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Mind Bending Orange Whiskey Sour that’s Blue!

5 from 2 votes

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Last Updated on November 29, 2021 by Heather Wibbels

blue whiskey sour cocktail
Blue Mood Orange Whiskey Sour

Here’s to vibrant colored cocktails like the Blue Mood Orange Whiskey Sour! It’s so rare a whiskey drink calls for a curacao and well, I have blue curacao so I want to pay homage to the fact that being in quarantine has us all a little blue.

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For this whiskey sour, I use a little lemon and some blue curacao to punch up the flavor and color of a typical whiskey sour.

As the 3rd installment of our quarantine whiskey sours, If you’d like to see the previous sours, we have the blackberry sunset sour and the whiskey tiki sour from earlier this week.

What’s in the Color of a Drink?

blue whiskey sour cocktail
Blue Mood Orange Whiskey Sour

Whiskey drinks general don’t have a lot of color variation. There’s amber to honey and everything in between. Sometimes we get a little sassy and use pomegranate, cherry or blackberry to dial in magenta tones, but color is important in the evaluation of whiskey – especially bourbon.

(Try handing a 20 year old scotch to a bourbon drinker when it doesn’t have coloring added and we’ll look askance at you and that 20 year statement).

The color of your spirit is important in whiskey, but as it’s generally a brown or amber color, light variations in hue and shade of added ingredients are often not strong enough to affect the overall color. Something with Peychaud’s bitters in it, like a Sazerac, will become pink, but it’s hard to get greens and blues that still keep whiskey in the forefront in the palate.

I wanted to play with color while keeping the sour balance measured, so I’m adding just that little bit of blue curacao and leaving most of the rest of the cocktail recipe the same as my standard sour.

For today,  #ThursdayThursday if I have my days right, I wanted to claim that sadness that so many of us are feeling at being unemployed, stuck at home, away from friends and family. The drink has a brightness to it with the addition of the blue curacao and the floral “Bitterless Marriage” bitters in taste, but I’m a little blue, just like this cocktail.

blue whiskey sour cocktail
Blue Mood Orange Whiskey Sour

When I sip this cocktail, while it is blue, I also realize that there’s a sweetness to slowing life down and savoring the sweet you can find with the sour as you take your time. We’ve got time right now, so let’s take it as we can and be gentle with ourselves.

blue whiskey sour cocktail

Blue Mood Orange Sour

Picture of Heather Wibbels, Cocktail Contessa, pouring a cocktailHeather Wibbels
A luscious orange/lemon whiskey drink with lemon and blue curacao to counteract the blue moods we’ve been experiencing lately with our quarantine status. Pair this up with a slice of lemon pound cake for a flavor explosion.
5 from 2 votes
Course Drinks
Cuisine Bourbon Cocktail
Servings 1

Ingredients
  

  • 1.5 oz whiskey
  • ½ oz blue curacao
  • ¾ oz simple syrup
  • ¾ oz lemon juice
  • ¾ oz egg white or aquafaba optional
  • 5 drops Crude bitters “Bitterless Marriage”
  • Garnish: lemon wheel and excellent cherry

Instructions
 

  • Combine all ingredients except garnish in a shaking tin and add a single cube of ice. Shake well for 30 seconds. Add a large scoop of ice to the cocktail and shake for another 30 to 60 seconds. Double strain into a coupe glass (or on the rocks if you’re omitting the egg white/aquafaba) and garnish with a lemon slice and cherry.
Keyword blue curacao, orange, Whiskey Sour
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
By on April 2nd, 2020
Picture of Heather Wibbels, Cocktail Contessa, pouring a cocktail

About Heather Wibbels

Heather Wibbels is a whiskey and cocktail author (Executive Bourbon Steward, no less) with a passion for cocktails. She loves researching and designing cocktails, drinking cocktails, and teaching cocktails. Mostly whiskey cocktails, given her Kentucky location.

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