What's In A Name?

What's in a name?

How could a drink named the Sunnyside Cocktail be in any way spooky? When it's named after the home of Washington Irving. Presenting tSfT's latest 13 Nights of Tiki Frights cocktail.

Mix #88 Sunnyside Cocktail

1oz Plantation Fiji rum 1oz Plantation Original Dark rum 1.5oz lime juice 1.5oz orange juice 1.5oz passionfruit syrup 2oz seltzer

Blend everything except seltzer with ice. Pour into glass and top with seltzer.

A very nice balance of sweet and tart. Easy to drink.

Don't sleep on this,the mug drawing is tonight.

Here we go again!

So it's that time of year again folks. The weather is turning cooler,the leaves are changing color,and the Search for Tiki is doing another round of their 13 Nights of Tiki Frights. Be sure to check out their site to enter to win mugs,watch cool podcasts,and try new Halloween-themed Tiki drinks. Here's the first one.

Mix #74 Hessian Mercenary

1.5oz Plantation Xaymaca rum 1oz Pierre Ferrand Cognac 1840 Original Formula* 1oz lime juice 1/2oz Pierre Ferrand dry orange curacao 1/2oz orgeat

Shake with ice and pour into Mai Tai glass.

*I used Raynal VSOP.

This pretty much tastes like a standard Mai Tai with a brandy finish. If you're a cognac/brandy fan,give it a try.

I'll be posting most of the rest of tSfT's recipes as they post them. Happy Tiki Halloween!

Chop chop.

The latest in tSfT's 13 Nights of Tiki Frights(I've skipped two).

Mix #92 Double Bladed Axe

2oz Plantation 3 Star rum 1/2oz Mathilde Peche 1/2oz grenadine 1/2oz lime juice 1/2oz lemon juice* 2 dashes orange bitters

Combine everything except grenadine and shake with ice. Pour into glass and float grenadine on top.

*The pic on the site says 1.2oz,but I confirmed it's only supposed to be 1/2.

Very tart with a peach finish. I wound up adding more grenadine to finish. If you like sour drinks,this is for you.

Well,Halloween is almost here,so gotta drop the Elvira gifs while I can.

Just hangin' out….

Going back to recipe #2 from tSfT's 13 Nights of Tiki Frights since I finally picked up some cassis.

Mix #82 Tree of the Dead

2oz Plantation 3 Star rum 1oz lime juice 1/2oz simple syrup 1/2oz Mathilde cassis liqueur

Shake everything except cassis with ice and pour into glass. Pour cassis on top.

An interesting drink. The taste goes back and forth between sweet and tart depending on how much cassis you get.

Keep checking in for more spooky Tiki fun.

It's Mai Tai Day!

Happy Mai Tai Day everyone! And today is the correct Mai Tai Day. Proof:

As I said in my first post,the Mai Tai was created in 1944 by Trader Vic. Here's the story in his own words:

“I was at the service bar in my Oakland restaurant. I took down a bottle of 17-year old Jamaican J. Wray Nephew rum, added fresh lime, some Orange Curacao from Holland, a dash of Rock Candy syrup, and a dollop of French Orgeat, for its subtle flavor. A generous amount of shaved ice and a vigorous shaking by hand produced the marriage I was after. Half the lime shell went in for color, I stuck in a branch of fresh mint and gave two of them to Ham and Carrie Guild, friends from Tahiti, who were there that night. Carrie took on sip and said, “Mai Tai – Roa Ae”. In Tahitian this means “Out of this World – The Best”. Well, that was that. I named the drink “Mai Tai”.

The Mai Tai is probably the best known Tiki drink,and with good reason. It's just plain delicious. Follow the original recipe,and you can't go wrong:

An interesting thing about Mai Tais,is that despite being created in California,most people think of Hawaii. This is because of all the tourist bars in Hawaii which made their versions of the Mai Tai. Kevin Crossman,Mai Tai enthusiast and Tiki historian,wrote an excellent article on the subject on his blog,The Ultimate Mai Tai. From his article,we get a chart of Mai Tai recipes:

And here's the one I tried:

Mix #54 1972 Royal Hawaiian Surf Room Mai Tai

1oz light rum 1oz dark rum 1oz Demerara rum 1oz orange juice 1oz pineapple juice 1/2oz lime juice 1/4oz lemon juice 1/4oz orange curacao 1/4oz orgeat 1/4oz simple syrup

Shake with ice and pour into double rocks glass.

Definitely a tourist drink. Lots of rum for punch,and very 'tropical' tasting. Surprising they used ten ingredients though,that's gotta be tough to mix when there's a rush at the bar. I think I'll just stick to the original. Or Kevin's custom blended version:

Mix #55 Ultimate Mai Tai

1oz Fresh Lime Juice 1/2oz Orgeat (Latitude 29) 1/4oz Demerara Syrup (BG Reynolds or Liber) 1/2oz Orange Curacao (Ferrand Dry Curacao or Clement Créole Shrubb) 1/2oz Appleton 12 Rum 1/2oz Smith & Cross Rum 1/2oz Plantation OFTD Rum 1/2oz Plantation Xaymaca Rum

Shake with ice and pour into double rocks glass.

This does make for a very nice Mai Tai.

Cheers folks!

In Memoriam

Let's take a moment to remember pineapple molasses syrup. Devil's Reef Tiki bar in Tacoma, Washington uses it to make their signature cocktail,created by co-owner Jason Alexander. BGR dropped it from their line because it wasn't very popular,but I picked up a bottle before they were all gone and went through their roster of mixes. Enjoy these is you can find a bottle,or head up to Washington state and get a cocktail from the original bar.

Mix #70 Devil's Reef

1oz Jamaican pot still rum 1oz Demerara rum 1oz Don's mix 1/2oz lime juice 1/2oz pineapple molasses syrup dash Angostura bitters

Shake with plenty of ice.

An interesting blend of flavors,it starts with molasses and a hint of pineapple,then has a cinnamon finish. Very nice. BGR's recipe uses their own syrup instead of Don's mix,but I just make Don's mix so I won't have to buy another bottle of syrup.

Mix #71 Double Pineapple Rum Punch

1oz pineapple rum* 1oz overproof rum* 1oz lime juice 1oz pineapple molasses syrup 12 dashes Angostura bitters

Shake with ice. Pour into glass with more ice and put bitters on top until it looks like a bitters sno-cone.

*I used Plantation Stiggins and OFTD.

If you drink it with a straw it has a light pineapple and molasses taste reminiscent of a daiquiri. After a bit the bitters will mix in and it gets spicy and citrus-y. Quite good.

Mix #72 Plantation Pastime

1oz Plantation Original Dark 1/2oz Plantation Stiggins pineapple rum 2oz pineapple juice 1oz pineapple molasses syrup 1/4oz lime juice 1oz club soda

Shake everything except soda with ice and pour into glass. Top with soda.

A sweet and pineapple-y drink. Nice and light but not too strong. A good party drink.

Mix #73 Pink 'n Pine

1.5oz blackstrap rum 3/4oz pineapple molasses syrup 1/4oz lime juice

Build into a glass with ice and stir.

Tastes like a very funky grog. Not quite my thing,but try it and see if you like it.

Well,the syrup might be gone,but the memories(of the hangovers) remain. Maybe BGR will bring it back some day. I'm going to scour the web for other pineapple syrups,and when I find something good I'll post it. Aloha all!