Adding a vibrant purple color to drinks can make them more visually appealing and exciting to consume. While there are artificial purple drink mixes and syrups available, you can also use natural ingredients to safely dye drinks a rich, deep purple hue. With the right ingredients and techniques, it’s easy to turn ordinary drinks into fun, purple-colored beverages.
What ingredients can be used to dye drinks purple?
There are several natural options for dying drinks purple:
- Purple sweet potatoes – Boil sweet potato peels to extract a natural purple coloring.
- Blueberries – Blueberries contain anthocyanins that turn drinks reddish-purple.
- Blackberries – Muddle blackberries or use blackberry juice to tint drinks.
- Purple carrots – Grate purple carrots or use the juice to dye drinks.
- Purple cabbage – Steep purple cabbage leaves in hot water to extract a purple coloring.
- Grapes – Both red and purple grapes can be juiced or boiled to produce a purple tint.
- Hibiscus flowers – Brew hibiscus tea and mix it into drinks for a bold reddish-purple color.
- Purple basil – Infuse drinks with purple basil leaves or use the juice for coloring.
- Elderberries – Elderberry juice has a deep purple hue perfect for drinks.
- Purple yam – Use the juice or create a puree from purple yams to dye drinks.
For best results, choose very ripe, deeply pigmented produce and intensely purple herbs and flowers. The more vivid the natural ingredient, the more vibrant the final colored drink will be.
What is the safest purple food dye option?
The most natural and safest option for dying drinks purple is using actual purple fruits, vegetables, herbs and flowers. Produce like blackberries, purple cabbage, elderberries, purple basil and hibiscus contain beneficial antioxidants and polyphenols that may even boost the nutrition of your drinks.
Steeping and juicing real purple foods to extract their vibrant pigments avoids the need for artificial dyes. Reputable natural brands also sell fruit and vegetable powders as coloring, like beet and purple carrot powders. Always read ingredient labels and avoid any synthetic dye ingredients.
When using natural purple food sources, just be aware of potential allergies. Some fruits in the blackberry family contain salicylates. Hibiscus may cause low blood pressure. But overall, whole purple plant ingredients are safe for most people when consumed in normal food amounts.
What drinks work best for dying purple?
The most versatile drinks for dying purple are:
- Water – Plain water effortlessly takes on the color of any purple ingredient you infuse it with.
- Tea – Both hot and iced tea can be tinted purple with herbs like hibiscus.
- Lemonade – The citrus tang of lemonade complements subtle fruity purple tones.
- Coconut water – Coconut water’s light flavor lets the purple hue shine.
- Vodka – Infuse vodka with blueberries, purple basil or cabbage to create stunning purple cocktails.
- Gin – Gin’s herbal qualities work with herbs like purple basil or flowers like violets.
- Wine – For stunning purple wine, infuse with blueberries or elderberries.
- Cider – Purple cabbage adds color to any cider, especially apple.
- Kombucha – Use purple produce like grapes or blueberries when brewing purple kombucha.
- Smoothies – Berries, purple carrots, sweet potatoes, or purple yams dye smoothies.
Drinks with very strong existing colors like coffee, colas, and juices will be harder to dye a vivid purple. But starting with a neutral liquid base allows the purple coloring to show through prominently.
How do you extract and infuse natural purple dye into drinks?
Here are some simple methods for getting vibrant purple color into your drinks:
Juicing
Juice purple fruits, vegetables, and herbs using a juicer. Good options are blueberries, blackberries, purple grapes, purple carrots, elderberries, and purple basil. Mix the juice with neutral liquids like water, vodka, or coconut water.
Blending
In a blender, puree purple produce into smoothies, slushies, ice pops, or with milk for purple milkshakes. Great blended purple options include blueberries, purple sweet potatoes, purple cabbage, and purple yams.
Steeping
Steep herbs like hibiscus flowers or purple basil leaves in hot water to infuse the liquid with purple tones. Other flowers like violets can also be steeped. Let cool, then mix the purple herbal tea into drinks.
Boiling
Boil down produce like blackberries, purple grapes, or sliced purple cabbage in water. Once cooled, use the strained purple liquid to tint drinks. You can also boil purple vegetable peels like sweet potatoes or purple carrots to extract color.
Muddling
Lightly muddle purple berries like blueberries or blackberries into glasses of water, lemonade, vodka, or gin to gently release their purple pigments. The muddled fruit can be strained out or left in for texture.
How much purple coloring do you need to dye drinks?
As a general guideline, use:
- 1 cup of juice or puree to tint 1 quart (4 cups) of liquid purple
- 1/4 cup infused tea, boiled extract, or muddled berries per serving
- 1-2 tablespoons of purple carrot, sweet potato, or other vegetable powder per serving
But adjust amounts as needed. Light, delicate drinks like coconut water or light beers may only need a small amount of purple coloring for hue. Bolder drinks like smoothies, dark mixed drinks, or milky shakes may handle or require more purple color for vibrancy.
