Blue Margarita
Looking for a fun twist on a classic cocktail? Pull out a bottle of blue curacao and whip up this Blue Margarita!
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Robbie: “Dad, why is grape candy purple?”
Me: “Uhhh…what do you mean?“
Robbie: “Well, grapes are either green or red, not purple.”
Me: “It’s one of the mysteries of life, son.”
Yes, I recognize that’s a bit of a cop-out to blame it on the ‘mysteries of life,’ but I have no idea why grape-flavored things are always purple. I mean red grapes look kinda purple, right? Black grapes look kinda purple, too. *shrug*
The same thing exists for Blue Raspberry. Who came up with the idea that raspberries should be associated with the color blue!? I mean purple + grapes is somewhat plausible, but blue + raspberries? Not plausible at all. (Although, in a weird twist of science, sometimes raspberries will turn blue-ish in color when you bake with ’em. It has to do with the chemical reaction if you use a baking powder containing aluminum compounds.) Either way, the point remains that raspberries aren’t blue. So what’s up with blue raspberry?
Blue Margarita
I suspect the real reason is the red candy field was a bit crowded thanks to strawberry, watermelon and cherry. Perhaps marketers came up with blue raspberry as a way to differentiate raspberry from the other red candy. Whatever the reason, Blue Raspberry ICEEs, Blue Raspberry Twizzlers and Blue Raspberry Jolly Ranchers are commonplace in stores (at least here in the States). So let’s add another one to the list: Blue Margaritas!
A Blue Margarita (also called a Moonlight Margarita or sometimes an Electric Margarita) is a fun twist on the classic cocktail. Even though it features a bright blue color, this Blue Margarita does not taste like raspberries. Instead, it gets its color from blue curacao, a liqueur made from dried laraha peels. The laraha is a bitter orange fruit that is native to the island of Curaçao. While the pulp of the laraha fruit is quite bitter, the peel features a pleasant citrus flavor.
What does Blue Curacao Taste Like?
Blue curacao by itself has a sweet orange-citrus flavor with a slight bitter finish. The slight bitterness certainly comes from the laraha orange that is used to make blue curacao.
The laraha fruit isn’t blue at all…so why is blue curacao so bright blue? As with the blue raspberry mystery, the answer seems to be that it was a marketing move by the creator of this liqueur.
No matter the color, I can say that this Blue Margarita recipe is a fun and festive cocktail for warm summer days! In keeping with the orange flavor (from both the Triple Sec as well as the blue curacao), an orange wheel is a great garnish here. If you’re so inclined, feel free to throw a lime wedge on there, too. It is a margarita after all! Cheers!
Did you make this Blue Margarita cocktail at home? Leave a comment, or snap a photo and tag me on Instagram (@Spicedblog). I’d love to see your version!
Blue Margarita
Ingredients
- {optional} margarita salt for rim of the glass
- 4 oz. silver tequila
- 2 oz. blue curaçao
- 2 oz. fresh lime juice
- 2 oz. orange liqueur such as triple sec
- lime wedge or orange peel for garnish
Instructions
- {Optional} Spread coarse salt on a plate. Dip rim of 2 margarita glasses in water and then into salt. Set glasses aside. (Note: Feel free to fill glasses with fresh ice if you prefer.)
- Using a cocktail shaker filled with ice, combine tequila, blue curacao, lime juice and triple sec. Shake or stir well and pour into prepared glasses.
- Garnish each cocktail glass with a lime wedge or an orange peel before serving.
Notes
Will be making this soon will use non alcoholic subs as i dont drink alcohol at home how can i make this to mocktail perfect for hot days in Singappre will dm you if i make this and let you know how it goes Thanks Ramya
Oops sorry i meant Singapore not singappre
Made this today twice i used berry 100 plus and ice cream soda heated up this on microwave oven for 50 seconds it is sooooooooo thristy this is on my list every sunday
I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe, Ramya! I’m not familiar with those brands, but it sounds like it turned out really well. 🙂 Cheers!
LOL!!! I wish I had thought of your “cop out” answers when G was little! I used to go down this rabbit trail when G would ask me similar questions to Robbie’s purple vs red/green grape conundrum and then I would end up sounding like a total dweeb! Eventually, I would get called out by my kid!! 🤪
Getting back to this creation- David it is simply GORGEOUS! I have had a teal adult beverage before but never one that was this shade of blue! Perfect way to kick off the weekend!
Oh, Robbie has totally started calling me out on some stuff lately. He’ll dig one level deeper, and my “uhhh, that’s just how it is” doesn’t cut it anymore! Haha.
Thanks so much for the kind words, Shashi! We did have fun mixing (and drinking) this cocktail. It’s a good one for summer weekends!
Truly one of the mysteries of life!!! You got a smart kiddo there! Love this. I wonder what the blue dye does to your insides? I’ll ponder that while I’m sipping on one of these!
Haha – it really is a great mystery! And Robbie is getting to the age where he can call my bluff on stuff, so…yeah… 🙂 Thanks, Mimi!
Just what I need for this weekend! We are having a fun getaway weekend and need some fun new cocktails too! Love that color. 🙂
Ooo…I hope you had a great weekend, Kathy! We had a fun getaway weekend this past weekend, too. 🙂 Thanks so much!
Good points! I am absolutely fine with purple grape candy/desserts. But blue raspberry, on the other hand, causes a little dissonance to me. Indeed, when I heard that name first time ever, I immediately thought a new hybrid berry had been created (I am naive I know!) The second I saw the colour of that food (must have been slushy or other drink) I realized – luckily for humans – it was nothing to deal with real fruit haha! But I must admit blue raspberry is a successful marketing product, and the colour also looks cool. Such a delightful cocktail, too!
Wouldn’t a blue raspberry be such a fun fruit idea!? It could be a cross between blueberries and raspberries. Of course, it would probably end up purple or some muddy shade of brown. Haha. Either way, it does make for a fun cocktail! 🙂 Thanks, Ben!
this sounds like a fantastic drink david. i reckon it would get your head spinning. love the blue! blue raspberries? what’s that about?:)
Yeah, I wish I could tell you what blue raspberries are all about! Who knows? Haha. Either way, it does make for a fun color to this summer cocktail! Thanks, Sherry!
My first thought was that there are so many red flavors, but a limited number of easily-distinguishable shades of red … and so few blue foods would leave food manufacturers with lots of blue options. What I didn’t know is that there used to be a raspberry red, but it was deemed to be carcinogenic!
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/29273/what-heck-blue-raspberry
I also stumbled onto some curacao lore several years ago, that said that curacao is naturally clear, and has a similar some-blue-happened-to-be-available history.
Interesting notes here, Jeff! Carcinogenic raspberry red? I never would have guessed. Good read, my friend.
Wow that colour! I never associated blue with anything food as it is quite rare to see one. Before this the only blue food I knew was this rice in Malaysia coloured with butterfly pea and that Blue Gatorade 🙂
You’re totally right, Raymund – very few foods are blue. (Although you make a good point about butterfly pea…there’s a really fun gin here that is distilled with butterfly pea blossoms.) Either way, this margarita is a fun one to serve on a hot day!