A particular rocket holds a special place for us at the boxes and booze household.  Early in his career, my father helped to develop the X-15 rocket plane, the fastest manned aircraft in history.  The X-15 was essentially a cockpit bolted onto a rocket, with wings attached.  Maybe my father would suggest it was a bit more complex than that, but you get the idea.  The rocket would be carried under the wing of another plane and dropped into the atmosphere, so all of its fuel could be used for speed acceleration rather than takeoff.  The pilots would literally be falling to earth as they tried to get the engine started, and then, BAM!  It earned its fame on Oct 3, 1967, when fighter pilot Pete Knight flew the rocket at 4,520 mph (Mach 6.72).  The data gathered from the X-15 test flights helped propel us into manned spaceflight.  An X-15 now hangs in the Smithsonian’s Air and Space Museum, where we proudly stop for family photographs when visiting.

The X-15 Cocktail by J. "Popo" Galsini

As if that wasn’t cool enough, a bartender named J. “Popo” Galsini created a cocktail in honor of the rocket plane during its heyday.  You know your rocket is seriously cool when it’s got its own cocktail.  Galsini worked at a popular tiki bar in Huntington Beach, California, called the “Kona Kai” where engineers who helped designed the rocket would hang out (although according to my father, Laguna beach was even cooler).  The “X-15” cocktail is light on its feet thanks to a gin base, rather than the more typical rum found in tiki drinks. It has an incredible blend of tropical flavors from a combination of passion fruit, almond, lime and ginger flavored syrups, but remains surprisingly light and refreshing. It’s a perfect poolside summer sipper and just might accelerate you into happy space. Read about the next cocktail in this space series to understand why the X-15 was renamed the Saturn cocktail, and buckle up for a stellar variation on the theme. Cheers!

These two will rocket a smile to your face 

X-15 Cocktail by J. “Popo” Galsini circa 1967 (i.e. the “Saturn”)

½ oz fresh lemon juice

½ oz passion fruit syrup

¼ oz falernum

¼ oz orgeat syrup

1¼ oz gin

8 oz (1 cup) crushed ice

Blend all ingredients together until smooth and pour into a favorite glass.  Orchid and tiny umbrella garnish if you want to go interstellar.