A Philly classic cocktail relaunched for 2024. Philly, we do NOT have a problem.
The Astronaut, introduced in 1995 as the Buzz Aldrin, has a new sparkle from "stratospheric sherbet."
On the eve of its 20th anniversary, Continental Mid-town in Center City has received a refresh. The new menu includes vodka chicken Parm, pastrami fried rice, chickpea fries, and farro risotto. The cocktail list includes nine new martinis. Six other drinks were reformulated.
Even the Astronaut — arguably the most famous Philadelphia-concocted cocktail since fish-house punch wowed colonial dignitaries in the 1740s — got a reboot under South Florida-based consultant Gui Jaroschy of Unfiltered Hospitality.
The Astronaut?
It was summer 1995. Second and Market Streets. Stephen Starr was working on the opening cocktail list for the original version of the Continental, the bar that rode the ’90s retro-martini wave to launch his restaurant empire.
Bold-looking drinks were in. The sweeter, the better.
Someone suggested putting Tang around the rim of a martini glass and mixing orange drink powder into a combo of Triple Sec and peach vodka.
What do we call it?
“How about the Buzz Aldrin?” someone asked.
The room fell silent at the wordplay: The space program had made Tang a household name three decades before, and Aldrin was the second man to walk on the moon. And you get a buzz from a cocktail.
The Continental sold thousands of Buzz Aldrins until several years later, when Starr received a demand letter from a lawyer for the astronaut, who had gone public with his struggles with depression and alcoholism. Starr changed the name to the Astronaut. By then, younger customers were requesting a “Buzz Lightyear,” anyway.
» READ MORE: Memories of the Continental
Though the original Continental closed in 2020, the Astronaut lived on at the Continental Mid-town, which opened in 2004 at 18th and Chestnut Streets, near Rittenhouse Square.
We have liftoff
In its new formula, the Astronaut sparkles with the addition of something that Jaroschy calls “stratospheric sherbet,” a syrup made of Tang, fresh orange juice, orange zest, and pearlescent edible glitter. The sherbet is combined with peach vodka, Triple Sec, and lemon citrate (milder than fresh lemon juice), and poured into a martini glass rimmed with Tang, gold glitter, and, for a kick, Sichuan pepper.
“The goal was to bring back the relevancy of the martini, and that era of drinking, to connect with the modern audience,” Jaroschy said. “It was actually a little more daunting than I thought. Those cocktails, like the Astronaut, are so beloved.”
On his first visit to Continental Mid-town, he tried an Astronaut as well as a frozen version.
“I was like, ‘Man, this is one of those modern classics — delicious,’” he said. “I’m supposed to be taking sips and I just drank both of them entirely.”
The new Astronaut looks great. You don’t taste the glitter, of course. The blast of orange hits the tongue as the sweetness masks the alcohol, just as it did in 1995.