Blue curacao is one of those ingredients you recognize immediately when it’s in a drink. The distinctive blue color is unmistakeable. And so pretty. So of course, I tried making some drinks with it.
First, I tried a blue version of everyone’s favorite Mexican cocktail, the margarita.
Blue Margarita
1.5 oz tequila
1 oz blue curacao
1 oz lime juice
salt
lime slice
The blue curacao added sweetness to this drink, taking the place of triple sec in the original margarita recipe. I’m not a big fan of the salt, to be honest, but that seems to be traditional for a margarita. Personally, I would’ve liked a bit more sweetness, but overall this was actually pretty good. And a nice pretty blue color to boot.
Then I tried a blue version of another favorite, the Kamikaze.
Blue Kamikaze
1 oz vodka
1 oz blue curacao
1 oz lime juice
lime slice
This drink is really straightforward, but I liked the clean, simple taste of it. The lime juice added just enough tartness to balance the sweetness of the blue curacao. It tasted a lot like the regular version, which is a good thing.
This next drink, with no cranberry juice, actually bears little resemblance to the original cosmopolitan, but it shares its name.
Blue Cosmopolitan
2 oz Absolut Ruby Red
1 oz blue curacao
0.5 oz grapefruit juice
0.5 oz simple syrup
maraschino cherry
This drink was too sweet, even for me. The blue curacao and the simple syrup together were just a bit too much. I’d probably reduce the amount of simple syrup next time. It’s also quite strong, with the large proportion of vodka.
Lastly, I tried a rather odd drink with milk.
Blue Sky
1 oz blue curacao
6 oz milk
I was skeptical when I was making this, being mostly milk, but it actually tasted pretty good. I couldn’t really taste the orange flavor through all the milk, but I could definitely taste the sweetness. So it ended up tasting like sweetened milk, which isn’t such a bad thing, but I think this one’s more for looks.