueur, pineapple juice, lime juice, coconut soda, and pineapple fronds
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