Dutch Blood and Tru Blood. Photo: Sara Bonisteel

What do you do when you get a bottle of Tru Blood -- the real blood-orange soda inspired by the synthetic blood vampires like Bill Compton drink on HBO's "True Blood"?

If you're me, you head to a bar with a sinister name in an isolated part of town and see what a brilliant bartender can do.

Dutch Kills bartender Giuseppe Gonzalez happens to be a fan of the Southern Gothic tale and was downright delighted to play around with this new sweet soda, which has a faint, bitter caffeine aftertaste that goes well with bitters but can be problematic with other players on the liquor cabinet shelf.

Get the Dutch Blood recipe and more after the jump.

And so, in the daylight, I travel to a deserted stretch of Jackson Avenue in Long Island City, where I find Giuseppe thrashing cocktail shakers with a rhythm reminiscent of an English rider galloping through a rolling hillside.

Giuseppe Gonzalez at work. Photo: Sara Bonisteel

We are both eager to try the Tru Blood ($16 for four bottles online).

At first taste, it is cloyingly sweet, like Lolita's lollipop (were it a blood-orange flavored one). And it doesn't have the zing of a Tara Thornton retort. Tru Blood's carbonated charge is much weaker than say a seltzer water.

But its weakness is caffeine -- 50 mg worth -- which we expect is due to the manufacturer's hopes that it will revive you in the same way the fictional Tru Blood revives the discerning vampire who eschews human blood.

Tru Blood in its natural state. Photo: Sara Bonisteel

"If you're going on flavor alone, you might want Campari -- something bitter," Giuseppe says after downing his first virgin sip. "But because you're dealing with New Orleans, the cocktail capital of the world, you might want to go with the classics ... we're going to do a bunch of New Orleans drinks."

Ramos Gin Fizz. Photo: Sara Bonisteel

The first is one that the Queen of Louisiana probably had at the turn of the last century in a swank parlor near the Red Light District of New Orleans. Perhaps she even fed on one of the eight bartenders required to shake the drink.

The Ramos Gin Fizz

"Whether or not the bartender would make it at Fangtasia is another story," Giuseppe says. "It takes about 10 to 15 minutes to make."

Ramos Gin Fizz (Vampire Style)
1 1/2 ounce gin
1/2 ounce lime juice
1/2 ounce lemon juice
4 sugarcubes
4 dashes orange blossom water
1 ounce heavy cream
1 egg white

Place those ingredients in a cocktail shaker and thrash vigorously for about 10 minutes to emulsify the mixture. Let it settle in a highball glass then add Tru Blood. The cream should rise to the top.

Drizzle some Peychaud's on top for a trail of faux blood.

After the experimentation with the first drink, which had a faint mediciney taste, Giuseppe decides to take a classy path with a much loved treat.

French 75. Photo: Sara Bonisteel

The French 75

But unlike the classic, which requires a topping of Champagne, Giuseppe decides to cut it with some more Tru Blood.

French 75 (Vampire Style)
1 part gin
1/2 lemon
1/2 sugar
2 dashes Peychaud's bitters

Mix and add to a Champagne flute. Top with equal parts Champagne and Tru Blood.

This second drink seems to be a winner. As it's passed down the bar, Giuseppe says with a smile: "That is spot on actually."

Or to put it in terms the 1,000-year-old vampire Eric Northman might appreciate: "That does not 'suck,' as they say."

Both experiments yield palatable cocktails, but the Tru Blood's lingering caffeine aftertaste still doesn't bring us to a realm of drop-dead delish.

So Giuseppe decides to pull out the one spirit that can match Tru Blood bite for bite -- absinthe.

"It don't play nice with anything," he says. "When I say 'don't play nice,' I mean we add it in dashes."

Giuseppe drinks from the cup of victory. Photo: Sara Bonisteel

And so the Dutch Blood is born.

Just add 1 1/4 ounce of absinthe to an absinthe cup and top with Tru Blood. Just the right bite to mask the caffeine that powers you through until the first light of dawn.