Highballs and long drinks · Vodka
Pale blue, fizzy and crisp, the Aqua Velva looks exactly like the aftershave it is named after, but smells of lemon and orange peel instead. It is an easy-going highball with a little more backbone than its colour suggests.
1 oz
vodkae.g. Absolut · Smirnoff · Grey Goose · Ketel One · Belvedere
1 oz
London dry gine.g. Tanqueray · Gordon's · Beefeater · Bombay Sapphire · Sipsmith
½ oz
blue curaçaoe.g. Bols · Marie Brizard · Giffard · DeKuyper
¼ oz
lemon juice optional, for a sharper edge (optional)
top up with
lemon-lime soda
Garnish: Lemon wheel and cherry · Ice: Ice cubes
Aqua Velva
Bright bitter orange and lemon-lime sweetness over a clean vodka and juniper base. Light fizz, medium strength, easy to drink.
The Aqua Velva takes its name from a classic American aftershave brand whose Ice Blue variety has the same pale blue colour. Blue curaçao provides that colour in the glass, while vodka and gin give the drink its clean spirit base and lemon-lime soda lengthens it.
Who first mixed it is not documented. The drink gained some fame from David Fincher's 2007 film "Zodiac", in which cartoonist Robert Graysmith orders Aqua Velvas and is teased for his choice. Recipes vary: some add fresh lemon juice or sour mix, others keep it to spirits, curaçao and soda. The version here stays close to that simple core and offers lemon as an option.
It is named after an American aftershave whose Ice Blue version has the same colour as the drink.
David Fincher's "Zodiac" (2007), where Robert Graysmith orders it.
Yes, any clear lemon-lime soda works. Adjust the lemon juice to keep the balance.
The perfect sound
Electric blue and wonderfully kitschy.
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