Cocktail & Other Recipes By Spirit Gin Cocktails

Lady in Blue

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Liquor.com
Liquor.com

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Updated 03/4/22
blue-colored Lady in Blue cocktail in a coupe, garnished with edible flowers
Image:

Seelbach

Gin is the starting point for many great drinks, from well-known classics to modern inventions. Its dry, botanical profile blends seamlessly into both spirit-forward and citrusy cocktails, making it a tried-and-true choice for professional bartenders and enthusiasts. This is evident in everything from the Martini to the White Lady, a 1919 cocktail that was created by legendary barkeep Harry MacElhone. It showcases gin alongside orange liqueur, lemon juice and egg white, and it’s the inspiration for the Lady in Blue, a modern adaptation from Louisville bartender Eron Plevan.

Plevan created the drink while working at the famed Seelbach hotel. His recipe features dry gin, creme de violette, blue curaçao, lemon juice, simple syrup and orange flower water. The blue and aromatic cocktail has a floral flavor tempered by the dry gin and tart lemon, and it receives an extra dose of eye-catching color via an edible flower garnish.

The Lady in Blue skips the White Lady’s egg white, so the former lacks the frothy texture of the latter. It also mixes things up by adding a small measure of creme de violette, a violet liqueur best known for its use in the Aviation. This, plus the orange flower water, is what gives the Lady in Blue its floral, perfumed character.

Blue curaçao is a Caribbean liqueur made using the dried peel of the Laraha citrus fruit, and then dyed blue. It’s poured last into the Lady in Blue, after the cocktail has been shaken and strained, as a tribute to the long-term ghostly guest of the supposedly haunted hotel. You can accomplish this final step by slowly slipping the liqueur down the side of the glass so that it layers on the bottom. But if that’s too much work, you can also add it directly into your shaker with the rest of the ingredients. Either way, you’ll have a fun and tasty drink that looks great in your glass.

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 ounces Beefeater gin

  • 1/4 ounce creme de violette

  • 3/4 ounce lemon juice, freshly squeezed

  • 1/2 ounce simple syrup

  • 3 drops orange flower water

  • Blue curaçao, to layer

  • Garnish: 5 edible flower petals

Steps

  1. Add the gin, creme de violette, lemon juice, simple syrup and orange flower water into a shaker with ice and shake vigorously until well-chilled

  2. Double-strain into a coupe glass.

  3. Pour a slip of blue curaçao down the side of the glass so that it layers on the bottom of the glass.

  4. Garnish with edible flower petals.