With the typical shade of Blue Curaçao, the Blue Lagoon Cocktail is not only colorful but beautifully tart and easy to make. Initially, it was three, but with our slightly modified formula, you get some extra freshness.
Quick Facts Blue Lagoon Cocktail
- Method: shaken
- Flavor profile: tart, boozy
- How to serve it: over crushed ice
- Glassware: Poco Grande
- Alcohol content: ~ 20% ABV, 26.5 grams of alcohol per serving
Grab your shaker and mix up this fun summer drink for your next party!
Ingredients
- 2 oz Vodka
- 1 oz Blue Curaçao
- 1 oz Simple syrup
- 1.5 oz Freshly squeezed lemon juice
Instructions
- Add all ingredients into a cocktail shaker with plenty of ice.2 oz Vodka, 1 oz Blue Curaçao, 1 oz Simple syrup, 1.5 oz Freshly squeezed lemon juice
- Shake until the drink is well-chilled.
- Fill your glass with crushed ice
- Strain your drink into the ice-filled glass.
- Garnish with an lemon wheel and a Maraschino cherry.
Nutrition
Ingredients
A modern Blue Lagoon is based on vodka and gets its tartness from the combination of fresh citrus juice and Curaçao. To make the drink, you need the following ingredients:
- Blue Curaçao: is a Caribbean liqueur made of laraha fruit peels - a very bitter variety of oranges. The result is comparable to triple sec. If you haven't mixed drinks with the blue ingredient before and are unsure what to buy, try Bols or DeKuyper. They are fine quality and great value for money.
- Vodka: the spirit is perfect for this drink due to its neutral taste. Make sure to use a bottle of decent quality like Absolut, Ketel One, etc.
- Fresh lemon juice: We are replacing the lemonade from the original recipe with lemon juice and simple syrup. To make an actual improvement, it goes without saying that the lemon juice should be freshly squeezed.
- Simple syrup: The syrup brings in the sweetness that would otherwise come from the lemonade. If you don't have a bottle at home, you can easily make your own simple syrup.
Tips for making the Blue Lagoon Cocktail
The classic method of preparing this cocktail is to shake it. Thus, you need a cocktail shaker and a Hawthorne strainer. The ideal glassware for this drink is the so-called Poco Grande or Tulip Glass.
It is best you add all ingredients to your cocktail shaker, close it, then fill your glass with crushed ice. I recommend sticking to that order because it prevents the ice from melting in your glass while you prepare the drink. - With large cubes, that's also advisable, but with crushed ice, it really makes a massive difference.
Variations
The most obvious variation to try is going back to the original version with lemonade. Instead of simple syrup and fresh lemon juice, you use 3 to 4 oz of lemonade. That's also what inventor Andy MacElhone used in his original recipe.
Usually, lemonade is non-carbonated, but if you want to create a fizzy version of the Blue Lagoon Cocktail, you can also opt for a carbonated product.
Others add a splash of lime or raspberry cordial to the mix. However, I find the taste too artificial - the blue color even supports that impression and makes me want to stay away from cordials altogether.
Further, you can also prepare our recipe with fresh lemon and syrup with ice cubes instead of crushed ice, so it does water down more slowly. In that case, use a large coupe glass (8 oz). The Poco Grande will be too large.
Origin of the Blue Lagoon Recipe
It's a common belief that Andrew (Andy) MacElhone, the son of famous bartender Harry MacElhone, invented the Blue Lagoon. He allegedly created the cocktail during the late 1960s to early 1970s in his father's bar in Paris named Harry's New York Bar.
The drink's eye-catching color made it a massive success in the 1970s. It falls in line with other fancy-colored drinks like the Tequila Sunrise and the Grasshopper Cocktail from that era.
Frequently Asked Questions
Even though the bright blue cocktail looks tropical, it is not fruity. In fact, it is surprisingly tangy and citrusy. When prepared with fresh lemon juice and syrup instead of lemonade, the Blue Lagoon tastes even tarter.
From Blue Curaçao. The color is artificial, and you can get Curaçao in other shades. However, for historical reasons, blue is the standard version.
The base spirit is vodka, and you also need Blue Curaçao. That is an orange liqueur that can have between 20 and 40% of alcohol.
On average, the colorful drink has 18 to 22% ABV. -Depending on the brands used and the level of dilution caused by the ice.