Ju-Ju

 

Just a little bit of magic and a banana--not harmful magic, no not Hoodoo, and just a normal banana--and you have this bewitching frozen cocktail from Haiti. All the flavors blend nicely, giving off an overall tropical bouquet. Southern Comfort (replaced here with Bird Dog peach whiskey) is peach liqueur (not a whiskey). Here it reads as sweetness and something from the subtropic world. Just as Southern Comfort provides escapism in America's northern climes, so it lends exoticism to a tiki cocktail.

Banana adds richness here. You almost don't notice the flavor or the pulp of the fruit due to blending and the fact that there's no fat, as you have in smoothies with yogurt or cream. Instead, it too is an exotic texture and scent that augments the fresh pressed cane juice rum from Barbancourt. This spirit is golden in color and has a whiff of burnt molasses that finishes more like caramel.

• 1 oz. Haitian rum (Barbancourt 4-year blend used)
• 1 oz. Southern Comfort (Bird Dog peach whiskey used)
• 1 oz. orange juice
• 1/2 oz. lime juice
• 1 tsp. falernum or orgeat syrup (homemade falernum and a tsp. brown sugar syrup used)
• 1/2 ripe banana sliced

Combine all ingredients in a blender with plenty of ice. Blend until smooth and pour into a chilled Collins glass. Garnish at will with umbrella or swizzle stick.

Cat Cay

 

I have to say that this cocktail doesn't scream Bahamas to me. It rather fits into a classic cocktail profile that really mimics French cafe drinking from more than a century ago. French liqueurs like Grand Marnier and Royal Combier (which I used instead) appeared in the early 20th century with new advances in distilling and preserving the flavors of fruits and spices. 

Cognac and orange liqueur were blended in France along with other ingredients intended to prevent Malaria on long sea voyages. That didn't work as well as adding lime juice to prevent scurvy, which you see in this cocktail. The cognac and orange flavor of Combier goes so well with citrus juice and even balances it all out with the added sugar in the liqueur, that these kinds of cocktails made their way back from the high seas to take over Parisian cafe scene. 

One thing about the name, though. The cocktail recipe calls for Haitian or Martinique rum, obviously for their French style and origin, which again makes my point about it being very French in style. But why is the drink named after an island in the British Bahamas?

• 1 1/2 oz. Haitian or Martinique rum (Plantation 3-Stars used)
• 1/2 oz. Grand Marnier (Royal Combier used and recommended)
• 1/2 oz. lime juice
• lemon peel

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