Grand Autumn

 

This cocktail is from the St. Germain website, and I've done it before when I had my first bottle of St. Germain many years ago. It was a hit, but I didn't make it to my satisfaction, so now I am attempting it again with the bitters and proper Fever Tree ginger beer. 

This cocktail is such a crowd-pleaser--almost tiki, like the Suffering Bastard. The ginger beer is paired wonderfully with rye and lime juice. (You get the sense that drinkers prefer a richer rye and ginger beer cocktail to a Moscow Mule with boring vodka.) All of this would tend to make an acidic drink that hides the North Fork rye's best qualities, that round oak note and American whiskey flavor. But St. Germain comes to the rescue, adding sweetness to tame the acidity and a floral note that ties everything together.

The Grand Autumn is a cocktail that looks great, smells good and tastes even better. I'm glad I gave it another chance.

• 2 oz. rye (Glacier Distilling Co. North Fork rye used)
• 1 oz. St. Germain or elderflower liqueur
• 1/4 oz. lime juice
• ginger beer (Fever Tree used)
• several dashes Angostura Bitters

Combine rye, St. Germain and lime juice in a shaker with cracked ice. Shake and strain into a chilled Collins glass. Top with ginger beer and float dashes of Angostura on top. 

Pusser's Pain Killer

 

There's not much difference between the standard Pain Killer and the Pusser's variety other than it is a proprietary recipe of the British Navy rum. And when you use Guyana rum like this, it is a major feature of the drink. It tastes more like fresh cane sugar than a heavy molasses rum, for one thing. The other is that a lot of it will have you feeling no pain. 

So adjusting for the difference in rum and pineapple juice, which is higher in this recipe than standard, there's just the question of nutmeg. The recipe doesn't call for it, but I feel it is an integral part of the Pain Killer experience, like salt on a Margarita. So while it is in the picture, because that is the way I like it, you don't need to use it if you don't. 

In fact, don't go out of your way to get nutmeg for this recipe, or spend time looking for the British flag you used to get with every bottle of Pusser's. Mine didn't come with a flag. I just made sure to use red and blue straws to signify the Union Jack. 

• 4 oz. Pusser's British Navy rum
• 4 oz. pineapple juice
  
• 1 oz. orange juice
• 1 oz. coconut cream or syrup
• orange slice as garnish
• tiny British flag (optional, but go for some British symbolism in the garnsih)

Combine all ingredients except orange slice and other garnishes with cracked ice in a shaker or blender. Shake or blend briefly and pour into a chilled Collins glass. Garnish with orange slice and British Flag. (Note: nutmeg is pictured but not required for this recipe.)

 

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. 

Poolabanga Sling

A tropical Sling, very much like the Singapore Sling, is a fizzy and fruity cocktail that is easy to drink on a hot day. The substitution of aged rum and falernum made me want to put it in a tiki mug--and that's a good impulse. Slings aren't especially pretty in clear glasses, the Herring and lime juice tend to make them look a little brown. The glass itself, then becomes the decoration. Just be sure to pick a large glass because a lot of tiki mugs don't have room to top with soda.

• 1 1/2 oz. aged rum (Vitae Barrel Aged used)
• 2 oz. orange juice
• 1/2 oz. lime juice
• 1/2 oz. falernum (homemade used)
• tsp. cherry brandy (Herring used)
• club soda
• mint sprigs

Combine all ingredients except soda and mint in a blender with ice. Flash blend and pour into a highball or tiki mug. Top with soda and garnish with mint.

Sumatra Planter's Punch

Swedish Punsch is a great shorthand for punch flavors all contained in a single bottle. My house-made Swedish Punsch contains several rums, lemons, cloves, and cardamom as well as black tea and demerara syrup.

Therefore, using a Swedish Punsch in a Planter's Punch cuts out a few ingredients you usually have to prepare: namely, lemon juice, and tea. This was a great, tasty punch cocktail that I was able to do without a blender but by shaking crushed ice. Much easier to make on the fly.

• 1 oz. golden rum (Vitae golden rum used)
• 1 oz. Swedish Punsch
• 2 oz. pineapple juice
• 1 oz. lime juice
• 1 tsp. 151-demerara rum

Combine all ingredients except demerara rum with cracked ice in a shaker or blender. Shake or blend and pour into a chilled Old Fashioned Glass (snifter pictured). Float 151-proof rum on top and garnish at will.

Saturn (Smuggler's Cove Recipe)

The Saturn is another modern gin Tiki cocktail from the Smuggler's Cove recipe book. It is densely flavored, something that it's pale, cloudy look doesn't belie. The garnish--two lemon zest rings--seems to connect to the theme, while the flavor is the real attraction.

Falernum, orgeat, and passion fruit syrup team up to make this cocktail a transporting experience. I make my own Falernum, and the passion fruit syrup I used is from cooked down juice. I didn't make the orgeat this time, so Liber & Co. gets credit in the picture.

