blue hawaii

2 oz Pineapple Juice
3/4 oz Lemon Juice
3/4 oz Blue Curaçao (3/4 oz Cointreau + 1 drop blue food coloring)
1/4 oz Simple Syrup
1/2 tsp Cream (1/4 oz Soy Milk)
1 1/2 oz Vodka (Bak Bison Grass)

Shake with crushed ice and pour into a tall glass (snifter).

Two Wednesdays ago, I decided to make the Blue Hawaii recipe that appeared in Beachbum Berry's Remixed. What got me thinking about this drink was receiving a request for one a few weeks back, and my fellow bartender Peaches and I brainstormed on how to make one. Honestly, I had never made one or had one (but have read various recipes) before; since the guest fell in love with them on vacation, we wanted to get it right. Without looking it up, we decided on this recipe minus the dairy. After the shift, Peaches and I messaged back and forth about the drink and the various recipes out there. The recipe that we both honed in on was Beachbum's, and his was a 1980s version of the 1950s drink named after the Elvis movie from earlier in that decade.
Lacking the bottom shelf blue curaçao at home that I had at work, I simulated things with Cointreau and a drop of blue food coloring that had worked in the past. In the glass, the Blue Hawaii pleased the senses with a pineapple and orange aroma. Next, lemon, orange, and a hint of tropical notes on the sip led into pineapple and orange on the swallow. Indeed, the swallow would have been more intriguing if I went with one of the modern variations that split the base spirit with white rum; however, the Blue Hawaii in my mind is a vodka drink just like the Chi Chi. Instead, I compromised with a bison grass-flavored vodka that donated a light cinnamon-like spice to the mix.