Monday, April 5, 2010

Blue Lagoon is the proper way to celebrate opening day

Posted by Jonathan Bender on Mon, Apr 5, 2010 at 2:00 PM

click to enlarge You're going to need vodka, blue curacao, and lemonade.
  • You're going to need vodka, blue curacao, and lemonade.

It's difficult to find a royal blue cocktail that I actually want to drink. Blue is kind of a warning color when it comes to cocktails, like yellow and black tend to signal poisonous or dangerous insects in nature. A blue drink likely to be treacly or found in the form of a Jell-O shot.

Still, for opening day, I wanted to find a blue option that I could enjoy in the back yard while listening to the radio broadcast of the first Royals' game. Plus, we look for excuses to drink here at Fat City.

The Obamarita was out, both because it's no longer timely and novelty drinks are novelties for a reason. The Blue Hawaiian with pineapple juice, white rum and coconut liqueur might as well be fraternity house punch. Then I arrived at the Blue Lagoon: blue curacao, vodka and homemade lemonade.

The Blue Lagoon might be the best of a bad blue lot.
  • The Blue Lagoon might be the best of a bad blue lot.

It's easy to make lemonade. You just use equal parts lemon juice and simple syrup (equal parts sugar and water stirred in a pot over low heat until the sugar dissolves), and then add three to four times as much cold water. Or for around $3, you could just buy a carton of Newman's Own Lemonade.

Ccombine the lemonade with vodka and blue curacao. It's a shot of vodka for every half shot of blue curacao. When you're making the first, I'd just add the minimum and top off with lemonade and crushed ice. Stir lightly before tasting and then adjust your ratios. This cocktail is not overly sweet; it's basically a spiked lemonade. 

click to enlarge If you add a bit of soda water (at right), you can punch up the color of the Blue Lagoon.
  • If you add a bit of soda water (at right), you can punch up the color of the Blue Lagoon.
If you want to punch up the color, you can add some soda water or lemon-lime soda. While the drink will look a bit less like cleaning fluid and more like royal blue, the ratios will be slightly off -- the soda water will make it taste unbalanced and the lemon-lime version is as unappealing as a Blue Hawaiian. 

While I wouldn't recommend going out and buying Blue Curacao to make this drink -- you could probably add a few drops of blue food coloring to your vodka tonic for the same effect -- the Blue Lagoon is a drink I'll return to later this summer. Especially considering that I now own a bottle of Blue Curacao and the Royals will certainly drive me to drink.

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