We’re a pretty satisfied bunch, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t covetous. Sometimes we see things out there that we just must have. Cool Things We Want is an archive of those earthly desires.

The guys at Sons of Vancouver Distillery in North Van are up to their old tricks again. As we’ve written before, they make great spirits and liqueurs, most notably their blackberry honey-laced Amaretto.

Aside from the great juice these guys are producing, they also have quite the sense of humour. Remember April Fools Day last year? With April 1st approaching co-owners James Laster and Richard Clause had a rather cheeky idea, one that totally “blue” their minds. The two thought of making a craft blue curaçao. Orange curaçao is one of the most called upon liqueurs in classic cocktails, from the Corpse Reviver Number 2 and the Sidecar to the Margarita. Blue curaçao blew up in the 80’s, along with many other cloyingly sweet sub par liqueurs — I’m talking to you, Bols Banana, Melon liqueur, and so on.

There was always something to be said about blue drinks; bad things usually, but a few bartenders liked the tongue-in-cheek, look-what-I-can-do notion of turning good drinks blue. The best one I ever had was the Corpse Reviver Number Blue, which was made for me by a fellow bartender in London.

When making this new bottle the crew at SOV followed the age-old process of making a proper curaçao. They macerated herbs and botanicals along with loads of orange peel in brandy before adding sugar and water to proof. Finally, they tasted the magic. It was so good that when they added blue food colouring to it, it was almost sacrilegious to make it a gag product. So instead of making this an April Fools Day joke, this is more of a nod to a phenomenal new bottling.

I closed my eyes for the first sip so as not to be jaded by the colour. The mouthfeel is silky smooth. The bright dried orange peel jumps out right away, chased by notes of marzipan and orgeat with subtle spice on the finish. I had a big chuckle upon opening my eyes and seeing my ISO glass full of blue magic.

Only 500 bottles were made and they are hitting the shelves at the distillery in April. For $23 each they’re a steal, so get on it.

Mixing with this is a blast. Check out a recipe below

Blue-levardier

30 ml Odd Society Mongrel white whisky
30 ml Cocchi Americano
30 ml SOV Blue Curaçao
3 dashes Angostura Orange bitters

Method – Stir ingredients over ice in a mixing glass for 20 seconds. Strain into an ice filled rocks glass. Garnish with a slice of orange.

Sons Of Vancouver Distillery

Neighbourhood: North Vancouver

1431 Crown St.

778-340-5388

WEBSITE