Blue Bird
ClassicA jazz-age gin martini turned cool cerulean.
Bracing and aromatic. Juniper and dry vermouth make a lean, martini-like base, while a small measure of blue curaçao rounds the edges with candied orange and a dash of bitters adds spice. Dry, cool, and faintly sweet, with a pale-blue shimmer.
Ingredients
- 2 oz Gin
- 0.5 oz Dry Vermouth
- 0.5 oz Blue Curaçao
- 1 dash Angostura Bitters
- Lemon twist · optional garnish
Method
- 1
Add every ingredient to a mixing glass with ice.
- 2
Stir until well chilled.
- 3
Strain into a chilled coupe.
- 4
Express a lemon twist over the drink and drop it in.
The Story
The Blue Bird appears in the Café Royal Cocktail Book, W. J. Tarling's 1937 compendium of drinks from Britain's finest bartenders. It reads like a Martini given a splash of colour: gin and dry vermouth stirred cold, with just enough blue curaçao to turn the glass a soft cerulean and lend a whisper of orange. Elegant, spirit-forward, and quietly showy — a jazz-age idea of glamour.
Recipe card
The whole recipe in one shareable image.
