Chartreuse Swizzle

It's January, and you know what that means - it's time to Tiki the Snow Away! This midwinter celebration of all things Tiki was started by Dani DeLuca and Nic Titze. Living in Boston, it's usually a welcome escape from the cold and snow for me. This year is a bit odd - no snow to Tiki away and temperatures in the 40's. It's practically tropical.

If you missed my overview of the Tiki movement and its history last year, check it out. Tiki is all about kitsch and fun and crazy garnishes. It doesn't take itself too seriously. But you'd never be able to tell that given the cocktail recipes it has produced - elaborate, delicious constructions of juices and rums and spices. If you're interested in getting started making your own Tiki cocktails at home, definitely check out Martin Cate's book Smuggler's Cove.

Smuggler's Cove was where I found this recipe for the Chartreuse Swizzle, and I'm so glad I did. With no rum in sight, it's not a traditional Tiki cocktail, but it is a take on a very Tiki sort of drink, the swizzle. Swizzles are built in their tall glasses with crushed ice and traditionally mixed using a swizzle stick - not a little plastic thing like the one in these photos, but an actual branch from the aptly-named Swizzlestick Tree. The stick is rubbed between your palms, kind of like you're a Boy Scout trying to start a fire. The prongs at the bottom spin and mix the drink to frosty perfection. If you don't have a real swizzle stick (I don't), then a barspoon will do.

The Chartreuse Swizzle showcases everyone's favorite liqueur, Green Chartreuse. Mixed with lime, pineapple, and some Velvet Falernum, it's a bright and herbaceous, a perfect canvas for this unique spirit and a real standout among Tiki cocktails.

History: The Chartreuse Swizzle was created by Marcovaldo Dionysos of Smuggler's Cove itself in the early 2000's. It has since become one of the "new classics" of the cocktail world.

Chartreuse Swizzle

1.5 oz. Green Chartreuse
1/2 oz. Velvet Falernum
1 oz. pineapple juice
3/4 lime juice

Combine all ingredients in a tall glass and fill it with crushed ice until it is about 3/4 full. Insert a barspoon or swizzle stick and swizzle until the drink is chilled and the glass is frosty. Top with additional crushed ice. Garnish with a mint sprig and grated nutmeg.

Recipe from Smuggler's Cove: Exotic Cocktails, Rum, and the Cult of Tiki.

Aztec Marigold with Sparkling Ice

I've got a cocktail for you today that tastes like autumn sunshine! I was inspired by Halloween and Day of the Dead coming up to make this citrusy tequila drink with a spicy kick. It gets its gorgeous color and fizz from Orange Mango Sparkling Ice, a zero-calorie, zero-sugar sparkling water.

To be honest, I'm not usually a fan of zero-calorie anything (besides water). But Sparkling Ice is something special. After I took a sip I actually turned the bottle around to check the label and make sure I wasn't mistaken about the calorie count! Its fresh, vibrant flavors and hint of sweetness are perfect for cocktails. It really compliments other ingredients without overpowering them, giving you plenty of room to get creative. And of course it adds that perfect fizz. I like that you can go crazy and make a really elaborate drink with it, but it's still tasty enough that a splash of vodka and a squeeze of lime would be utter perfection. (Utter, low-calorie perfection at that!)

Obviously, though, I usually like to go a bit crazier than that when it comes to my cocktails.

With Day of the Dead next week, a tequila cocktail seemed like the perfect pairing for Orange Mango Sparkling Ice. And my favorite thing to do with a tequila cocktail is add a bit of spice. So I infused some reposado tequila with jalapeño overnight before mixing it with pineapple juice, lime juice, and a blood orange syrup (because if winter has to come, then we'd better at least take advantage of some beautiful winter citrus). Topped off with Orange Mango Sparkling Ice, it's a super refreshing cocktail with just a bit of bite!

I named this drink the Aztec Marigold for its bright, sunny color. These marigolds are also called Mexican Marigolds or flores de muertos ("flowers of the dead"). They're often used during Day of the Dead celebrations to decorate graves and attract or guide the souls of the dead. Lacking any marigolds, I garnished the drink with yellow chrysanthemums and slices of blood orange.

