Shake everything except cola with ice, then stir in cola and pour into an old-fashioned glass. Add more ice to fill if necessary. Garnish with a maraschino cherry and an orange slice.
Hank Riddle’s twist on the classic Suffering Bastard, originally created by Joe Scialom of Shepheard’s Hotel in Cairo. This sweet and spicy beverage is no longer spicy, ginger beer was replaced by Coca-Cola, which left it extra sweet. To me the simple syrup wasn’t necessary.
I actually quite enjoyed it, partly because Hank’s version is not as watered down as the original (only 1 oz mixer), as well as the fact that this is probably the first time I had a drink with brandy and cola together. To my surprise, they are a good match.
Shake everything with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
From the Pago Pago in Tuscon, circa 1960s. This is one of those blue drinks out there that actually taste pretty decent. The drink obviously doesn’t look blue despite containing blue curaçao, the lime juice and pink grapefruit juice will turn it into a green-ish colour. Flavour-wise it’s very pleasant to say the least; it tastes like a cross between Trader Vic’s Mai Tai (rum, lime, orgeat, curaçao) and a Margarita (tequila, orange, lime); I know this is merely a twist on the original version of the Vicious Virgin, but I’m pretty sure the Margarita Mai Tai was what the creator was aiming for when coming up with this one.
This just reinforced the idea that “not all blue drinks are bad.” Blue curaçao couldn’t have done a better job here; although to be fair, using the orange version of the liqueur would have produced the exact same result, but without the vicious look.
Blend everything with 1/2 cup crushed ice and pour into a tall glass or specialty glass. Add more crushed ice to fill.
From the Pieces Of Eight restaurant, Marina Del Rey, California. I can never so no to a Sour sweetened with passion fruit syrup, like I said before, all Tiki drinks should have passion fruit in them. The drink stings the back of your tongue with sourness, because the syrup can’t quite manage two citrus juices at once, it balances out the lemon, but the extra small amount of lime gives out an edge.
Blend everything with 3 oz crushed ice and pour into a tall glass filled with crushed ice. Garnish with a parasol and a pineapple wedge.
Tiki isn’t all about getting shitfaced on rum.
Okay, it is, but there are other ways to experience the tropics without the help of alcohol, but with similar level of fun. This is the teetotalism of Tiki cocktails.
According Beachbum, this drink was based on the Princess Anne, from the Hawaiian Punch Pavilion, Sea World, San Diego. It is of course very sweet and fruity, main flavour is the pineapple… Actually what am I talking about, there really isn’t that much flavour in it: pineapple juice and grenadine are the only two flavouring component in there, now surely one juice plus syrup don’t make a drink. Look on the bright side though, this is suitable for anyone.
Blend everything with 1/2 cup crushed ice and pour into a tall glass, add more ice to fill. Garnish witha spent lime shell.
From the Eye Of The Needle restaurant on top of Seattle’s Space Needle. Originally designed to serve two, I’ve tweaked it for one. 2 1/4 oz rum makes it strong, but watered down by the juices and crushed ice, making it refreshing; cranberry and limes forms a tart duo, and this was soothed by the orange juice and lightly balanced by the sugar.
Shake everything with crushed ice and strain into a chilled sour glass or cocktail glass.
From the Rubaiyat Cocktail Lounge of Omar Khayyam’s restaurant, San Francisco, circa 1939. A good Southern Comfort cocktail is hard to find, not that there is anything wrong with this liqueur, but the way it’s been abused by today’s bartenders. Omar’s Delight is not bad, it uses Southern Comfort as base, hence the biting sweetness, but luckily the drink is more or less balanced by the lemon juice.
This is one of those drinks I’d strongly recommend using Grand Marnier for the orange curaçao.
Shake everything with crushed ice and pour into a pilsner glass.
