V, the Cocktail

This cocktail recipe emerged from the 2013 Academy Awards.

My beautiful wife/lab assistant asked for something special to enjoy while watching the red carpet events. I went to work inspired to create something suitable.  Something Hollywood. Something red.

Back then, we were watching True Blood pretty regularly, before the show jumped the shark from being dumb but watchable, to being completely asinine.  Anyhow, I set out to make a cocktail that evoked vampire blood, or "V."

I started with a base of Campari and St. Germaine.  I had enjoyed previous success mixing these with Blood Orange soda, so I juiced a blood orange and added that to the mix.  It looked like blood. I finished it with a dash of lime juice.  The final recipe uses Aperol instead of Campari, since the former is a bit more of a "team player" with the other ingredients.

The result was drinkable and perfectly respectable, but lacked the Hollywood wow factor necessary to accompany the Oscars.  The True Blood setting of Louisiana provided the solution.  A splash of Tabasco transformed the drink from a a sweet and unremarkable tipple to a pretty darn fine red carpet cocktail.  The final product is sweet and alluring, with enough of a salt/spice back to evoke the thrill and danger of drinking forbidden vampire blood.

This is a really good drink.

1 shot Aperol
1 shot St Germaine
1 oz ripe, freshly squeezed blood orange juice (must be dark red; pinkish orange will not do)

1/4 slice of lime
1 fearless splash of Tabasco (V must be dangerous!)

Stir liquids and a few drops of juice from the lime wedge together over ice and strain into a highball glass filled with ice. Garnish with lime zest.