This is the final cocktail in this series with Roku gin, a very dry and floral gin by Suntory. I really dig the sakura blossom scent that is always noticeable when mixed, and the green tea flavor when you enjoy it neat.

• 3/4 oz. lemon juice
• 1/2 oz. passion fruit syrup
• 1/4 oz. orgeat (Liber & Co. used)
• 1/4 oz. Falernum
• 1 1/4 oz. dry gin (Roku used)
• 2 lemon zests cut into wheels

To make the zests, use a zest tool or a knife to score the peel of a lemon: cut three circles around the middle of the fruit, about 1/2 inch apart. Using the tool handle or the blunt side of the knife, lift the peel off of the fruit being careful not to break the rings. Place the rings inside each other and rest them on the cocktail glass.

Combine all liquid ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass with the lemon zest rings.

Jet Pilot (Smuggler's Cove recipe)

The Jet Pilot sounds a little mundane in the 21st century, But Martin Cate reminds us that in the 1950s, these pilots were modern day explorers who pushed the limits of machine and human ability. This cocktail is also designed to push the limits--coming out of nowhere with a full-force of flavor, and overwhelming the drinker with a powerful belt of strong rums.

For this cocktail I used my own falernum rather than John D. Taylor's. I also made black, overproof rum by adding black strap molasses (right).  

Cinnamon syrup is also a must. I simply made it by adding cinnamon sticks to my usual simple syrup recipe. This goes great with the ginger, allspice, clove, and cardamon I used in the falernum.

One final note: Aguardiente is an anise flavored cane spirit from Columbia, which makes it perfect for a rum cocktail. It is great by itself, it's taste sweeter and more mild than absinthe or Herbstura. I used a little more than a dash because of this. 

• 1/2 oz. lime juice
• 1/2 oz. grapefruit juice
• 1/2 oz. cinnamon syrup
• 1/2 oz. homemade falernum
• 1 oz. black blended rum (homemade black rum used)
• 3/4 oz. blended aged rum (Pusser's Navy Rum used)
• 3/4 oz. black overproof rum (Homemade black rum used)
• 1 dash herbstura (a drizzle of Aguardiente used)

Add all ingredients to a blender with ice and blend. Open strain into a double Old Fashioned glass with a gated finish to catch the large ice chunks. (No garnish stated, but flowers are lovely.)

Josiah's Bay Float (Revisited With Pineapple Shell Cup)

I had previously tackled this cocktail and the Baracuda #1 in the New York Bartender's Guide several years ago. It is amazing, as you'd expect with rum, sparkling wine and Galliano, which gives the drink a smooth and slightly anise spice flavor. It is amazing how suitable Galliano is to tropical cocktails.

This time I wanted to take up the suggestion of making the drink in a pineapple shell. I lucked out when I got a moderately ripe pineapple that was easy to carve up. You basically cut the leafy top off, several inches down at the point where the fruit is widest. The bottom two thirds of the pineapple will make up the container with the drink. Using a sharp knife, cut a circle approximately one inch inside the shell, leaving a good portion of the fruit as the wall of the container. Cut diagonally inward in a circle to remove a cone-shaped segment of the core. The remaining core and fruit can be scooped out with a spoon, but leave more than two inches in the bottom of the container space.

If the pineapple sits a little lopsided, you can even it out by cutting into the base of the fruit, but this only works if you left plenty of room beneath the container space or else you end up with a hole in your container.

Use the pineapple container right away or freeze the pineapple for up to a week to use it when you want to.

Here's the recipe again:

• 1 oz. gold rum
• 1/2 oz. Galliano
• 1 oz. pineapple juice
• 2 tsp. sugar syrup
• 2 tsp. lime juice
• champagne or sparkling wine
• lime slice
• maraschino cherry
• hollowed out pineapple shell (optional)

Combine all ingredients except champagne, lime slice and maraschino cherry in a blender with ice. Blend until smooth and pour into a hollowed out pineapple shell or hurricane glass. Add champagne and stir gently.

Chi-Chi

A fun tropical drink, the Chi-Chi is no more than a rum and pineapple juice mixer. The thing that stands out here is blackberry brandy used as a floater. For some reason you see blackberry brandy in tiki cocktails, used almost exclusively as a floater.

There are really no brandies made from blackberry juice. The flavor come from natural or artificial additives in a brandy or sugary liqueur. You can use these store bought versions; I made my own blackberry brandy by cooking a blackberry syrup and adding it to cognac. It's pretty smooth and fruity, and it is at least made from real stuff.

• 2 oz. light rum
• 1/2 oz. blackberry brandy
• pineapple juice

Pour light rum into a highball glass full of ice (crushed is preferable) and add pineapple juice until it is almost full. Stir lightly and float blackberry brandy on top.