Bottle Blonde

Jaymes is originally from my hometown of Milwaukee, WI. Although I don’t think I ever met Jaymes in person, I found their wig videos during quarantine and couldn’t stop watching. Watching her struggle to style low-quality Party City wigs or just ratty old wigs she found in the literal gutter, all delightful.

Fun fact: I did work with Jaymes’ aunt (this is what’s known as the Smallwaukee effect) and she was super proud of him, it was super heartwarming.

RuPaul’s Drag Race Cocktails

While this series will feature drag performers that weren’t on Drag Race, I found out after I had already started planning this cocktail that Jaymes was going to be on All Stars Season 8 and got super excited for her.

I figured this fun, citrusy cocktail with just a little bit of saltiness fits Jaymes well. Plus, Jaymes was known for her big hair and big bows long before she dropped a dazzling JoJo Siwa inspired look, and we stan.

Bottle Blonde

A bottle blonde is a blonde who obviously dyes their hair. Jaymes is of course a 100% all natural woman so that blonde hair is all theirs. The name is instead inspired by the name of a YouTube series.

I originally imagined this cocktail as a riff on a pineapple margarita with a hint of vanilla. While I still think that would be a fun flavor combination, I couldn’t get it to work. It may have been the tequila base I was using, but I was so frustrated and tequila-drunk after experimenting with it I changed direction.

Eventually, I just decided to get as many citrus flavors in the cocktail as possible, and switching to a citrus-flavored vodka seemed the right move. I chose orange because I also decided to switch from lime to lemon juice as I was sick of lime juice (again, because of all the experimenting with tequila).

The Sazon foam came about because I wanted a pale yellow foam that packed a flavor punch. When I was originally planning on a margarita I figured I’d make the foam slightly salty like you had a salt-rimmed margarita. When I saw Sazon with saffron at the grocery store it sounded perfect.

Putting it all together, I was working on balancing the sweet with the sour in the cocktail with the salty and savory sazon foam. Adding lemon to the foam helped that balance and tie everything together.

The foam itself was a lot of experimentation. I tried different tools, methods, recipes, ingredients, etc. It was a nightmare. Finally I asked my chef friend and she suggested versawhip using xanthan gum as a stablizer. It took me some time after that to nail the method (it really does need to whipped with a whisk attachment on a blender, nothing else worked for me), but the result was a tasty sturdy foam that looked like a pile of blonde locks teased to the heavens.

The edible glitter bows were a whole other journey. I wanted some sort of accessory for her wig, but nothing was cooperating or looked cute enough. Eventually I saw the fruit tape and thought “I could probably get that to form into a bow”. And though it took the non-stick gloves (the heat and oils from my hand kept making the tape *very* sticky) and a quick stay in the freezer (so the bows stayed sturdy enough to place), I was proud with the result.

I then added some shiny edible glitter to the bows, because why not. Make it extra (I have issues with editing my ideas.)

Note: For consistently textured foam you will need to use a scale to weigh the ingredients. I made it several times and while there was some variance it wasn’t a deal breaker for me.

Ingredients:

• 2 large lemons
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 1/2 tbsp sugar
• 1/4 tsp Sazon with Saffron: https://amzn.to/44Xl0NB
• 2 tsp versawhip: https://amzn.to/3MqK48h
• 1/8 tsp xanthan gum: https://amzn.to/41wozHv

Tools:

• Immersion Blender
• Mixer with Whisk Attachment
• Strainer
• Zester
• Juicer

Directions:

• Put water in a large bowl.
• Zest the lemons into the water.
• Add 4oz lemon juice
• Strain the liquid into a narrow tall container.
• Sprinkle Sazon, versawhip, and xanthan gum over the top and blend with the immersion blender until combined. Cover with plastic wrap to prevent splatter.
• Let the mixture rest in the fridge while preparing rest of cocktail.
• When ready, pour into large bowl (preferably a big standing mixer bowl) and use whisk attachment to whip into firm, stable foam (3-5 minutes).
• Can be stored and re-whipped as needed for at least 24 hours.

Ingredients:

• Fruit Tape: https://amzn.to/453dml0
• Edible Glitter: https://amzn.to/3Ia1TpG

Warning: You should only eat glitter that lists its ingredients and is FDA approved for human consumption. The brand I linked had both on the packaging, but I cannot guarantee they are legit because the internet is what it is, so always use caution out there.

Instructions:

• Cut fruit tape into 1.5″ strips (doesn’t have to be exact)
• Using gloves, sprinkle edible glitter on strips and rub to apply evenly.
• Still using gloves (things got *very* sticky using my bare hands), peel off glittered tape and pinch into a bow shape.
• Carefully lay on it’s paper strip and place in freezer for at least a minute to become firm.