Was your great-grandmother a raging drunk? If you answered yes, she probably slung back plenty of these. Another recipe from Ted Haigh aka Dr. Cocktail, I was intrigued as much by the name as the ingredients. A Blue Paradise sounds something Blanche DuBois would order, or at least Blanche Devereaux. Peacock feathers and Chinese lanterns. The drink itself is very strong and pretty sweet. Honestly I don't really like Dubonnet. By itself it tastes like stale sweet vermouth, and it sort of ruins champagne and gin. Cognac is strong enough to temper the Dubonnet and together they have a relationship similar to the whisky and vermouth in a Manhattan. And then there's the Parfait Amour. If you ever want to get a five year old wasted, whip out a bottle of this stuff. First of all it's purple, like grape soda purple. By itself it tastes like melted orange creamsicle extract and it gives the Blue Paradise a candy aftertaste and cuts through the alcohol of the cognac. And this cocktail is nowhere near blue. It's a coppery orange, the same color as a hoppy IPA. Haigh supposes it might have been named after a 1915 Broadway musical but no one really knows.
Blue Paradise (from Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails)
2 oz. cognac (I used Hennessey)
1 oz. Dubonnet Rouge
4 dashes Parfait Amour (I used a 1/2 tsp... I think that's about right)
Shake.
