What is Blue Curaçao?
Full of zesty flavours and wonderfully refreshing from the very first sip, the Blue Margarita is also sometimes referred to as the Electric Margarita or Moonlight Margarita due to its distinctive colour. This, of course, is the result of the blue curacao (pronounced ‘cure-a-sow’) liqueur, which is one of the main cocktail ingredients. Curaçao is an orange liqueur alternative to Grand Marnier, made from an orange varietal called laraha grown on the Dutch island of Curaçao. The blue curaçao liqueur is dyed blue and gives our Blue Margarita recipe it’s signature blue colour.
How to make a Blue Margarita?
Making our Blue Margarita recipe could not be simpler. The magic happens when all the ingredients are shaken over ice briefly. No fancy bar kit is needed, a mason jar or a cocktail shaker is perfect. Pour it into a chilled coupe or cocktail glass. Dip the cold (damp) glass into a saucer of sea salt. Be fancy, mix in a little lime zest to the salt and only dip one side of the glass.
Blue Margarita variations
If you want to play around with Blue Margarita ingredients to create your own version of this popular drink, there are a few exciting tweaks you can make. Here are a few ideas:
Swap the tequila for vodka. Although a Margarita is traditionally made with tequila, you can also quite easily build this drink on vodka as your spirit base. In fact, if you will be serving drinks to cocktail newbies, a vodka-based drink could very well be more to their liking since the flavour profile is quite neutral.
Try orange or pineapple juice instead of lime. If you want to take the Blue Margarita into a sweeter space, try using orange or pineapple juice instead of lime. It might affect the drink‘s colour, so you may need to call it a Green Margarita rather than a blue, depending on what transpires when you pour the drink for your guests…
Use another orange-flavoured liqueur. If you love the taste of a Blue Margarita but don’t feel too sure about the bright-blue hue, you can use a different other orange-flavoured liqueur like Grand Marnier or triple sec, if you have it to hand. This will also mean that the drink won’t live up to its original name, so you may need to get creative and dream up a new moniker for your signature drink.