Fixed It.

Fixed it.

So back in Feb I did a post on the classic Trader Vic drink the Fogcutter. It was very sour. I've read plenty of postings from folks who were in agreement with me on this,so I decided to 'fix' it. Presented for your approval,the Fogweaver(named for a band I like). Enjoy.

Mix #209 The Fogweaver

1.5oz light rum 1/2oz sloe gin 1/2oz VSOP brandy 2oz tangerine juice 1oz lime juice 1/2oz orgeat 1/2oz oloroso sherry.

Shake everything except sherry with ice and pour into glass. Float sherry on top.

Every bit as potent as the original,but more balanced. I think the Trader would've approved.

Until next time folks.

Here's to swimmin' with bow-legged women.

Well,we're halfway through Sharkfest,but there's still plenty more to watch. And plenty more sharky Tiki drinks to mix up. Enjoy!

Mix #206 Luau Room Shark Tooth

1.5oz Tanduay rum* 1/2oz sloe gin 1oz lemon juice 1oz passionfruit syrup 1-2oz club soda

Shake everything except soda and pour into Mai Tai glass. Top with soda.

*I used Coruba.

This is the recipe used in the Luau Room bar of the Hotel del Coronado in the 1950's and 60's. It's light and sweet with a gin finish. An excellent summer drink.

I finally picked up some sloe gin which is much sweeter than other gins,and now I'll have to go back over some of my mixings that were supposed to use it and redo them. It really changes the character of the drink,so if a recipe calls for it instead of regular gin,you should use the correct stuff. It's also not bad to make a gin 'n tonic.

Mix #207 Mai-Kai Shark Bite

1oz Plantation 5yr Barbados rum 1oz Appleton Estate 12yr rum 1/2oz lime juice 1/oz pineapple juice 1/2oz rich(2:1) simple syrup 1/8oz cinnamon syrup

Rinse a rocks glass with water and freeze to create an ice shell. Shake everything except Appleton with ice until frothy. Add crushed ice to glass and strain mix in. Serve Appleton on side and pour in as a float.

Ok,so I just shook everything with ice and put it in a glass,and it turned out just fine. This is the Mai-Kai's take on the Shark Bite. It's got a sweet/tart blend with just of touch of cinnamon on the end. A nice drink,but it really didn't stand out enough to me to put it in regular rotation.

Mix #208 Blue Water White Death

2oz silver tequila 3/4oz Cointreau 3/4oz blue curacao 1/2oz lime juice 1/2oz simple syrup few drops grenadine

Shake everything except grenadine with ice and pour into Mai Tai glass. Add a few drops of grenadine to look like blood in the water.

So I found a recipe going around the internet for a 'shark attack margarita'. It was a kitschy drink where you pour grenadine into way too much sweet and sour mix from a plastic shark. I tweaked the recipe and it started out ok until the grenadine kicked in,then it turned out almost undrinkable. Now,there was a '70's movie called 'Blue Water,White Death' that was supposed to be a great white shark documentary,and that was also a hot mess. So I decided to fix this drink and name it after the movie to try and redeem both. The drink is a pretty bright turquoise with the grenadine giving it the 'blood in the water' look,and the tequila gives it plenty of bite. It's very tequila forward,so use the good stuff(I used 1800) with a light taste that goes back and forth between tart and sweet. Only use about six to eight drops of grenadine;too much and it will overwhelm the drink and make it too sweet. And remember the old reel,"one tequila,two tequila,three tequila,floor";this drink will sneak up and bite you like a great white hitting a seal.

So enjoy Sharkfest folks,and have fun at the beach.

Summer in the City.

It's Summer in DC and with the heat and humidity climbing,a cool drink is just what you need. And if there's some alcohol in it,that'll just add to the fun. For this installment,I decided to go 'Tiki adjacent' with two of the five hottest summer drinks according to local bartenders. They might not be exactly Tiki,but the ingredients and flavors are what you would expect from good drinks at a proper Tiki bar. Enjoy!

Mix #194 Something Blue

2oz blanco tequila 3/4oz lime juice 1/2oz amaretto* 1/4oz blue curacao 1/4oz Demerara syrup black salt

Salt the rim of a glass. Shake all ingredients with ice and pour into glass.

*I used ‎Disaronno.

From bartender Darlin Kulla at The Grill,this margarita riff is very tequila forward and citrus-y tart. I actually added another quarter ounce of Demerara syrup. I also didn't salt the rim of my glass(not my thing). If you like tequila margaritas,give this a try. The blue color also makes for a cool looking party drink.

Mix #195 MF Zucca

2oz spiced rum 3/4oz passionfruit syrup 1/4oz amaro* 1/4oz lime juice

Shake with plenty of ice and pour into glass.

*I used Aperol.

Created by bartender Danny Gonzalez of Maketto,this is a very interesting drink. It's bitter on the nose,but very sweet tasting. Very nice. A complex tasting drink you could serve at parties to impress your guests. I used Sugar Hill spiced rum,but it's no longer available. I look forward to trying this with other spiced rums. I think it would be a good test bed for checking out the taste of a spiced rum in a cocktail. BTW,in case you're wondering where the drink's name comes from,the bar uses Rabarbaro Zucca as their amaro.

So Summer heat may be here,but there is relief. Stay cool folks.

Frack! Fell! Gorram!

What you'll be saying tomorrow morning if you have a few of these. I've had this one in the queue for awhile,but didn't really have a post to put it in,so I decided to just do a solo post on it.

Mix #183 The Third Oath

2.5oz Plantation OFTD 1.5oz cinnamon syrup 1oz lime juice 1/2oz grapefruit juice 1/2oz falernum 2 dashes Angostura bitters 6 drops absinthe

Shake with crushed ice and pour into mug.

Created by Jason Alexander(the bartender,not the Seinfeld actor),it's very cinnamon-y with lots of burn and a strong punch due to all that OFTD. If you love cinnamon,this is the drink for you. You can also sub in regular octane rum if the overproof is too much,or 151 if you've had one of those weeks and don't plan to leave the couch.

You've been warned.

Bits and Bobs….

While I normally have a theme to my posts,this week I'm just clearing out some random recipes I've mixed. Enjoy.

Mix #174 Dr Funk

2 1/4oz black pot still rum 1/2oz lime juice 1/2oz lemon juice 1/2oz Demerara syrup 1/4oz grenadine 1/4oz absinthe 1oz seltzer

Shake everything except seltzer with ice,pour into glass,top with seltzer and stir.

Created by Don Beach sometime in the 1950's,this was named after the physician Robert Louis Stevenson had in Samoa named Dr Bernard Funk. Originally intended as a cure for laziness,it was made to make the absinthe more palatable with citrus and sugar,but Don added rum to make it a proper Tiki drink. It's super funky with the grenadine coming through and an absinthe finish. You'll either love it or hate depending on how much funk you can stand. I think Bootsy would have approved.

Mix #175 Passport to Martinique

1oz Denizen Merchant Reserve rum 1/2oz unaged Martinique rum 1/2oz Wray & Nephew overproof rum 1oz lime juice 1/2oz passionfruit syrup 1/oz orgeat 1/4oz orange curacao

Shake or blend with one cup crushed ice and pour into glass.

A drink from the 2022 Hukilau convention,this has a nice sweet/tart balance with heavy agricole funk. Another drink for folks who like it funky. Good bit of kick too.

Mix #176 Quarantine Order

1.5oz Appleton Signature rum 1.5oz Smith & Cross rum 1oz lime juice 1oz grapefruit juice 1/2oz cinnamon syrup 1/2oz passionfruit syrup 5 dashes Angostura bitters

Shake with ice and pour into mug.

From Wiliam Prestwood at Pagan Idol,you can guess from the name why it was created. The cinnamon comes through without real burn(think cinnamon roll),while there is some tartness and funk. The S&C gives it kick. A good drink for when you're stuck at home.

Mix #177 Lost Lake Cocktail

2oz dark Jamaican rum 3/4oz passionfruit syrup 3/4oz lime juice 1/2oz pineapple juice 1/4oz maraschino liqueur* 1/4oz Campari*

Shake with ice and pour into mug.

*I used Cherry Heering and Aperol.

