I attended an awesome seminar on blue drinks at Tales of the Cocktail this weekend, lead by Sebastian Reaburn, Jacob Briars, and Phil Duff.
Then I wrote a piece about it for Details.com, the website of Details magazine. It's my first story for the website.
I learned a lot more in the seminar than is in the story, which is more of a trend piece.
Fun facts:
- Phil Duff worked at the same bar Tom Cruise trained at to prepare for the movie Cocktail (not at the same time)
- The first known blue drink was a non-alcoholic soda called Soyer's Nectar, from 1851. It was created by Alexis Soyer, the first celebrity chef.
- Blue cocktails were futuristic. "In the 1860s people were excited about the future; now we're merely afraid," said Jacob Briars.
- The first known blue cocktail was from 1908.
- Modern blue cocktails may start with the Blue Hawaiian from 1957 – at the end of the classic rum-heavy tiki drinks at the beginning of the silly ones.
- Blue cocktails are popular in countries that either never had a super serious classic cocktail phase (Asia) or in places and with people that have gotten beyond it, like New Zealand and the top cocktail bars mentioned in the story.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy the story on Details.com!