Aztec Marigold

2 oz. jalapeño-infused reposado tequila*
1 oz. pineapple juice
1/2 oz. lime juice
1/2 oz. blood orange syrup**
3 oz. Orange Mango Sparkling Ice

Combine tequila, pineapple juice, lime juice, and syrup in a shaker with ice and shake until chilled. Strain into a tall rocks glass filled with ice. Top with Orange Mango Sparkling Ice and enjoy!

*For jalapeño-infused tequila, cut a fresh jalapeño in half lengthwise and remove the seeds. Slice it thinly and add it to a mason jar with 1 cup reposado tequila. Let sit overnight, shaking occasionally. Strain out the jalapeño slices before using.

**For blood orange syrup, combine 3/4 cup sugar and 3/4 cup water in a saucepan and bring to a simmer, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Add one blood orange, sliced and then cut into quarters, leaving the skin on. Let simmer for a couple of minutes, smashing the orange pieces with a spoon to release the juice. Remove from the heat and let sit, covered, for 30 minutes. Strain out the orange slices and let cool completely before using. Store in the refrigerator.

This post was sponsored by Sparkling Ice. All opinions are my own.

Condado

I'm so excited today to share a cocktail made in partnership with Bacardi to celebrate the launch of their brand-new Bacardi Añejo Cuatro! This premium blended rum is aged in American Oak for at least four years. Slightly fruity with flavors of vanilla, honey, and toasted oak, it's an amazing rum for cocktails.

In addition to the Anejo Cuatro, I was able to try the re-branded Bacardi Reserva Ocho and the brand new Gran Reserva Diez, which will also be released in April. I have to say a quick word about these as well, because they are fabulous. If you're skeptical that rum can be as enjoyable to sip neat as whiskey, get your hands on one of these bottles. My husband was doubtful when I offered him a glass of rum, and he has since replaced his usual nightcap of Scotch with some Bacardi on the rocks.

Sipping the Bacardi Añejo Cuatro makes me think of the streets of San Juan - brightly colored houses beside shady palms and weathered seaside forts overlooking bright blue water. It's a blend of Old World elegance and Caribbean beauty, and that's what I tried to capture in this cocktail. Lime and pineapple juices are always great with rum and bring some bright tropical notes, but to emphasize the flavors of vanilla and oak, I brûléed the pineapple slices before extracting their juice. It's amazing what a bit of heat or fire can do for flavor. Brown butter, toasted spices, caramelized fruits, smoked wood or herbs... a bit of char can take a drink to an entirely different place. I have yet to use my crème brûlée torch to make actual crème brûlée, but you'd better believe it has seen some use on cocktail ingredients.

Pineapple actually pairs really well with an IPA, a fact that Death & Co taught me with their Strange Brew and Savage Islands cocktails. IPAs are my favorite beers by far, and I've been meaning to try an IPA syrup in a cocktail for some time. This seemed like the perfect opportunity. Along with some Punt e Mes, the hoppy syrup adds sweetness balanced with bitterness. A dash of smoky Scotch adds the finishing touch and helps emphasize the toasted taste of the pineapple. I really like how these flavors play together, and how they all work so well with the Añejo Cuatro. Salud!

Condado

1.5 oz. Bacardi Anejo Cuatro
3/4 oz. Punt e Mes
1 oz. brûléed pineapple juice*
1/2 oz. lime juice
1/4 oz. IPA syrup**
1 dash peaty Scotch (Laphroaig)

Combine all ingredients except Scotch in a shaker with crushed ice and shake until chilled. Open pour into a large brandy snifter. Top with a little more ice and the peaty Scotch. Garnish with pineapple leaves and a piece of brûléed pineapple.

*For brûléed pineapple juice, slice a pineapple into rings, removing the rind and the core. Set rings on a cooling rack or other heatproof surface and pass a torch over them until they begin to blacken. Let cool slightly, flip rings, and repeat. To extract the juice, muddle the rings and then fine-strain the pulp. For the garnish, leave the rind on one of the rings and sprinkle a bit of sugar on before you brûlée it - this gives it a nice caramelized color.

