Blue Lagoon
Impossible blue, sharp lemon and a genuine hit of lime.
Ingredients
Measures below are multiplied for 6 drinks. Unmeasurable amounts such as “a splash” are left as written.
- 720 ml Measuring jug A measuring jug: pour to the 720 ml line. Lemonade - Cloudy lemonade, sharp rather than sugary
- 120 ml Measuring jug A measuring jug: pour to the 120 ml line. Blue curaçao syrup - The non-alcoholic syrup, not the liqueur of the same name
- 90 ml Jigger One large side (50 ml) and one small side (25 ml) of a standard jigger, plus a tablespoon. Lime juice
- 300 ml Measuring jug A measuring jug: pour to the 300 ml line. Soda water
- 6 wheels Lemon (optional)
Measured in Millilitres (UK). Sign in to read these in American measures. Print a kitchen card at this size.
What the jigger, the spoons and the jug hold, in millilitres and in fluid ounces, is on the measures reference.
Quick version
- Pour the syrup over ice, add lemonade and lime, then top with soda.
Method
Pitcher (6 drinks)Pitcher (6 drinks) - about 1.23 l of measured ingredients, before ice and dilution.
Timings and per-glass steps below are written for one drink and are not scaled. A full jug takes longer to chill, so stir or shake until it is properly cold rather than by the clock, and pour over fresh ice one glass at a time.
- Fill a highball glass with ice.
- Pour in the blue curaçao syrup, then the lemonade, pouring down the inside of the glass.
- Add the lime juice and top with soda water, then stir once from the bottom.
- Add a wheel of lemon, and use a straw so the colour does not stain anybody's smile.
Serve it
Volumes in this story are multiplied for the size above, along with the ingredients. Years, ratios and the capacities of glasses and jugs are left as written.
Blue Lagoon
The Blue Lagoon is vodka and blue curaçao lengthened with lemonade, and it exists in the popular imagination mainly as a colour. The colour is the one thing that survives the alcohol being taken out, because blue curaçao syrup - the same electric orange liqueur's flavour without any of its strength - is widely sold for exactly this sort of drink.
Getting it right
Be sure you are buying the syrup rather than the liqueur: they share a name and a colour and not much else, and the bottle will say which it is. Twenty millilitres is enough - more than that and the drink tastes of colouring - and the lime juice is what stops the whole glass being sweet. Everything is better cold, so use plenty of ice and don't stir it more than once.
Tasting notes
Bright, sweet citrus with a hint of orange peel, going down very easily in a way that has been the ruin of many a seaside evening. It looks like a swimming pool and tastes like lemonade, and it is a great deal of fun.