The signature cocktail of the now shuttered Lost Lake bar in Chicago,which unfortunately closed due to COVID. The original was made with passionfruit liqueur,but the syrup is much easier to find. A nice blend of sweet and tart with the aperitif finishing. Use your favorite Jamaican rum to keep this modern classic alive.

Mix #178 Bolo

1oz gold Puerto Rican rum 3/4oz aged Martinique rum 1oz pineapple juice 1/2oz lime juice 1/2oz passionfruit syrup 1/oz honey syrup 1 dash Angostura bitters

Blend with ice for five seconds and pour into hollowed out pineapple.

So the story goes that this is an adaptation of Don Beach's Pi-Yi cocktail. Mr Beach was notorious for encoding his recipes to keep them from being stolen. Beachbum Berry worked with former Don bartender Bob Esmino to come up with this recipe. There are several variations which use the same ingredients,just with slightly different proportions,so feel free to play with tweaking this to get it the way you like. Sweet and fruity with rum funk on the end,you could call it a Boo Loo Lite. Very nice. And no,I didn't use a hollowed pineapple again,I'm too lazy of a bachelor.

Mix #179 Alice on South Island

1.5oz 151 Demerara rum 1/4oz maraschino liqueur* 1.5oz lemon juice 1oz passionfruit syrup 1oz cream of coconut 12 drops absinthe

Shake vigorously with ice and pour into mug.

*Again I used Cherry Heering.

From the drink card of Lost Temple Traders' Mad Tiki Cup mug(I have the set,but used the pic off their site because they're better photogs than I am). It's sweet and fruity with an absinthe finish. With an ounce and a half of 151,after a couple of these you'll swear the cat is talking to you. And you won't care. A good drink to finish off 'one of those' weeks.

Until next time folks.

Shhh,it's a secret…

'Don's Mix' is a secret ingredient used in many Tiki drinks. That is,it used to be a secret until it was unearthed by Jeff "Beachbum" Berry. Donn Beach used to encode all his recipes to prevent rivals from stealing them,so for the longest time no-one knew what his drink and syrup recipes actually contained. Beachbum played Tiki archaeologist and was able to discover that Don's Mix was a two-to-one ratio of white grapefruit juice and cinnamon syrup. Because of this,many classic Tiki drinks can be properly made as intended. It also features in many modern recipes. White grapefruit can be a bit hard to find,so I've used regular red grapefruit and think it tastes just fine. I've used Don's Mix to make classic Zombies,and here are three modern Tiki drinks that feature it.

Mix #184 Arkham Kula

1.5oz Plantation Xaymaca rum 1/2oz Plantation OFTD rum 3/4oz lime juice 3/4oz orange juice 3/4oz Don's Mix 1/2oz honey syrup 1/2oz passionfruit syrup

Shake or blend with ice and pour into zombie glass.

From the book Minimalist Tiki and created by Jason Alexander,this is a sweet drink with a bit of cinnamon burn to finish. The OFTD gives it a bit of kick. A nice classic-styled Tiki drink.

Mix #185 Commando Life

2oz Plantation Stiggins' pineapple rum 1oz Don's Mix 3/4oz Giffard Banane Du Bresil liqueur 3/4oz lime juice 1/2oz passionfruit syrup

Shake with plenty of ice and pour into snifter.

Another Jason Alexander creation from Minimalist Tiki(this guy knows how to make a drink) it's sweet with a banana/cinnamon finish. A nice summer-y drink.

Mix #186 Muertito Vivo

1.5oz aged(8yrs+) dark rum 1/2oz 151 Demerara rum 3/4oz Jagermeister 3/4oz Don's Mix 3/4oz lime juice

Shake with ice and pour into mug.

From the book,Tiki: Modern Tropical Cocktails,I decided to try it after reading a posting on Facebook. It turned out to be super tart and very Jager forward. I wound up adding Demerara syrup to finish it. If you like sour and licorice,give this a try,but one-and-done is plenty for me.

So remember the secret formula to add to your Tiki drinks. Don't worry,I won't tell(rule #2).

Don's Mix = 2:1 white grapefruit juice to cinnamon syrup