**For IPA syrup, add 1 cup of IPA beer to a saucepan and bring to a simmer. When it foams up, add 3/4 cup Demerara sugar. Continue to simmer, stirring occasionally, until sugar is dissolved and the mixture has reduced to a syrupy consistency.

Jungle Bird

I've got one final Tiki cocktail for you before January's #TikiTheSnowAway campaign ends! It's been a fun month - I tried some new recipes and learned a lot about rum and Tiki drinks. It was definitely a welcome contrast to the cold and snow.

While the Jet Pilot, Navy Grog, and Zombie are all essential Tiki cocktails that date back to the early days of the movement, the Jungle Bird is more like a new classic. It's an extremely popular Tiki cocktail, and one that a lot of other Drinkstagrammers made this month at one point or another. The unique thing about it is the inclusion of Campari, a bitter aperitif that is definitely not part of the traditional Tiki repertoire. As a result, this cocktail provides a fresh take on the usual Tiki formula. It's got all the tropical flavors you expect with a wonderfully bitter twist at the end of your sip. If you like it, you might also enjoy the Bitter Mai Tai, another Tiki drink that includes Campari.

History: The Jungle Bird was invented at the Kuala Lumpur Hilton around 1978. The recipe was included in Beachbum Berry Remixed.

Jungle Bird

1 1/2 oz. black blended rum

3/4 oz. Campari

2 oz. pineapple juice

1/2 oz. lime juice

1/2 oz. SC Demerara syrup*

Combine all ingredients in a mixing tin with crushed ice and a few large agitator cubes. Shake well or flash blend and open pour into a Collins or highball glass. Garnish with pineapple leaves.

*For Smuggler's Cove's Demerara syrup, bring 2 parts water to a boil and whisk in 1 part Demerara sugar. Then add 3 parts granulated sugar and stir until dissolved. Let cool before using.

Recipe adapted from Smuggler's Cove.

Mocktail: Volstead Act

I've got another lovely, vibrantly orange mocktail for you this week, courtesy of a secret ingredient - turmeric. I know I basically just posted a recipe made with turmeric, but throwing that little bit into my fennel syrup made me really want to experiment with putting this interesting ingredient front and center. I'm a little skeptical on all the supposed health benefits of turmeric, but I'm 100% in agreement that it tastes pretty fantastic in a cocktail. So while I was working on this tasty mix of pineapple, lime, ginger, and club soda, I went ahead and tossed in a whole quarter teaspoon. And it really makes an otherwise ordinary drink extraordinary.

I'm calling this non-alcoholic concoction the Volstead Act in honor of the bill that started Prohibition in the United States. It's an intensely tasty drink - tropical and refreshing, with spice and savoriness from the turmeric. Add a little rum and you'd have a positively dreamy cocktail.

This is the first recipe I've made with my fancy-schmancy new juicer from the folks at Simple Utensils, so I had to show it off a bit. I thought I was doing just fine squeezing citrus by hand or using my simple plastic reamer (not sure what you call the type, but it looks a bit like these), but now I'm not sure how I went so long without getting a proper hinged juicer. It's so much cleaner and easier! And I am all about that these days.

Volstead Act

2 oz. pineapple juice
3/4 oz. lime juice
3/4 oz. ginger syrup*
1/4 tsp. turmeric
2 oz. club soda

Combine all ingredients except club soda in a shaker with ice and shake until chilled. Strain into a rocks glass filled with ice. Top with club soda and stir briefly. Garnish with pineapple leaves and dried pineapple slices.

*For ginger syrup, peel and slice a 1-inch piece of fresh ginger and add it to a saucepan with 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 cup water. Bring the mixture to a simmer, stirring occasionally. Lower heat and let simmer for 5 minutes. Then remove from heat and let the syrup steep as it cools. Once it's cool, fine-strain it to remove the ginger.

Mocktail: Consolation Prize

This is a mocktail recipe I've had bookmarked for a while, since long before I became pregnant. It comes from Smitten Kitchen, one of my absolute favorite food blogs. It's basically my go-to for looking up basic recipes, and browsing the archive by ingredient is an endless source of inspiration on nights when I have no idea what to cook. Every recipe I've tried from the blog has been delicious. So when I saw that Deb had posted a mocktail recipe during her pregnancy, I immediately bookmarked it, knowing the day would come when I too would be pregnant and desperate for something resembling a cocktail. The fact that it's basically a combination of a Pina Colada and a Mojito - arguably two of the most delicious summer drinks - only made me want one even more.

This drink is so delicious and refreshing. The smooth, creamy coconut milk smooths out the tart lime and pineapple into tasty perfection. The club soda lightens it up quite a bit, depending how much you use, and turns it from a thick and creamy treat to a refreshing summer sipper. There aren't many mocktails out there that make you feel even luckier than the folks who can drink, but this is one.

Also, can we just talk about the genius name for a minute? Possibly the best mocktail name ever.

Booze it up: I agree with Deb that rum would be the way to go. I'd reach for white rum myself, but as she points out, an aged rum similar to what you'd use in a Pina Colada would probably be lovely as well.

Consolation Prize

5 mint leaves
2 oz. pineapple juice
1 1/2 oz. coconut milk (well-shaken)
1/2 oz. lime juice
1/4 oz. honey
Club soda, to taste

Place mint leaves at the bottom of a shaker and muddle lightly to release the flavor. Add the pineapple juice, coconut milk, lime juice, and honey. Fill the shaker with ice and shake until chilled. Strain into a rocks glass filled with ice and top with club soda. Garnish with lime wedges, mint leaves, and/or pineapple slices.

Recipe adapted from Smitten Kitchen.

Strange Brew

September may be rapidly drawing to a close, but I still have a few more summery cocktail recipes to get out of my system! And most are from the Death & Co cocktail book, since I've been basically obsessed with it for the last few weeks. If you've already got a copy, bear with me while I share some of these delicious concoctions with the rest of the world.

If you're not familiar with Death & Co, it's a small bar that opened in Manhattan's East Village almost ten years ago, focusing on impeccably made craft cocktails in a welcoming, speakeasy-style environment. It was something of a revolutionary philosophy at the time, and the bar quickly soared in popularity. When I was in New York back in January, I managed to get in and get a seat at the bar right away because I was by myself. The cocktails were indeed superb, and the menu was so long and interesting that I could have spent the whole night reading it. (Unfortunately they were pretty strict about taking it back after I'd ordered, because apparently they have a big problem with people stealing them.)

Like the Flor de Jerez, the Strange Brew is one of the first recipes featured at the beginning of the book, which is how it caught my eye early-on. This beer cocktail is indeed a strange brew. The gin blends surprisingly with the pineapple and IPA, resulting in a flavor that was wholly unexpected for me - herbal, tangy, and a tiny bit bitter. It's very refreshing and summery, but quite unique.

History: This cocktail was invented by Thomas Waugh when he was at Death & Co. in 2008. He's currently behind the bar at ZZ's Clam Bar, which looks like a truly unique establishment. The tiny, 12-seat restaurant serves gorgeous tiki cocktails with impeccable presentation, enhanced by the fact that the bartenders wear white tuxedo jackets, gold bowties, and no pants. Unfortunately, I don't think I'll be headed there any time soon, since GQ called it "the most expensive 58 minutes in New York dining."

Anyway, Waugh says in the Death & Co. cocktail book that he and his friends used to drink beer mixed with fresh fruit from the farmer's market in San Francisco, and that pineapple with IPA was always his favorite combination. He named this cocktail after a song by EMF, the B side to their extremely popular "Unbelievable."

Strange Brew

2 oz. gin (Tanqueray No. 10 recommended)
3/4 oz. Velvet Falernum
1 oz. pineapple juice
1/2 oz. lemon juice
Splash of IPA (Green Flash recommended)

Combine all ingredients except IPA in a shaker with three ice cubes (oddly specific, but then this is Death & Co) and give them a short shake. Strain into a Pilsner glass filled with crushed ice. Top with IPA and garnish with a mint sprig (as they recommend) or a slice of pineapple and a couple of pineapple leaves (as I did).

Recipe from Death & Co: Modern Classic Cocktails.

