Tropical Flashcards
Algonquin cocktail?
Ingredients:
1 1/2 ounces rye
3/4 ounce dry vermouth
3/4 ounce pineapple juice
2 dashes Peychaud’s bitters (optional)
Preparation: Shake all ingredients with ice and strain.
Presentation: Cocktail coupe; bitters can be incorporated in the drink or reserved to garnish the foamy surface
History: The Algonquin Hotel on 44th Street in Manhattan was one of the meeting places for the cultural icons of the Prohibition era and preceding years. When it was built in 1902, it was known as a “dry hotel” and did not serve alcohol until after Prohibition. However, the famous Algonquin Round Table was the daily lunch spot for the self-proclaimed Vicious Group from 1919 to 1929. At the group’s core were Harpo Marx, Dorothy Parker, Alexander Woollcott, Charles MacArthur, Art Samuels, and a few flasks full of Gin Martinis. This group of writers, actors, and cultural icons welcomed more and more to their table, and the tradition of a boozy lunch in a dry hotel spawned important artwork from the age of Prohibition.
Preparations & Variations: The decision of whether to strain the pulp from the pineapple juice, and whether to stir or shake, can drastically change the profile of this cocktail. Shaking pulpy pineapple juice will lead to a frothy, foamy drink, with the sugars more pronounced upon first taste. The alternate method produces a drier, more savory result. The original recipe says to shake and strain. Fresh juice is recommended over canned.
Fog Cutter ?
Ingredients:
2 ounces white rum
1 ounce brandy
1/2 ounce gin
1 ounce lemon juice
1 ounce orange juice
1/2 ounce Orgeat syrup
Cream Sherry float
Preparation: Shake ingredients with ice and strain. Float cream Sherry on top of the drink.
Presentation: Tiki mug or highball glass, garnished with mint sprig
History: One of the classics from the beginning of the Tiki era, this cocktail is credited to Tony Ramos, a famous bartender from Don the Beachcomber’s in Hollywood. It is a great example of the competition between Don the Beachcomber’s and Trader Vic’s in San Francisco. Both often claimed ownership of classics like the Mai Tai and the Zombie. This Don the Beachcomber’s drink first appears in the 1946 edition of Trader Vic’s Book of Food and Drink.
Preparation & Variations: This is thought to be one of the first cocktails to prescribe a mug as the serving vessel. The recipe originally called specifically for Puerto Rican rum.
French Martini?
Ingredients:
2 ounces vodka
1/2 ounce Chambord
2 1/2 ounces pineapple juice
Preparation: Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into a cocktail glass.
Presentation: Cocktail glass, garnished with lemon twist
History: Keith McNally’s first restaurant, the Odeon, opened in 1980 and is credited for creating the drink. It was on the opening cocktail menu for his popular SoHo restaurant Balthazar.
Preparation & Variations: Not much has changed for this ’80s icon. A guest ordering a French Martini will often expect to see recognizable French ingredients like Chambord and often Grey Goose. Though not traditional, Chambord is sometimes swapped out for a more savory créme de cassis.
Chambord is named for the Château de Chambord in Amboise of the Loire Valley, where a similar liqueur was known to be a favorite tipple of the royalty who resided there. The first documented reference to Chambord is in 1658, and the modern-day version was introduced by Brown Forman in 1982; they still own it today.
Hurricane Cocktail?
Ingredients:
2 oz. Dark Jamaican Rum
2 oz white rum
1/2 oz over proof rum
2 oz. Lemon Juice
2 oz. Passion Fruit Syrup
Preparation: Shake with ice and pour without straining.
Presentation: Hurricane Glass, Lemon Wheel
History: The Hurricane’s first home is the New Orleans bar, and one time speak easy called Mr. O’Brien’s Club Tipperary where the password for entry was “Storm’s Brewin’”. Accoring to Ian McNulty’s Drinking in History: Classic Cocktails and Modern Thirsts of the French Quarter, the drink was created in the 1940’s when O’Brien needed to get rid of some unpopular rums that he was forced to buy.
Preparation and Variations: If one took the care to make a quality passion fruit syrup, and balanced the proportions this could be quite a show stopper. Rums, juices and syrups are all changed often to find the cheapest way to execute this drink that is usually served in plastic cups along Bourbon Street.
A popular Bahamas version includes over proof rum, Licor 43, Gran Marnier and Baileys.
Mai Tai?
Ingredients:
1 oz. Dark Jamaican Rum
1 oz. Amber Martinique Rum
1/2 oz. Lime Juice
1/4 oz. Curaçao Liqueur
1/4 oz. Orgeat Syrup
Preparation: Shake with ice and strain.
Presentation: Old Fashioned Glass filled with crushed ice. Garnish can include mint, limes, pineapples and umbrellas.
History: The Mai Tai was at the center of the competition between Don the Beachcomber and Trader Vic. Don the Beachcomber claimed to have created the cocktail in 1933 when he opened his Polynesian restaurant. Trader Vic claims to have made the cocktail in 1944 when he served it to a group of friends visiting from Tahiti. Upon tasting the cocktail one of them exclaimed “Maita’i roa ae!”, which literally means ‘very good’ or figuratively ‘the best’, and therefore named the cocktail Mai Tai - the Tahitian word for ‘good’. The widely used recipe today is based on the Trader Vic’s 1944 version.
Preparation and Variations: Each great bar has its own interpretation of the Mai Tai, and some will make different variations. A mix of rums is typical, and some will incorporate over proof rums as well. This drink can be shaken with or without ice, and poured over fresh crushed ice.