The Planter’s Punch, one of the most well-known name in Tiki cocktails. But interestingly enough, there is no definite recipe for it. It’s safe to say that every bartender has his/her own way to make this one. Planter’s Punch started off as a very simple Punch, or Sour rather, as I’d like to think of it as. “One of sour, two of sweet, three of strong, four of weak.” was the original rule applied. “Sour” was lime juice, “sweet” was sugar syrup, “strong” is Jamaican rum, and “weak” is obviously water. This basic formula was then complicated: by adding other citrus juice to lime, such as grapefruit juice, sometimes even tropical fruit like pineapple; sweetener is no longer just sugar, various liqueurs or/and syrups were incorporated for a more interesting concoction; and lastly, two or three different rums can be fused together to give some depth.
This very Planter’s Punch is from Skipper Kent’s, San Francisco, 1954. It is by far the simplest version I’ve seen: orange and lemon made the “sour”; chocolate liqueur is the “sweet”; two very obtainable rums made the “strong”; and crushed ice froms the “weak”. Crème de cacao actually balances out the citrus quite well, and it’s chocolate flavour differenciate it from the others sharing the same name. Make sure you use a smaller pilsner glass, as common pilsner glasses out there are at least 14 oz in volume; I’d recommend using one that has 10 - 12 oz.
Shake everything except soda with ice and pour into a pilsner glass. Add more ice to fill if necessary. Garnish with a lime spiral.
Created by Thomas Mario, food and drink editor of Playboy magazine, circa 1970. The style of mixed drinks known as the Slings had gone through many changes through the centuries. It went from something that’s made of three essential ingredients (spirit, sugar and water) to complex versions such as this, containing citrus juice and sometimes even spices. Let’s face it, the classic Slings are perhaps too simple to survive the test of time, it needed to evolve to suit people’s changing palate. The Gin Sling today is nothing more than a Collins, lime or lemon juice became one of the major ingredients; water used to cut down the strength is replaced by carbonated water; and various liqueurs are used to sweeten it, some fruity, some herbal.
The Oahu Gin Sling, despite the fact that it’s hardly a real Sling, is quite delicious nevertheless. Following the recipe above, you’ll get a drink that’s slightly too sweet for my taste, omitting the extra sugar syrup should help; despite the acid inside soda water can reduce the sweetness to a certain point, bear in mind lime juice is far from sour enough to balance out the liqueurs (as lemon juice would).
The garnish is suppose to look like a horse’s neck. Cut a long, continuous strip of lime peel from top to bottom. Place the peel inside the glass, hooking one end to the rim. Limes are not as big as lemons, therefore it’s hard to achieve the same result as you would in a Horse’s Neck cocktail, especially when this is served in a tall pilsner glass.
Build everything in an Octopus mug or snifter filled with crushed ice. Garnish with a slice of papaya and an orchid.
Created by Al Hong of the Waikiki Trader Vic’s. “Much more lethal than the Scorpion,” says on the menu at Trader Vic’s. “It brings out the many arms of you.”
Indeed so, it may not look as sinister in a large snifter as it would its original Octopus tiki mug, but don’t underestimate its strength. The 151-proof rum manages to pierce through the mask, all the juices and soda (and crushed ice) won’t be able to hold it down. There is that powerful kick mixed within tropical fruitiness, the drink is neither sour nor very sweet, the sweetness from the juices was easily cut down by the dilution, bring out the bite from the spirit even more.
For the overproof rum you can choose between Bacardi and Cruzan. You can use either passion fruit juice or nectar.
Muddle the pineapple chunk and guava jelly with lime juice, add everything else and shake with ice. Strain into a goblet with a large ice cube. Garnish with a lime wedge, a pineapple slice, and a mint sprig.
From Merchant Hotel in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Not exactly a place you’d expect a tropical drink, but then again, no tropical drinks were truely invented in the tropics. Most of well-known Tiki drinks out there were created by European or American bartenders to attract customers who wanted a Tiki experience without spending money travelling.
I’d highly recommend using homemade guava jelly which you get to choose its sweetness, the drink should be sweet enough on its own without the extra sugar. For the demerara syrup, it’s the same as simple syrup but made with demerara/brown sugar.
Because the drink was made in the UK, you get measurements like 1/3 or 2/3 oz. 1/3 oz is the equivalent of 10 ml, which is also 2 teaspoons in case your jigger doesn’t have this amount on it. 1 2/3 oz is 50 ml.
