Jason Cevallos of the Office first encountered dragon fruit at Next: Tour of Thailand, the second incarnation of Grant Achatz and Nick Kokonas’s ever-changing Fulton Market restaurant. Served with rose water for dessert, it was “an amazing palate cleanser,” he says, so initially he was excited when GEB’s Dave Michalowski challenged him with the cactus fruit (also called pitaya). But while it’s touted by some as a superfood high in fiber and antioxidants, dragon fruit, as Michalowski warned, is next to nil in flavor. Cevallos found that, eaten on its own, “it doesn’t taste like anything.”
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Despite this, he wanted to use the fruit in as pure a form as possible, so he juiced it, then made it into a syrup, using equal parts juice and sugar by weight. The idea of using tequila came to him immediately, he said, and from there it was a matter of “adding nuances” to make the drink flowery and fruity yet balanced.
Champagne both provides fizz and “helps dry up all the sugars,” so he topped off the drink with a dose of Henriot Blanc de Blancs. The final touch, inspired by his experience at Next, was just a few drops of rose water.
View a slideshow of Jason Cevallos making a dragon fruit cocktail.
Step-by-step instructions for making an Office bartender’s dragon fruit cocktail
Jason Cevallos demonstrates the Sandy, a complex tequila-based concoction.
2 oz Fortaleza Blanco tequila 1/4 oz Pineau des Charentes 8 drops quassia tincture 3/4 oz dragon fruit syrup 1 oz Henriot Blanc de Blancs champagne 2 drops rose water Dragon fruit peel, for garnish
