Any self respecting shark cocktail knows it needs to be blue. Of course, there is no naturally blue spirit, or even fruit juice, for that matter, that actually exists. Blue cocktails get their distinctively nautical hue from food coloring, and some brilliant marketing attributed to the Dutch distillery Bols from the nineteen twenties and thirties. Blue Curacao is simply blue tinted curacao, an orange flavored spirit which originated on what was originally an island in the Dutch Antilles and is now its own nation. Valencia oranges, brought to Curacao by the Spanish, grew into sour and bitter fruits on this more desert like island, and the groves were left to their own devices over the centuries. In the late eighteen hundreds, a Dutch distillery ultimately thought to turn the dried orange peels into a liqueur, and the rest is history. The Bols company does not claim to have invented the blue version, but did popularize it.

Kitschy blue cocktails had their heyday in the eighties, but like all things vintage, have made a comeback. Bartender John deBary is credited with bringing back the blue in modern times, at the respectable New York speakeasy bar PDT (Please Don’t Tell). deBary created the festive tiki drink for his friend and PDT regular Jacob Briars, and named it after another PDT bartender, Sean Hoard, whose nickname is “Sharky”. The drink is based on butter-infused rum, using a technique known as fat-washing, also invented at PDT, and features a riot of flavors including hazelnut and pineapple. For my offering, I left out the heavy cream from the original, and steered the drink more towards the daiquiri template. Like most high proof, rum heavy tiki drinks, the recipe seems to lean too sweet based on all the juice and sugar present, but this ends up giving the heavy rum the balance it needs and the results will make your head swim. You’re going to need a bigger boat – cheers!

Shark a Daq! (adapted from John deBary)

1 ½ oz butter washed white rum

½ oz overproof rum

1/3 oz orgeat

1/3 oz blue curacao

¾ oz lime

¼ oz pineapple

¼ oz falernum

Shake ingredients with ice and strain into an old fashioned glass over a large clear cube with a lime peel shark trapped inside.

see more:

and don’t forget to: