One More Cherry Drink.

One more cherry drink.

The Singapore sling was created around 1900 at the Long Bar in the Raffles Hotel in Singapore by bartender Ngiam Tong Boon.

(Ngiam with his wife on the left)

Originally called the Gin Sling,it was intended as a drink for women. This is because at the time it was socially unacceptable for women to drink alcohol in public,so Ngiam made the cocktail look(and taste/smell) like fruit juice to enable women to drink it. It has since become a classic Tiki drink,although there are many variations. Many of the new ones drop back the pineapple juice and add club soda,or do other things that completely change the drink. As with many Tiki drinks,the actual lore behind it is pretty conflicting and confusing,but as I like to say,a good story is a good story. The pic below is from a friend who actually met Ngiam's grandson and got a drink card from him,so I'm going with this being the legit recipe.

Mix #165 Singapore Sling

1oz gin 1/2oz Cherry Heering 1/4oz Cointreau 1/4oz Benedictine 4oz pineapple juice 1/2oz lime juice 2 tsp grenadine 1 dash Angostura bitters

Shake with ice and strain into hurricane glass.

Sweet and fruity,you barely taste the alcohol. The grenadine comes forward and the pineapple and cherry finish it. There's also just a touch of honey aftertaste. With only an ounce of true liquor it's a low octane drink,and with it's fruity taste and bright red color it would make a great cookout drink. I was able to get some Benedictine from friends,if you don't have this you can sub Drambuie. Use one of these though as anything else will change the drink too much.

So make yourself the 'official drink' of Singapore,and enjoy the flowers before they're gone.

Some good reading.

The latest issue of Exotica Moderne from House of Tabu is out! Always excited when a new issue arrives. I love curling up with a cocktail to read it. Here are two from the latest issue.

Mix #143 Sleestack Attack

1oz Doctor Bird rum 1oz Hamilton White Stache rum 1oz gold Puerto Rican rum 1oz falernum 2oz pineapple juice 1oz grapefuit juice 1oz orange juice 1oz lime juice 1oz Demerara syrup

Shake everything with ice and pour into a large glass.

Created by Matt Strickland,this is a big drink with lots of vitamin C. Sweet and citrus-y with some spice,the three ounces of rum give it kick. A nice cocktail for a good read.

Mix #144 Skipper's Downfall

1oz light rum 1oz dark rum 1/2oz creme de cacao 1/2oz orange juice 1/2oz lemon juice

Combine ingredients with ice in mug. Stir and top with seltzer.

From the now gone Tiki bar Skipper Kent's,this is very tart. Many older Tiki recipes were like this. I upped the cacao to an ounce and added a half ounce of Demerara syrup and it was much better.

So pick up the latest issue and get yourself some culture.

Ya guava be kidding me.

Guava is a tropical fruit that is sweet,full of vitamin C,and according to the internet,"the queen of fruits" because it's supposed to have all kinds of health benefits. Why,just check out this fascinating chart:

So what's the best way to add this miracle fruit to your diet? Why,in Tiki drinks of course!

Mix #131 PopTiki Volcano Mug

1oz Barbancourt 8yr rum 1oz Demerara rum 4oz pineapple juice 2oz guava nectar 1oz lemon juice 1/2oz passionfruit syrup 1/4oz orgeat

Shake with ice and pour into mug.

This was created by PopTiki with the volcano mug they put out to raise money for the Hawaii fire relief. Cool mug,good cause,meh drink. It's very sweet and fruity with a strong guava taste. It's a big drink that will slake your thirst,but all that sugar is a trip to hangover city. I actually started to feel something after drinking just the one cocktail. Have one if you like sweet drinks,but no more unless you want to feel it the next day.

Mix #132 Murky Lagoon

2oz Whaler's Original Dark rum 3oz guava nectar 1/2oz falernum

Combine all ingredients in double old-fashioned glass with ice. Pour into shaker,shake,re-pour into glass.

From Frankie's Tiki Room in Las Vegas. I used Coruba rum to make this because I didn't have Whaler's and every review I read about it said it sucked. Just use a good dark funky rum instead. It's a nice sweet,funky drink that's creamy and has a touch of spice aftertaste. Quite good with decent rum.

Mix #133 Aloha Screwdriver

3/4oz light rum 3/4oz Lemon Hart 151 3/4oz banana liqueur 1oz guava nectar 1oz pineapple juice 1/4oz Campari* 1/4oz allspice dram

Shake with ice and pour into glass.

*I used Aperol.

Created by one of my fav surf rock bands,it can be found in the liner notes of their album The Lost Recipe. Nice Demerara funk,a touch sweet with some banana and a bit of spice on the end. Quite nice with a bit of kick.

Mix #134 Blake's Guava Grog

2oz Plantation OFTD 1oz guava nectar 3/4oz lime juice 1/4oz falernum 1/4oz allspice dram 1/4oz cinnamon syrup 2 dashes Angostura bitters

Shake with plenty of ice and pour into mug.

I found this Facebook user's creation posted in the Tiki Recipes forum. Sweet and spicy with cinnamon burn and plenty of kick. A proper Tiki grog.

So drink up. The internet says it's good for you,and you can't put false things on the internet.

Couple quickies.

Been working on a couple full posts,but they're not ready to be published yet. So here's a pair of mixings to hold you over.

Mix #135 Potted Parrot

2oz light rum 2ox orange juice 1oz lemon juice 1/2oz orange curacao 1/4oz orgeat 1/4oz rock candy syrup

Shake with ice and pour into mug.

Trader Vic created this in 1964 for the opening of his Mexican restaurant Senor Pico. Very citrus-y with a touch of sweet. I used regular simple syrup and upped it to a half ounce since rock candy syrup is super sweet(like 3:1). I also used my Siesta Keys silver rum,whose rums will be featured in an upcoming post. Quite good,and not surprising since the Trader was the master.

Mix #136 Storm the Beach

1oz Demerara rum 1/2oz Plantation OFTD 1/2oz velvet falernum 1/2oz lime juice 1/2oz grapefruit juice 1/2oz cinnamon syrup 2 dashes bitters

Shake with ice,strain into glass with fresh ice. Add lime shell with overproof rum and light.

So,no,I didn't add the flaming lime shell,I'm more interested in the drink than the presentation. This was created by Ryan Welliver,who has an interesting name for a bartender. His recipe calls for cinnamon-cumin syrup,but I just used standard cinnamon syrup. And that's all I pretty much tasted. If you really dig cinnamon,then try this,but I'll stick to drinks where I can actually taste my rum.

Until next time folks,aloha and mahalo.

The Devil Made Me Do It……

So I was watching an episode of Bones,and Booth made Bones a cocktail featuring tequila,cassis,and lime juice. He called it a "B&B". Now Bones tends to screw up everything about Washington DC,so I wanted to see how close they got on this. A quick internet search found that the B&B actually stood for Benedictine and Brandy. However,there actually was a cocktail that used tequila,cassis,and lime,and it was created by none other than Trader Vic himself. So since I just posted some tequila Tiki drinks,I'd be remiss in my duties if I didn't post this one.

Originally called the Mexican El Diablo,the recipe first appeared in Vic's 1946 book,Trader Vic's Book of Food and Drink,but reappeared with the name shortened to 'El Diablo' in the 1968 Trader Vic's Pacific Island Cookbook. The recipe used in four of his books was as follows:

El Diablo

1oz tequila 1/2 a lime 1/2oz creme de cassis ginger ale

Squeeze lime into a 10 ounce glass over ice cubes;add spent shell. Add tequila and creme de cassis. Stir. Fill glass with ginger ale. Serve with straw.

Many folks believe the drink was created for a Mexican restaurant called Señor Pico’s,a lesser known establishment in Vic's pantheon that has pretty much faded into history. But Señor Pico’s didn't open until 1964,almost 20 years after its first appearance in a TV book. So this was just Vic making a tequila Tiki drink.

