Electro Bolt | Bioshock [VIDEO]

When you want something to put some fizz into your bones, turn to ELECTRO BOLT! This cocktail inspired by Bioshock might eventually turn you into an insane genetic monstrosity, but darn if it doesn’t taste good while it does it.

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You’ll need

• 1/2 oz blue curacao

• 1/2 oz fresh lime juice

• 1/2 oz apple juice

• 1/2 oz French brandy

• Champagne

Add the first four ingredients to a shaker filled with ice. Shake vigorously until chilled. Strain into a coupe, then top up with champagne. Serve!

“Don’t be a dolt—use Electro Bolt!”—Electro Bolt advertisement.

My goodness do I love Bioshock. I was only 14 when it released, and it was one of the first games that ever made me actually think about what I was playing.

Sure, strategy games like Warcraft had made me consider what was the best way to defeat an opponent, and RPGs like… World of Warcraft… man my taste was thin back then… well, they made me think about character statistics and skillpoints.

But Bioshock made me think about meaning and political thought and the dangers behind trying to play God with the human genome, with no better example of that being the use of plasmids in-game: the genetic reconfigurers that could make the average person into a superhuman, capable of firing bolts of lightning out of their hands, or climb on walls, or turn invisible… or turn into a monstrous splicer after too much indulgence.

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Looking for more dystopian cocktails? Check out the Nuka Cola recipe from Fallout!

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This deep-seated love of mine for Bioshock was why I was so excited to make a drink based around the first plasmid you encounter in the game: the Electro Bolt. But I also loved the world of Rapture itself—without it, and the political ideas inherent in the DNA of the game—Bioshock would have been a well-made but otherwise typical shooter.

So I took inspiration from Rapture itself too and its mid-1900s asthetic, taking the Ritz Fizz and making it a little more… plasmid-y, if that’s a word. I replaced the Amaretto with apple juice and turned up the heat with a dash of brandy too.

The result is a classy, fruity beverage that practically leaps out of the glass (and into whatever unlucky Splicer happens to be nearby) that wouldn’t be all that out of place in the bars of Rapture. Before the dystopian nightmare, I mean.

For something a little cleaner, try replacing the brandy with gin, or for something with even more potency, the apple juice can be replaced with apple liqueur.

Hope you enjoy, and I’ll see you at the Kashmir.

If you want to keep seeing video-game-inspired cocktails and get a hold of some exclusive recipes, head on over to Experience Bar’s Patreon page and consider slinging me a credit or two. You help keep this blog going!