The way I see it, we all fit into one of two categories right now: the people who survived the great war of getting Taylor Swift Eras Tour tickets and the people who didn’t. If you fall into that first category, then this is me trying to be happy for you. You better be singing “The Lucky One” with your whole chest. If you fall into the second, welcome to the club. It’s going to be a cruel summer for us. But at least we have TikTok livestreams to keep us functioning.
If you identify as a Swiftie on SwiftTok, chances are the algorithm has been serving you plenty of content from inside the shows ever since the tour began, in ahem, Erazona, back in mid-March. Generous concertgoers have shared videos of the merch stands, the stadium setups, the many impressive fan-made outfits, and so much more. Another important part of the tour experience that’s been shared? The Taylor-inspired drinks available at the concert venues.
From the looks of it, there are two signature cocktails that appear to be available at many of the shows: Bad Blood Sangria and Lavender Haze Lemonade. The latter, which is a gorgeous shade of purple and named after the first track on Midnights, has been blowing TF up on social media (I mean, just look at the Twitter mentions)—and for good reason. Not only is it freakin’ adorable, but it’s also a yummy, somewhat fruity take on a refreshing gin and tonic. And we found out how to make it.
We got the official recipe for the drink from the official Swift City bar menu (yes, this is all v official!!!) from Empress 1908 Gin, the spirit that gives Lavender Haze Lemonade its majestic color. (In case you were wondering, the purple hue comes from butterfly pea blossom, an indigo-colored flower that gives the gin some herbal flavor.) The recipe is as follows:
Lavender Haze Lemonade
Makes 1 cocktail
- 5 ounces Empress 1908 gin
- 1.5 ounces falernum liqueur
- 1.5 ounces ounce lemon juice
- 3 dashes rhubarb bitters
- Elderflower tonic water
1. Add the gin, falernum, and then lemon juice (in that order) to a shaker.
2. Add the bitters and a handful of ice, and shake roughly for 5 seconds.
3. Pour into a rocks glass, fill the glass with ice, then top it off with tonic.
4. Stir and garnish with a lemon peel after expressing the peel around the rim of your glass.
Yum, amirite!? So fancy! So chic! However, I’m sure many of you looked at that recipe and thought, WTF is falernum? and I don’t even know where to look for rhubarb bitters. And that’s totally fair—my local Trader Joe’s likely doesn’t sell elderflower tonic water either. That’s why I’m coming at you with another recipe for Lavender Haze Lemonade—and this one is a lot simpler. It’s not the *official* recipe that you’d find on tour, but it’s a hell of a lot easier to make at home and it has ingredients that are much less hard to find.
This one is also the brainchild of Empress 1908 Gin, so you can rest assured that it tastes pretty darn similar and is pretty darn delicious. Behold:
Empress Lavender Haze
Makes 1 cocktail
- 2 ounces Empress 1908 gin
- 1 ounce lavender honey syrup
- 2 ounces lemonade
- 1 lavender sprig, for garnish
1. Fill a stemless wine glass with crushed ice.
2. Shake the lemonade and syrup in a shaker with ice, and strain into the glass.
3. Layer the Empress 1908 gin on top and add more crushed ice.
4. Garnish with a lavender sprig.
Now that you’ve got both recipes in your back pocket, it’s up to you to decide which one you’re going to whip up for you and your fellow Swifties (because, obviously, you have no choice but to make it now).
If you’re a proud Eras Tour ticket holder, I think you just found your new pre-show bev. And if you’re not, well, cheers to drowning our sorrows! There’s always the next era….
Hannah Chubb is the associate lifestyle editor at Cosmopolitan, covering all things home, travel, food, health, career, and more. She spends pretty much every hour of every day curating the internet for the best new products, trends, and travel destinations. You can typically find her looking for houses she can’t afford on Zillow or Airbnb, planning her next meal before she gets to the restaurant, or taking all of the Justin Bieber classes over and over and over again on Peloton. Follow her on Instagram.
