Golfe Juan

 

I'm breaking out the French-themed drinks, even though not all ingredients are French in and of themselves. Golfe-Juan is a seaside resort on France's Côte d'Azur. The place has an air of tropical paradise to it with all the trappings of French tourist sites. The cocktail blends these two attitudes perfectly with European liqueurs of the golden age of cocktails and pineapple and lemon juice.

Altogether, you can possibly have as many as three European nationalities represented in one touristy cocktail: French brandy, Italian maraschino liqueur, and German kirschwasser. Don't use an American sweet kirsch. It tastes like cherry candy and you already have maraschino for that. A true kirsch, however will easily float on this drink, kicking up the alcoholic nose and giving the whole drink the boozy beachside cafe feel you are looking for.

• 1 1/2 oz. brandy (Korbel used but use cognac to make it more French)
• 1/2 oz. maraschino liqueur like Luxardo
• 1 oz. pineapple juice
• 1/2 oz. lemon juice
• 1 tsp. kirsch float (Kammer Kirsch used)

Combine all ingredients except for kirsch in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Use a bar spoon to float the kirsch on top of the drink.

J.P.'s Punch

 

J.P. must have been a bartender who worked at a beach bar. Anyway, he was good with a blender. I can imagine bar guests watching him slice a banana and tossing the pieces into the pitcher with all the spirits and juices that he hardly takes time to measure before blending up several of these cocktails at once. 

This might actually be my first single serving blended punch featured on this blog. I'm not a huge fan of beach hut cocktails and blenders in general. They water down the flavor and make a lot of the measurements of liquor imprecise as you struggle to fit all of the drink into a single glass. But for a punch, this isn't bad. Double or triple the recipe for friends and you'll be a hit just like J.P.

• 1 oz. light rum (Rhum Barbancourt used)
• 1 oz. dark rum (Pusser's navy rum used)
• 2 oz. orange juice
• 1 oz. pineapple juice
• 1/2 oz. lime juice
• 1/2 sliced banana
• maraschino cherry garnish
  

Combine all liquid ingredients in a blender with ice. Blend until smooth and pour into a chilled double Old Fashioned glass. Garnish with the cherry.

Undertow

 

I really like the combination of flavors in this crushed ice cocktail. There's gin, there's rich rum and nutty creme de noyaux. The fruit flavors are a mix of classic lime juice like a Daiquiri and gummy tasting guava syrup. Undertow is the dangerous current beneath the surface of the water that swimmers must be wary of. You see it in shallows alongside reefs or in rivers beneath a waterfall. Undertow will take you down. 

In this cocktail, the danger beneath the very calm and relaxing surface of tropical flavors is the one-two punch of rum and gin. I used British-themed spirits to represent both in this cocktail. I only wish I had a little British flag as a garnish.

• 1 1/2 oz. gold Jamaican rum (Pusser's used)
• 1 1/2 oz. gin (Bulldog used)
• 1/2 oz. creme de noyaux (Tempus Fugit used)
• 1 oz. lime juice
• 1/2 oz. guava or passion fruit syrup (guava used)
• lime twist

Combine all liquid ingredients in a blender with ice. Blend briefly and pour into a chilled Old Fashioned glass. Twist lime peel over the drink and drop it in the glass. 

Mandarin Punch

 

This cocktail is pleasingly rich and fruity with vanilla and caramel notes from the barrel aged rum and the flavored cognac in Mandarine Napoleon. In case you are wondering, this Mandarine Napoleon is my homemade knock off that tastes pretty good. I appreciate how mandarin-infused cognac really can alter the flavor of the fruit juices in this drink--you think that there is some fresh mandarin in there somewhere.

As always, I used fresh squeezed juices and saved some for the garnishes.

• 1 1/2 oz. dark Jamaican rum (Pusser's used)
• 1/2 (-1 oz. mandarin liqueur, maybe you have the actual Mandarine Napoleon)
• 2 oz. orange juice
• 2 oz. pineapple juice
• orange slice
• maraschino cherry

Combine juices and liquors in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with the fruit pieces. 

Pensacola

 Aah, the jungles of Florida. Wait! Pensacola is a populous beach town! But those beaches...

Aside from my confusion, the Penacola is actually a pretty straightforward beach drink. I'm going to say beach drink rather than tiki, because it relies more on a handful of fruit juices and a splash of a commercial passion fruit liqueur that only existed for two years back in the early '90s.

I still think of the '90s as Florida's heyday. Like that was the hot spot to vacation for like...everyone. There was the South Beach diet, snowbirds, botched elections. Anyway. this cocktail is as pink as a flamingo, and pretty tart. I'd say the La Grande Passion is not optional, but since it is hard to come by, you might do just as well with apricot brandy or maybe a pineapple liqueur. Don't pass this one up just because it looks basic. This is a must do if you happen to have guava nectar and rum.

• 1 1/2 oz. light rum (Vitae Platinum used)
• 1/2 oz. guava nectar
• 1/2 oz. orange juice
• 1/2 oz. lemon juice
• 1 tsp. La Grande Passion (Homemade DIY LGP used)

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. 

 

 

Piscadera Bay

Piscadera Bay is is a beautiful waterway on the island of Curacao. Indeed, I'm sad I didn't have curacao for this cocktail (except for the blue stuff) so I used triple sec. I'm not sure how the ingredients of this cocktail correspond with an island among the Dutch Antilles, but the main thing about the Piscadera Bay is that it is loaded with spices.

Take a spicy rum (Jamaican if you have it) but make sure it is aged and funky. I'll use my Guyana navy rum, Pussers. Add sweet cherry liqueur, clove-heavy Angostura bitters, and cinnamon and ginger of falernum. Then only cut that with a half ounce of lime juice. There's no protecting you from the richness of this cocktail that might overwhelm the senses--and it does in the sense that you can close your eyes and imagine yourself at a beachside tiki hut--but it's all part of the experience. 

