Red Bull Blue

Red Bull Blue is a canned energy drink that many bars stock as a mixer. In the brand's Editions line, the blue can usually means a blueberry flavor. Check the label on your can to confirm. Expect a sweet-tart berry note over the brand's familiar tangy, slightly medicinal-candy base, with fine carbonation that holds up against spirits. Serve it cold, straight from the fridge or over plenty of ice. Pouring it over ice dilutes it slowly and keeps the carbonation lively, while warm can pours go flat and taste syrupy. Because it is already sweetened and flavored, it needs less added sugar than a plain soda. Skip simple syrup, and go easy on liqueurs in the same drink. As a mixer, it suits clear spirits that let the berry flavor come through. Vodka is the standard pairing, usually about one part spirit to three or four parts mixer in a tall glass with a lime wedge. Citrus helps here, because a squeeze of lime or lemon cuts the sweetness and sharpens the fruit. White rum and blanco tequila also work, and a splash of blue curaçao or a lemon-lime soda top-up makes a bright, layered highball. Avoid aged, oak-heavy spirits, which tend to clash with the candied fruit. Use a tall highball or Collins glass, chilled, and fill it with ice before the pour so the drink stays cold to the last sip. Pour the mixer last and stir once, gently, so you don't knock out the bubbles. Poured alone, the can also works over ice in a tumbler. For food, salty snacks such as pretzels, chips, or popcorn balance the sweetness well.