Getting the purple color evenly distributed without overdoing it can take some trial and error. Start with small amounts of your purple ingredient, taste, and slowly increase as needed to achieve the perfect purple balance.
What are fun purple drink ideas?
Here are unique ways to use natural purple dyes to create colorful beverages:
Purple People Eater Punch – Sweeten grape juice with simple syrup. Mix with purple cabbage extract, pineapple juice, and lemon slices. Float orange slices for garnish.
Purple Cow – Blend milk, vanilla yogurt, and blueberries for a fun purple twist on a classic milkshake.
Purple Haze Iced Tea – Brew hibiscus tea, cool, and mix with lemonade. Sweeten with agave or honey and add fresh mint.
Elderflower Fizz – Mix elderberry syrup with sparkling water over ice. Garnish with fresh blackberries and mint.
Purple Basil Lemonade – Muddle purple basil leaves in lemonade and strain into a glass filled with ice.
Fruity Purple Slushie – Blend blueberries, blackberries, banana, Greek yogurt, milk, and honey or agave.
Flower Power Wine Spritzer – Mix chilled purple rose wine with soda water and floated orange slices.
Purple Grape Crush Cocktail – Muddle purple grapes into vodka with lemon juice and agave nectar. Shake over ice.
Violet Vodka Soda – Infuse vodka with violets. Mix with soda water and serve over ice with an orange slice.
Black Plum Sake-Tini – Shake together 2 parts sake and 1 part plum puree with ice. Strain into a martini glass.
How do you keep natural purple dye stable in drinks?
Natural purple dyes can sometimes change color intensity or fade with time and exposure. To help the purple hue last:
- Use vibrant, deeply pigmented produce – the riper and darker purple, the more stable the color.
- Refrigerate – store cooled in airtight containers out of light to prevent fading.
- Minimize light exposure – serve in opaque cups or flasks if possible.
- Reduce oxygen – purging opened bottles with inert gas helps slow fading.
- Balance pH – acids help stabilize anthocyanin pigments. Adding citrus can help.
- Work quickly – long steep times and excessive heating can degrade pigments.
- Consume soon – for the freshest, most vivid purple hues, drink soon after preparation.
With some trial and error, you’ll get a feel for which purple fruits, veggies, and herbs provide the boldest, most stable natural dyes. Enjoy the fun of creating vibrant purple drinks that are both safe and naturally colorful.
What are some creative ways to garnish purple drinks?
Vibrant purple drinks deserve equally vibrant garnishes. Here are some fun ways to embellish your purple potables:
- Fresh berries – dot drinks with raspberries, blackberries, or boysenberries
- Edible flowers – top with pansies, violets, lavender blooms, or borage
- Citrus wheels – thin slices of lime, lemon, or orange
- Herbs – float fresh mint, basil, sage leaves, or rosemary
- Fruit on skewers – blackberries, kiwi, grapes, starfruit, or melons
- Candy – accent with purple-colored hard candies or rock candy sticks
- Whipped cream – pipe fluffy cream and dust with cocoa or edible glitter
- Sugar rim – coat the glass rim with grape Kool-aid or purple sugar
- Paper parasols – mini decorative umbrellas in complementary colors
Choose garnishes that enhance the main purple ingredient in your drinks. For example, mint pairs perfectly with blackberry or purple basil drinks. Or add pansies to elderflower and violet-infused purple cocktails. Let your creativity run wild!
What should you avoid when dying drinks purple?
While using natural plant-based purple dyes is safe for most people, there are some precautions to keep in mind:
- Avoid artificial dyes – synthetic purple food dyes can provoke allergic reactions.
- Don’t overdo berries – some berries contain salicylates problematic for those sensitive.
- Use hibiscus cautiously – may lower blood pressure in excess.
- Mind grape allergy – purple grapes can cause sensitivity issues.
- No purple potato eyes – can be high in solanine, so avoid.
- Don’t boil cabbage too long – can lead to a strong sulfur smell.
- Avoid crowding produce when boiling – causes loss of purple hue.
When using real, natural whole produce, herbs, and flowers to dye drinks purple, toxicity is very unlikely. Just consume normal serving sizes, watch for possible allergies, and enjoy the vibrant colors!
Conclusion
Dying drinks fun colors like purple is easy and safe with natural plant-based ingredients. The purple pigments of blueberries, blackberries, purple carrots, cabbage, sweet potatoes, hibiscus, and other colorful produce are perfect for infusing beverages.
Simply juice, blend, boil, steep, or muddle your chosen vibrant purple fruit, vegetable, or flower. Start with small amounts and mix into neutral liquids like water, vodka, wine, or soda water. Have fun testing intensities and combining purple ingredients to create the perfect artisanal purple potion.
With some trial and error, you’ll be an expert at concocting crowd-pleasing purple drinks garnished to impress. Your homemade purple creations will be far safer, healthier, and more natural than artificial dye alternatives. Just be creative and let your inner mad scientist out to play!