From inventive juices to layered smoothies, swirling coffees and iced teas, the judges were wowed by the energy and effort that went into the creations. The video productions and photos documenting the making of the drinks, supplementary recipe cards, and even a musical composition to accompany one entry also impressed the judges, as did extraordinary finishing touches such as a set of homemade crocheted coasters and spacecraft.

“What stood out is how all entrants cleverly linked their ingredients to the themes of ESA’s Juice mission to come up with so many different drink recipes,” commented Olivier Witasse, ESA’s Juice project scientist. “With their buried oceans and tantalising potential for life, Jupiter’s icy moons Ganymede, Callisto and Europa are clearly at the heart of many recipes. These moons are central to our Juice mission, symbolising human fascination in understanding if life could ever have existed elsewhere in the Solar System beyond Earth.”

While Juice isn’t equipped to detect life itself, it will find out if the necessary ingredients (water, biologically essential elements, energy and stability) to sustain life are present. In the Space Juice contest this translated into many patient hands recreating the moons’ internal structure with layers of frozen fruits, ice and yoghurts, sparkling oceans and icy shells. Jupiter and its churning, cloudy atmosphere was also uniquely captured in colour-changing drinks and with back-lighting to create special presentation effects.