Ginger ale back in the day tended to be spicier than it is now,closer to ginger beer. So modern recipes use ginger beer,with the following amounts:

El Diablo(modern)

1.5oz reposado tequila 1/2oz lime juice 1/2oz creme de cassis 3oz ginger beer

Shake everything except ginger beer with ice and pour into glass. Add beer and stir.

There is also a version that uses ginger syrup and soda water as a substitute for ginger beer. Since I was out of ginger beer,but had a bottle of syrup that I had yet to crack open,I decided to make the syrup version:

Mix #129 El Diablo(w/syrup)

1.5oz reposado tequila 3/4oz ginger syrup 3/4oz lime juice 1/2oz creme de cassis 3oz soda water

Shake everything except soda with ice and pour into glass. Add soda and stir.

Very tequila forward with a bit of berry and ginger. Tequila fans will no doubt like this as you can really taste the tequila's flavor.

(Now,as a community service,I need to post a warning. I've previously used Pratt Standard ginger syrup without issue. I recently switched to The Ginger People Fiji ginger syrup,because the Pratt Standard doesn't keep as long and has to be refrigerated after opening. But I found out that ginger can have a,shall we say,'negative effect' on one's digestive system. As a result,I'm switching back to the other syrup,as it always agreed with me. No idea why the Ginger People stuff did what it did,but figured you'd appreciate the heads up.)

Be careful with that tequila folks.

Dah-don-dah-dah-dah-don-don-don...

Tequila. A liquor made from agave that has developed a reputation for creating mayhem. No wonder it's found its way into a few Tiki drink recipes. I'm not much on the stuff myself,but here are a few cocktails you might enjoy. First,a quick infographic about the difference between mezcal and proper tequila:

(note that I used 1800 Reposado tequila for the following mixes)

Mix #125 Cannonball

2oz mezcal 3/4oz lime juice 3/4oz pineapple juice 1/4oz apricot liqueur 3 dashes Angostura bitters

Shake with ice and strain into mug with fresh ice.

I found this Beau Du Bois creation on another Tumblr blog. It's very tequila forward and a touch bitter. I wound up adding some Demerara syrup to finish it,but if you like tequila and/or bitter,give it a try.

Mix #126 Mojave

1.5oz Asombroso tequila 1.5oz sweet n' sour mix 1/2oz blue curacao 1tsp lime juice splash of orange juice

Shake with ice and pour into glass with rim half sugared/half salted. Fill straw with tequila.

Created by Rory "Wildsville Man" Snyder to showcase Asombroso tequila,this is smooth and orange-ish,with a bit of tart. I didn't sugar/salt my rim,because that's to boujee for me,plus that would obviously change the flavor and I wanted to taste just the drink. A nice drink that lets you taste the tequila.

Mix #127 Xiuhtecuhtli*

2oz tequila 3/4oz blue curacao 3/4oz orgeat 1/2oz lime juice 2oz coconut water

Flash blend with 6oz ice,then strain into Zombie glass filled with fresh crushed ice.

*pronounced 'Shoe the COOT lih'

Created by Ken of House of Tabu,this appeared in issue #13 of Exotica Moderne. Very tequila forward,but smooth with a touch of orange and a creamy note. This would be a good drink for introducing someone to tequila.

Mix #128 Lava Rum Demon

1oz white rum 1oz mezcal 1oz Jagermeister 1oz passionfruit syrup 1oz grapefruit juice 1oz lemon juice

Shake with ice and pour into mug.

From the drink card of the official mug of the Til-Two Club comes a drink created to cause trouble. Now,just looking at the list of ingredients,you'd think that combining rum,tequila,and Jager would result in a hot mess. But it's actually a nice drink. Fruity with a licorice aftertaste,it goes down easy. But it's strong,so be careful how many of these you have,as it will give you a hangover.

Go ahead and experience some agave. Just remember what Tuvok said: