Strange Brew (Death & Co. Recipe)

  

I'm really enjoying beer with my cocktails lately. In some cases, as you may have seen previously, I also enjoy beer in my cocktails. The IPA craze has fueled a lot of creative bitter drinks that use beer for more than fizz. 

IPA is loaded with floral and citrus hop characteristics that make them taste almost juicy. This plays great with tropical flavors of falernum as well as herbal notes of gin. As I have done with previous cocktails, I'm using Stone IPA for its west coast style with more piney flavors. This is a good call when considering the pineapple and gin that goes into the Strange Brew. 

The Death & Co. recipe calls for Tanqueray 10, and I will echo that any high-botanical dry gin will hit the spot. Citadelle has 18 botanicals and it is in a luxury class of dry gin equal to Tanqueray 10. Sometimes you have to consider the quality of the gin, especially when making Death & Co. drinks, and even more so when mixing with beer. 

Overall, I loved how dry and bitter the drink was. It was refreshing and strong, like an IPA, but with lots of acidity and spice. If anything, I felt it could use more sugar; my falernum being a little drier than Velvet Falernum, so it did less to add sweetness. But I'm always appreciative when a Tiki (or near-Tiki) cocktail isn't heavy and doesn't shy away from the bitter and tart side.

• 2 oz. dry gin (Citadelle used)
• 3/4 oz. falernum
• 1 oz. pineapple juice
• 1/2 oz. lemon juice
• IPA beer (Stone used)
• 1 mint sprig garnish

Shake all ingredients with only 3 ice cubes, then strain into a pilsner glass filled with crushed ice. Top with IPA and garnish with the mint. 

 

Jambo Jack

 

One of the things that makes tiki cocktails so much fun is trying to identify all the ingredients that make up their exotic flavors. The pineapple stick in the Jambo Jack is a red herring. There's no pineapple juice, so what is that unusual flavor?

Apricot brandy is a sneaky way to surprise guests with something unexpected in a tropical drink. That, and falernum with its overwhelming combo of spices and citrus, help to make the Jambo Jack stand out from other blended drinks. The recipe gives you the option to use orgeat, which will make the cocktail a little creamier and might tame it a bit. But I don't mind using falernum whenever I get the chance.

Dark rum, particularly if you use Jamaican rum, will also shine through with molasses and funky spirits notes. My bottle of Pusser's rum from Guyana will have to do in place of Jamaican. 

• 1 1/2 oz. dark Jamaican rum (Pusser's navy rum used)
• 1/2 oz. curacao (triple sec used)
• 1/2 oz. apricot brandy
• 1 oz. lime juice
• 1/2 oz. orgeat or falernum (homemade falernum used) 
• pineapple stick. 

Combine all liquid ingredients with ice in a blender. Blend until smooth and pour into a chilled Collins glass. Garnish with the pineapple stick. 

Kuai Cup

Not so much a tiki cocktail as a Hawaiian drink, the Kuai Cup really scratches that fresh pineapple itch. I squeezed a real pineapple for this drink and the only sweetness it needs beyond that is La Grande Passion, which I made just for these occasions (i.e. when I can't get passion fruit juice).

La Grande Passion is a passion fruit liqueur. Passion fruit itself is hard to get on the east coast. The fruits don't make it here and not many people know what they are or what to do with them. Put them in your Vitae Platinum rum from Charlottesville!

• 3 oz. light rum (Viate platinum used)
•  4 oz. pineapple juice
• 2 oz. orange juice
• 1/2 oz. passion fruit juice (La Grande Passion used)
• pineapple slice

Combine all ingredients except pineapple slice in a shaker and shake. Strain over fresh ice in a double Old Fashioned glass. Garnish with pineapple (I like the fronds too!)

 

 

Pino Frio

This long frozen drink really screams Caribbean vacation. It is easy to make with a blender and only a little more of a hassle if you are just using crushed ice and crushed pineapple.

I'm using Vitae's Platinum rum again because it is so flavorful, you can drink it by itself. This cocktail really depends on an interesting rum because it doesn't have much else except pineapple going on. And that is to its credit. It is easy to overdo a tropical drink to the point that it ceases to be refreshing in hot weather--which is kinda the point of tropical drinks. Here falernum serves as the sweetener, so you don't get a sugar rush in the summer sun.

• 1 1/2 oz. light rum (Vitae Platinum used)
• 1 oz. pineapple juice
• 1/2 oz. lemon juice
• 2 pineapple slices cubed
• dash falernum (homemade falernum used) 
• mint sprig garnish

Combine pineapple and liquid ingredients in a blender with ice. Blend until smooth and pour into a chilled Collins glass. Garnish with the mint sprig. 

Honolulu Cocktail

The Honolulu Cocktail is pretty much a tiki cocktail. It is complex, tropical and bittersweet. The point, though was to do this in a cocktail glass so that it was fashionable or easy to do in a non-tiki restaurant. I've done it both up and in a tiki mug for this recipe. The difference is really just a matter of ice and garnishes.

• 2 oz. gin (Strange Monkey used)
• 1 oz. pineapple juice
• 1 tsp. lemon  juice
• 1 tsp. lime juice
• 1 tsp. orange juice
• 1/2 tsp. sugar
• dash orange bitters

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. For the tiki version, strain into a tiki mug full of crushed ice. Top with garnishes and flowers.