Thankfully a few things help balance the entire drink. That Cherry Herring has a way of tasting exotic and not at all like cherry when used in such a small amount. The sweetnes balances the lime juice considerably. My homemade falernum is a touch on the sweet side as well because I made it with brown sugar. This also helps tame the bitterness and tartness and center the drink closer to baking spices. Think gingerbread cookies and citrus zest!

• 1 1/2 oz. Jamaican rum (Pussers Navy Rum used)
• 1/2 oz. curacao (triple sec used)
  
• 1/2 oz. falernum (homemade batch used)
• 1/2 oz. lime juice
• 1 tsp. Cherry Brandy (Cherry Herring used)
• dash Angostura bitters
• orange slice
• maraschino cherry

Combine all liquid  ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and pour into a chilled Old Fashioned glass. Garnish with fruit

 

Magens Bay

 

This is a pretty cocktail named after a beautiful place. Magens Bay is a white sand beach on St. Thomas Island in the Caribbean. Besides being a fittingly rummy cocktail, it is pretty much a classic recipe with orange juice and apricot brandy. You could just about do this cocktail with any spirit and it would taste the same--which isn't a bad idea. 

The thing is that apricot brandy tends to direct the flavor in a sweet and fruity way. Fresh ingredients help make sure that the drink is balanced and interesting. A pure liqueur cocktail with apricot brandy tends to be overly sweet, and that's not the kind of thing you want to drink when you are relaxing in a beach cabana. 

• 1 1/2 oz. light rum
• 1/2 oz. apricot brandy
• 1 oz. orange juice
• 1 oz. lime juice
• sugar syrup to taste (1/2 oz. is appropriately sweet)
• orange slice
• maraschino cherry

Combine liquid ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with fruit.

Sober Strawberry Colada (Non-Alcoholic)

I appreciate the name of this mocktail that takes after the Strawberry Colada. Now I know I can easily make coconut cream, and I've done it before with simple syrup and coconut milk, but I don't have any coconut milk. A quick smoothie helper is this Real Gormet Creme of Coconut puree. It's yummy!

So is this great mocktail that feels like an alcoholic beach drink. Pineapple, coconut and strawberry make it look and taste great, and no one need be the wiser.

• 1 oz. coconut cream (Real Puree used)
• 5 oz. pineapple juice
• 6 fresh strawberries
• pineapple spear

Combine all ingredients except pineapple spear in a blender with ice and blend until smooth. Pour into a chilled Collins glass or a hurricane glass if you have it. Garnish with the pineapple spear.

Beachcomber (Non-Alcoholic)

Like the Polynesian Sweet and Sour, the Beachcomber is a great tropical mocktail that really fools you into thinking that it is an alcoholic treat. That happens because  the lime tang is sweetened by raspberry syrup and thick guava nectar. The drink doesn't call for a garnish, but I had these plump strawberries on hand when I served these to two minors who visited the restaurant.

• 2 oz. guava nectar
• 1 oz. raspberry syrup
• 2 oz. lime juice

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and pour into a chilled Collins glass.

Sex On The Beach

This is one of the official International Bartender's Guild cocktails and it is so recent (early 90s) that I'm surprised it is listed in my copy of the New York Bartender's Guide from 1997. I've heard that it was the winning recipe in a contest by DeKuyper liquor company to sell the most peach schnapps. The story goes that it was invented by a Myrtle Beach bar serving kids on spring break. You can see the appeal.

This is one of those drinks that tastes like juice but gets the job done. It's not the first time that vodka, peach schnapps and cranberry juice have teamed up to give you this kind of drunk candy drink, but it is probably the most popular. The photo above was taken at work because someone out there still needed to get the rush. The combination of the name and its drinkability probably account for the drink's popularity. (All the cafes along the Siene in Paris advertise the cocktail on their awnings, which shows how up to date they are not.) There's something about being young and transgressive suggested by drinking a Sex On The Beach, so don't expect it to go away soon.

• 2 oz. vodka
• 1 1/2 oz. peach schnapps
• 3 oz. cranberry juice
• 3 oz. orange juice
• maraschino cherry (optional)

Build drink in a highball glass full of ice and garnish with cherry if desired.

Beachcomber's Gold

I'm not sure how a "perfect" rum Martini rates as a beach drink. The rum, however, makes it a more likely candidate for grass hut bar drinking. I really enjoyed this drink for its smoothness and round flavor. It really struck me as a wine cocktail despite the rum base. This, I think, is because of the softer notes of Lacuesta vermouths.

• 2 oz. light rum
• 1/2 oz. dry vermouth
• 1/2 oz. sweet sweet vermouth

Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass with ice. Stir until chilled and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. 

Beach Bum

I really enjoyed making and drinking the Beach Bum, a Cosmo-like rum drink with a dash of grenadine. Triple sec and light rum are really tasty together, and the dominant flavors are the bitter orange and silky sweetness of Leroux triple sec on top of dry rum. The pink color looks like grapefruit juice but is achieved with just a few drops of grenadine.

• 2 oz. light rum
• 3/4 oz. triple sec
• 3/4 oz. lime juice
• dash of grenadine

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

Palm Beach Cocktail

Like the Miami Beach Cocktail, Palm Beach has a healthy dose of grapefruit juice. This is a tart drink that the dash of sweet vermouth is intended to mitigate. It doesn't do it very well, but you get the sense you are drinking a grapefruit Martini with very little alcohol. In reality, the gin sneaks up on you, especially if you are drinking out in the sun. Better take this one back into the beach cabana for some shade.

• 2 oz. gin
• 1/2 tsp. sweet vermouth
• 2 oz. grapefruit juice

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.