Orgeat syrup can be purchased, or homemade.
Painkiller?
Ingredients
2 oz Pusser’s Navy Strength Rum
2 Ounces Pineapple Juice
1 ounce Coco Lopez
1 Ounce Orange Juice
Preparation
This cocktail may be shaken and served over crushed ice, or blended to be served frozen
Presentation
Grated Nutmeg and a Pineapple Wedge
History: The Pain Killer is trademarked by Pusser’s rum and is their official cocktail. It has been since the 1970’s, but the drink was created a bit earlier in the heart of the tiki era at the Soggy Dollar Bar in the British Virgin Islands by bartender Daphne Henderson. Like many tiki cocktails the Painkiller has become much more popular, and has become the base for a variety of tiki variations.
Preparations and Variations: Some bartenders choose to omit the orange juice, and some like to add things falernum, orgeat or even a squeeze of lime to arrive at a Mai Tai Painkiller fusion of sorts. Again, some bartenders believe this should be served frozen which would make sense given the lack of acid in the original recipe.
Piña Colada?
Ingredients:
1 oz. White Rum
1 oz. Cream of Coconut
3 oz. Pineapple Juice
Preparation: Shake all ingredients with ice or blend until smooth.
Presentation: If blended, use a Hurricane glass, if shaken serve in a crushed ice filled mug or old fashioned glass. Garnishes should be creative, and often include an umbrella.
History: The earliest mention of a drink made of white rum, coconut and pineapple references the cocktail that the 19th century Puerto Rican pirate Roberto Cofresi would give his crew to lift spirits. When he died in 1825, the recipe for his mood lifting elixir was lost.
The modern day cocktail’s creation is said to be the work of Ramón “Monchito” Marrero, a bartender at the Caribe Hilton’s Beachcomber bar in 1954. He continued to work at the Caribe until 1978, when the drink was subsequently recognized as the national drink of Puerto Rico. Another story that brings the blended version into the picture states that a Spanish bartender named Ramon Portas Mingot who was brought from Bueno Aires to work at Restaurant Barrachina in Old San Juan created the cocktail by mixing rum, coconut cream, condensed milk, pineapple juice and ice in a blender.
Preparations and Variations: The most important ingredient in a Piña Colada is certainly the cream of coconut. Coco Lopez was created in Puerto Rico in 1948, and Ramon Marrero sites using it in his original recipe.
A variety of rums can be used, and while white rum is the traditional base darker rums have been added to increase the complexity of this drink. For those blending the cocktail, think of using frozen pineapple instead of ice. Some may scoff at the Piña Colada, but when a bartender takes it seriously it can be quite special.
Sex on the Beach?
Ingredients:
1 oz. Vodka
1 oz. Peach Schnapps
1 oz. Chambord
2 oz. Pineapple Juice
dash Cranberry Juice
Preparation: Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into glass filled with ice.
Presentation: Highball Glass, Lime Wedge
Bartender Comments: Like many of the above, another creation of the ’80s. Outside of that decade, and/or theme parties celebrating it, scrupulously avoid consumption of this drink.
Singapore Sling?
Ingredients:
2 oz. Gin
3/4 oz. Cherry Heering
2 tsp. Benedictine
2 tsp. Cointreau
2 oz. Pineapple Juice
3/4 oz. Lime Juice
2 dashes Grenadine
1 dash Angostura Bitters
Soda Water
Preparation: Shake all ingredients except soda water with ice and strain into glass filled with ice. Top with Soda Water.
Presentation: Hurricane Glass, Cherry, Pineapple Slice, and Orange
Bartender Comments: Unless you find yourself at the bar in the Raffles Hotel, don’t bother.
Tequila Sunrise ?
Ingredients:
1.5 oz. Tequila
3 oz. Orange Juice
1/2 oz. Grenadine
Preparation: Pour tequila and orange juice into an ice-filled glass. Add grenadine but do not stir to create the “sunrise” effect.
Presentation: Highball Glass, Orange Slice and Cherry
Bartender Comments: Not much in the way of complexity, this is actually fairly tasty as long as a quality grenadine (pomegranate reduction) is used.
Zombie Cocktail?
Ingredients:
1.5 oz. Gold Puerto Rican Rum
1.5 oz. Aged Jamaican Rum
1 oz. Lemon Hart 151
3/4 oz. Lime Juice
1/2 oz. Don’s mix*
1/2 oz. Falernum
1 tsp. Grenadine
1 dash Pernod
1 dash Angostura Bitters
Preparation: Shake with Ice and strain into an ice filled glass. Crushed Ice may be used.
Presentation: Highball glass, or decorative zombie mug creatively garnished with fruit, umbrellas, sparklers or anything else that makes sense for the mood.
History: Donn Beach first created the Zombie in 1934 at his Don the Beachcomber’s restaurant in Hollywood. It is thought that he created it to help a hungover customer get though an upcoming business meeting. The 1939 New York World’s Fair was a catalyst for the drink’s popularity. Donn Beach was quite secretive about his recipes, and would often conceal ingredients and use code names for proprietary syrups to ensure that he was the only one who knew the complete recipes. in Jeff “Beachbum” Berry’s Sippin Safari he reports presents three different recipes for the zombie between 1934 and 1956.
Preparation and Variations: *Don’s Mix: Two parts white grapefruit juice, combined with one part cinnamon infused syrup
The Zombie has not only been re-imagined by many bartenders around the world, it has also spawned the creation of many other cocktails in the tiki genre.
