Liliuokalani's Retort

So I threw a big Tiki party at the beginning of the summer.  There was a pig roast, and me working the bar all night making a menu of my favorite tiki drinks.  It was months of planning, and days of preparation, and after that I was tiki'd out!  For a while at least...

But it occurred to me tonight.  It's summer!  And while crustas and old fashions are great, perhaps they're better suited for cooler weather.  So I decided to impromptu a quick tiki drink, and it turned out great!  So great, I wanted to share it with the world.  Whenever I so happen to combine the exact perfect ratios of ingredients together, that a drink deems itself worthy of sharing with others, I always turn to my girlfriend for naming help.  After a quick back and forth she came up with "Liliuokalani's Retort."  She asserted that after someone got sassy or biting with Queen Liliuokalani, the queen quickly retorted with this delicious drink.  That's the story I'm sticking with at least.  Alright, enough talk, here's the drink...

1 1/2 ounces Smith and Cross rum (or any good traditional style rum.  I'm sure Wray and Nephews would be a wonderful sub.)
1 ounce Ron Matusalem Rum 15 year (or any other great aged rum you like)
1 ounce lime juice
1 ounce orange juice
3/4 ounces Pineapple Gomme Syrup*
1/2 ounce Allspice Dram

Pour in blender and fill with ice.  Blend quickly for no more than 5 seconds.  Pour all into the tiki mug of your choosing!  ENJOY!



*To make Pineapple Gomme Syrup.  Mix one cup pineapple juice (freshly squeezed is preferable) to one cup of sugar (I prefer raw or demerara sugar) and 1tsp of gum arabic.  Whisk over low heat until all sugar and gum arabic is dissolved.  Skim off the top.  Then strain and bottle.  Feel free to add a bit of rum to help preserve longer.  Store in fridge.  The gum arabic is optional though it gives it a nice thick consistency which makes for a nice mouth-feel in drinks.  Cheers!

The Best Year

Apparently The Best Year was 1975, because that's when this drink was created.  I got this one out of my favorite Tiki drink book "Bechbum Berry Remixed," by the master himself Beachbum Berry.  You should definitely check out any and all of his books if you enjoy a tropical libation or three.  POW!  See what I did there?  Here we go...

3 Ounces unsweetened pineapple juice (fresh juiced from a real live pineapple is always the best fyi)

3/4 ounce Licor 43

3/4 ounce blue Curacao (normally I'm against things like super sweet artificially colored liqueurs, but hey....it was the 70's you know?  Though I am known to use a high quality orange curaçao and vegetable based blue food dye as a blue curaçao substitute)

3/4 ounce Rose's lime juice cordial (making your own lime cordial is fun too.  I'll do a write up on that at some point.  The short answer though is it's Lime syrup but you want to simmer the lime zest with the juice and sugar, etc)

2 1/4 ounce vodka (now here is where I personally change the drink.  I hate vodka.  It disappears in cocktails, and I like my spirit to have a little more of a "hey, howya doin ;-)" attitude.  So instead I use a good white rum like Cruzan.)

8 ounces (1 cup) crushed ice

Now put everything in the blender.   Blend for a good 30 seconds, and poor unstrained into a glass of your choice.  I liked this ridiculous Hurricane glass I had laying around.  Now put on some Doobie Brothers and you're good to go.

Autumn Tiki

So this idea came to me when I wanted to make a Tiki style drink, but all with fall flavors. So here we go....

1 ounce Zaya Rum (or another delicious dark rum you like)
1 ounce apple brandy
1/2 ounce pumpkin syrup
1/4 ounce cranberry juice (NOT SWEETENED!)
3/4 ounce apple cider
1/4 ounce lemon juice
1 dash of angostura bitters

Shake with ice, then pour ice and all into glass and serve. Cheers!

For pumpkin syrup recipe check the syrups section!

Singapore Sling

The one and only (that's actually not true. there are a lot of different recipes but I like this one.)

1 ounce lime juice
1 ounce cherry heering
1/2 ounce benedictine
1/2 ounce brandy
2 ounces gin
1 1/2 ounce club soda

Shake all except soda. Strain into tall glass filled with ice cubes. Stir in soda.

Grapefruit Nui Nui

This is a twist on a classic Tiki drink that I enjoy.

1/2 ounce fresh lime juice
1/2 ounce fresh WHITE grapefruit juice (for original nui nui replace this with orange juice)
1/4 ounce cinnamon syrup
1/8 ounce vanilla syrup
1/8 ounce allspice dram
2 ounces amber virgin islands rum (i like cruzan)
1 dash of Angostura bitters
1/2 cup crushed ice.

Flash blend at high speed for no more than 5 seconds. Pour ice and all into glass. Or you can just shake it and pour the drink and all into the glass if the blender seems like too much trouble :-)

Check the posts on cinnamon and vanilla syrup for those recipes. If you click the tags below it will show you those posts (along with other delicious recipes containing those syrups!)

Zombie (1950)

This is usually the version of the Zombie I go for. There is an earlier version of it as well that I'll post at some point that is also delicious.

1 ounce lime juice
1 ounce lemon juice
1 ounce pineapple juice
1 ounce passion fruit syrup
1 ounce light puerto rican rum (use cruzan)
1 ounce gold puerto rican rum (again, use cruzan)
1 ounce Lemon Hart 151
1 tsp brown sugar syrup
1 dash angostura bitters

Shake well and pour ice and all into glass.

151 Swizzle

One of my very favorites.

1 1/2 ounce Lemon Hart 151 Rum
1/2 ounce lime juice
1/2 ounce cinnamon syrup
2 dashes angostura bitters
6 dashes absinthe (1/8 tsp)

Build over ice and....SWIZZLE!

See my post on cinnamon syrup for that recipe. If you click the cinnamon syrup tag, you'll find that post (along with other delicious recipes that contain cinnamon syrup!)