“Link… Wake up, Link, the chosen one… I am Rauru, one of the ancient Sages…” - The Sage of Light Rauru, The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time

Inspiration

Rauru (or Kaepora Gaebora for those who speak owl) is the first of the seven sages who convene at the Temple of Time to help Link best Ganondorf in The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time. To find inspiration for light itself, I reached into my mind to find an association that I have with the brightness of the sun. Something heavenly and soothing. A flavor combination to warm the soul. For me, that couldn’t be represented better than by a finely made piña colada enjoyed in the summer sun. Rauru is a sage though, and sages get spritzes. How to bridge the gap between pineapple coconut and a bubbly summertime beverage? Well, I’ll show ya how I did it!

Workshopping

Infusion of Light

• 18 oz (532 ml) White Rum

• 400g Pineapple Flesh

• 50g Coconut Oil

• Combine together, and then heat until the oil melts.

• Shake the fully liquid mixture, then refrigerate and infuse for 7 days.

• Strain and bottle.

The first of our sage spritzes (a collection of summertime spritz cocktails each inspired by one of the seven sages from The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time) is made with a specially prepared liquid infusion. Like the other drinks, this modified spirit will serve as the base of the spritz built on top of it.

For the infusion of light, I wanted to try a modified take on the flavors normally found in a piña colada, namely pineapple and coconut. I’d always wanted to try fat washing with coconut oil and had yet to give it a try. Naturally, this felt like the time to do it! The process here is rather simple, just combine and let it infuse. Some special consideration was taken to get the coconut oil as fully immersed in the rum base as possible. I heated things until the coconut oil was completely melted and then let things separate in the freezer before straining out seven days later. What resulted was a very smooth rum with subtle hints of pineapple tartness and coco-nuttiness. Not only did this go well in the spritz, but I’d also try this in a daiquiri, a Cuba libre, or a jungle bird.

By the way, I prepared this infusion and the others during their own livestream seven days before the cocktails debuted! (Get it? Seven days, for seven spritzes and for the seven years Link was asleep in the Temple of Time! ~ Anyways, if you want a visual guide, watch us make the Infusion of Light here)

The Spritz of Light

The Infusion of Light wound up having more noticeable flavors of pineapple than it did coconut. To preserve the balance between those two flavors, I opted to add some coconut water to the final recipe. This drink was topped with plain ol’ soda water to keep those colada-esque flavors at the forefront. What resulted was a pleasantly effervescent and smooth spritz with a tropical-adjacent refreshingness. Determining the ratio here was not super difficult, and I settled upon each ingredient in about equal parts.

Flavor Analysis

Mildly coconut with an even milder tang of pineapple. A subtle vegetal sweetness that hangs on the palette as if you had just bitten into fresh coconut.