Blue Healer – Giffard Curaçao Triple Sec

Yes, today I am presenting a Swimming Pool variation to you. You know that usually I am about serious cocktails, with serious spirits like bourbon or Mezcal. However, sometimes you should allow yourself to have a bit of fun. In this case, home-made blue curacao brings a bit of colour to the cocktail with a slushy consistency.

Let us take a quick look at the Triple Sec I used for the blue curacao. The Giffard Premium Curaçao Triple Sec combines eau de vies from sweet and bitter orange peels. Both are macerated separately and also distilled individually. Afterwards the master distiller blends both distillates for the desired flavour profile. On top of that, sugar is added and the liqueur is diluted to an ABV of 40 %.

Oranges, oranges and oranges

You probably would not sip the Giffard Triple Sec neat, but of course it is important to assess the quality of the liqueur. Nevertheless, the Triple Sec delivers a lot of orange flavours. You can taste sweet and bitter orange peels and a hint of white pith. The mouthfeel is silk-like which of course is due to the sugar. You can taste some menthol notes, but all in all the tasting experience is more pleasant than I would have thought. Nevertheless, this liqueur longs to be mixed, so this is exactly what I did.

Yes, there is vodka in the drink

Since the original recipe of the Swimming Pool calls for a split base of vodka and white rum, I stuck by it. Most cocktail nerds will probably think of using vodka in a serious cocktail as an abomination. Yet, the “Blue Bird” does not try to be a serious one and I did use a high-quality Polish vodka distilled from rye. For the “blue curacao” I just added a small pack of natural food colouring (it mainly consists of spirulina extract) to a 200 ml bottle and filled it with the Giffard Curacao Triple Sec. Of course, you could ask if you really need the blue colour? Definitely not, but as already mentioned, changing the colour of the drink a bit is fun! Besides that I kept the recipe simple, besides the pineapple juice and coconut cream I just added Giffard’s Pineapple Liqueur and lime juice to balance out all that sweetness.

*Add one pack of blue natural food colouring to 200 ml of triple sec liqueur – bottle in a clean bottle;

Of course, the “Blue Beard” is not the most complex of concoctions. However, the flavours remind me of a lighter Pina Colada version with some hints of orange curacao. Furthermore, the pineapple liqueur enhances the pineapple flavours without overpowering the other aromas in the drink. The rum is only slightly noticeable which I guess is the point of the whole drink. All in all, this drink is dangerous, because you do not really feel like drinking booze, but instead you think you are sipping a light summer refresher.

*The fact that I received a product reviewed in this article for free, did not – in any way – influence the rating of said product. The liqueurs were provided by Giffard.