Eye of the Torino (Death & Co. recipe)

 

Scotch from Islay is still an island spirit. That's the thinking behind Eye of the Torino. Death & Co. is at it again, changing people's expectations of spirits like Scotch. No, even a single malt scotch like Bowmore 12 doesn't have to be trapped in a Glencairn glass or on the rocks. You can make an excellent Tiki cocktial with single malt from Islay because it has a rich profile similar to rum. 

Yes. Bowmore 12 (or in this case McClelland's Islay, which is my less expensive way to get Bowmore in a different label) is the main ingredient in this tropical drink that features huge coconut flavors. The title of the drink suggests the need to hide Cocchi di Torino in a fruity drink that resembles a Bahama Momma. With all the coconut, pineapple, cream and orgeat, it's hard to taste that sweet vermouth, but spicy scotch still stands out with peat notes and a bit of smoke. But don't tell your Tiki drinking friends it's in there, just pretend it is smoke from the Tiki torches. 

This drink is intended to be served in a coconut shell, which is a lot of trouble to get and cut. I figured a large Tiki mug would be fitting. 

• 2 oz. Bowmore 12-year scotch
• 1/2 oz. cocchi vermouth di Torino
• 1/2 oz. pineapple juice
• 1/2 oz. orgeat
• 1/2 oz. lemon juice
• 1/2 oz. coconut cream
• 1/4 oz. heavy cream
• 1 dash Angostura bitters
• 1 dash chocolate mole bitters
• 1 pineapple wedge and cherry flag for garnish

Combine all ingredients is a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a coconut mug (or Tiki mug, as pictured) full of crushed ice. Use a pick to pin the stem cherry to the pineapple wedge and stick it on the rim.

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.)

 

Pina Colada For Friends

I'm not sure why this cocktail gets it's own entry in the New York Bartender's Guide. The Pina Colada is a blender cocktail, so you can make a scaled up version of the single serving recipe if you like. But because it is listed in the book, I had to find an occasion to make the recipe that serves four people!

That is the reason why this is the last recipe in my quest to complete the New York Bartender's Guide 1997 edition. This has been a journey of more than four years, some of it frenetic during spurts of drinking activity and some of it drawn out as rare ingredients proved a challenge to find or make. All in all it has been an amazing journey and one that really made the mundane career as a bartender far more rewarding. It required me to go beyond the popular, the ordinary, and the safe. I had to create ingredients like Amer Picon, falernum, Forbidden Fruit and apricot brandy. I went on quests to find Lillet Blanc, Dubonnet Rouge, Pomelos, Batavia Arrack and Combier. And best of all, I learned how to make the most obscure and out of fashion cocktails just as the cocktail revival was underway, bringing these forgotten classics back to light. Now people ask for Aviations, Brookland Cocktails, and Swizzles and I can make them. So this goal, as arbitrary and costly as it was as, has enriched my bar-tending skill and my life.

Here's the final recipe of my long-awaited finale: the Pina Colada For Friends.

• 1 cup light rum (Flor de Cana Extra Seco used)
• 2 oz. dark rum (Pusser's Navy Rum used)
• 5 oz. coconut cream
• 10 oz. pineapple juice
• 2 oz. half and half
• 4 pineapple spears and leaves

Combine liquid ingredients in a blender with ice. Blend until smooth and pour into four chilled Collins glasses. Garnish with pineapple spears and leaves. 

Virgin Island (Non-Alcoholic)

Another great non-alcoholic tiki cocktail with a great name, the Virgin Island sounds like it would be full of white rum. Instead, it is a rich and dessert-like drink with pineapple juice and creamy almond syrup. I was in a hurry when making this drink, so the impatient (flower garnish) while not edible seemed very fitting and beautiful.

• 3 oz. pineapple juice
• 1 oz. coconut cream
• 1 oz. lime juice
• 1/2 tsp. orgeat
• pineapple spear

Combine liquid ingredients in a blender with ice. Blend until smooth and pour into a grim-faced tiki mug. Garnish with pineapple spear.

Lord Rodney

Lord Rodney is a rich and tropical tasting drink. The most famous Lord Rodney was a Royal Navy officer and merchant. I like how the Karaken Rum bottle label is creeping out behind the anthologies and encircling the ship in its tentacles. It's like that part of an old map that warns "There be dragons."

The drink calls for coconut syrup, which you can make like orgeat. I decided that cream of coconut (not coconut puree) would be the best substitute. I took 1/2 tsp. of cream of coconut and added 1/2 tsp. of coconut rum to thin it out. Then I strained it into the shaker through a fine mesh to catch any coconut chunks in the syrup. Here's how to do the rest.

• 2 oz. blended whiskey
• 1 oz. dark rum
• 1/4 tsp. creme de cacao
• 1 tsp. coconut syrup

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

Pina Colada

This cocktails is one of the best known panty-droppers of all time. It has everything a good dessert drink needs, cream, cocoanut, pineapple...not to mention a whole bunch of rum. Garnish it with whatever tropical fruit you have on hand.

• 2 oz. light rum
• 1 oz. dark rum
• 3 oz. pineapple juice
• 2 oz. cocoanut cream
• Garnishes include pineapple spear, orange wheel, cherry, lime wheel, etc.

Combine all ingredients except garnishes in a blender with ice. Blend until smooth and pour into a chilled wine goblet. Add garnishes as needed.