Vodka · Highball · Sweet
Blue Lagoon Recipe
Electric-blue, citrus-sweet, and built in under a minute — the easiest showstopper in the vodka lineup. A three-ingredient highball that trades subtlety for spectacle: sweet, lemony, and impossible to miss at a summer party or poolside bar cart.
- Prep Time
- 1 min
- Method
- Stirred
- Glass
- Hurricane glass
- Strength
- Light
Every recipe on Sipped Right is tested for taste and balance before it's published.
Last updated October 20, 2026
About the Blue Lagoon
The Blue Lagoon was created in the late 1960s or early 1970s by Andy MacElhone, son of Harry MacElhone, at Harry's New York Bar in Paris, shortly after blue curaçao reached European bars. Its neon-blue color made it an instant novelty drink on its own merits — the unrelated 1980 film of the same name arrived a decade later and only added to the name recognition.
The Blue Lagoon's 1:1:4 ratio of vodka to blue curaçao to lemonade keeps the sweetness of the curaçao and lemonade in balance while the vodka stays neutral in the background — heavier on mixer than a straight vodka-and-lemonade highball, but still light enough to sip long. It's essentially a Vodka Collins recolored and resweetened with curaçao in place of soda and sugar, and it sits close in style to the rum-based Blue Hawaiian.
Ingredients
- Vodka1 oz
- Blue Curaçao1 oz
- Lemonade4 oz
Method
- Fill a hurricane glass with ice.
- Measure and pour the vodka and blue curaçao into the glass.
- Top with lemonade.
- Stir briefly to combine.
- Cut a fresh lemon wheel for garnish.
- Place the lemon wheel on the rim of the glass and drop in a maraschino cherry.
Glass & Garnish
Hurricane glass, over ice. Garnish with an orange slice and a maraschino cherry.
Notes
For the brightest color, use a good-quality blue curaçao — cheaper brands can look muddy rather than electric blue. Use fresh, well-chilled lemonade rather than a soda-fountain mix for the cleanest citrus flavor, and don't over-dilute with extra ice or the color and sweetness both flatten fast.
Tools Used
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FAQ
- Can I batch a Blue Lagoon for a party?
- Yes — multiply the 1:1:4 ratio of vodka, blue curaçao and lemonade by your guest count and pre-mix everything except ice in a pitcher or dispenser. Keep it chilled and pour over fresh ice per glass rather than icing the whole batch, since melting ice flattens the color and flavor faster than the drink gets finished.
- What can I use instead of lemonade?
- Fresh lemon juice topped with soda water is the closest substitute, giving a tarter, less sweet result you can adjust with a little simple syrup to taste. Lemon-lime soda like Sprite or 7-Up also works well and mimics the citrus-soda profile some bars use, though it skews sweeter than a lemon-juice-and-soda build.
- Does the vodka brand matter in a Blue Lagoon?
- Not much — the blue curaçao and lemonade dominate the flavor, so a clean, mid-shelf vodka is all you need and there's little reason to spend up on a premium bottle here. Do avoid heavily flavored vodkas, since they compete with the curaçao's orange-peel sweetness instead of staying neutral in the background.
- What are some popular variations of the Blue Lagoon?
- The Blue Hawaiian swaps vodka for rum and adds pineapple juice and cream of coconut for a tropical, tiki-bar spin. A Blue Lagoon mocktail drops the vodka for extra lemonade or soda water, and some bars add a splash of lime juice alongside the classic three ingredients for extra tartness.
- What's the traditional garnish for a Blue Lagoon?
- A lemon wheel perched on the rim and a maraschino cherry dropped into the glass are the classic finish, echoing the drink's citrus-and-sweet character. An orange wheel is a common alternative in some bar recipes, since it plays up the curaçao's orange-peel base rather than the lemonade's citrus note.
- Who invented the Blue Lagoon cocktail?
- Andy MacElhone, son of Harry MacElhone, is credited with creating it at Harry's New York Bar in Paris in the late 1960s or early 1970s, shortly after blue curaçao reached European bars. The 1980 film of the same name boosted its popularity later on, but the cocktail predates it by roughly a decade.
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