Mari Koriko

Check it out, guys - I've gone full Tiki!

I've mentioned before how intimidated I am by Tiki cocktails, primarily because of how many different rums seem to find their way into a single cocktail. As anyone who reads this blog knows, my budget isn't unlimited, and I'm frequently guilty of substituting ingredients - Scotch for Japanese whiskey, dry vermouth for blanc, triple sec for Cointreau, etc. I would absolutely love to buy five or six different bottles of rum, but it's hard to justify. That said, I do love Tiki cocktails. They're fun, they're utterly drinkable, and they don't take themselves too seriously. And who doesn't love a fun cup and an elaborate garnish? So I hope to slowly ease myself into Tiki with some simpler recipes that use what I've already got in my bar. And in that spirit, I had to buy a Tiki mug. Check out this goofy guy I got from the Boston Shaker!

If you want some great Tiki recipes, check out Fred Yarm's blog Cocktail Virgin Slut. It's great for cocktails of all sorts, but the Tiki glassware and garnishes always catch my eye. It was here that I found the Mari Koriko, a Tiki cocktail that it seemed I could actually make. Dark rum, pineapple juice, Cherry Heering, Falernum, and lime. I know Cherry Heering and Falernum aren't things most people have in their bar, but it just so happens that I have both, and I'd say they're solid investments for your bar as well. Technically the recipe calls for Zacapa rum, an aged Guatemalan rum, but Fred used Gosling's, so that's good enough for me.

As you can maybe guess from the ingredients, the Mari Koriko is fruity and delicious. The dark rum is flavorful enough that it doesn't get swamped out by the other ingredients. I love the Cherry Heering, which gives it a beautiful, rich cherry flavor and, along with the Falernum, a hint of spice.

History: This cocktail comes from Sean Dumke at Knee High Stocking Co. in Seattle via Fred Yarm. There's a fantastic story behind its name. The word Tiki, it turns out, comes from the mythology of the Maori, the native people of New Zealand. In their tradition, Tiki was the first man. And Marikoriko was his wife, the first woman. They're basically the Maori version of Adam and Eve.

I think one reason I was particularly surprised by this is because I associate Tiki cocktails with Polynesia (a kitschy and Americanized version of it, but still), and I never thought of New Zealand as part of Polynesia. But it turns out that it is, both ethnically and geologically.

There's so much you can learn from cocktails!

Mari Koriko

1 1/2 oz. dark rum (Zacapa or Gosling's recommended)
3/4 oz. pineapple juice
1/2 oz. Cherry Heering
1/2 oz. Falernum (I used John D. Taylor's Velvet Falernum)
1/2 oz. lime juice

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice and shake until chilled. Strain into a rocks glass or an appropriately kitschy Tiki glass filled with ice. Garnish with a lime wheel and a cherry, or whatever else you can think of.

Recipe from Cocktail Virgin Slut.

Singapore Sling

As I assembled the laundry list of ingredients to make the Singapore Sling on my counter, I realized that I've been preparing you for this cocktail. I've written about gin, introduced Cherry Heering and Benedictine, and told you how to make real grenadine. Add some pineapple juice, lime, and bitters, and you have a Singapore Sling.

Since I'm making this cocktail for the first time, I chose to go with the recipe served at the cocktail's birthplace, the Raffles Hotel. As you'll find out below, the Raffles recipe is almost certainly not the original, which probably didn't contain pineapple juice. I think nixing the pineapple would make for a much better cocktail, but you could argue that today such a drink wouldn't be considered a Singapore Sling anymore.

In its current form, the Singapore Sling is a tropical drink through and through. It's the sort of thing you'd feel much better sipping on a beach than in your own home. I don't really see myself fixing one on a regular basis. I prefer my drinks, even my tiki drinks, a bit more spirit-forward. But it was really fun to make, and I'm glad it's now in my repertoire. I might experiment with a more classic gin sling recipe that doesn't use the pineapple. But this recipe would be a fun option for a party, and would be easy to make big batches of.

History: Classically, it's believed that the Singapore Sling was invented in (you guessed it) Singapore, at the Long Bar of the Raffles Hotel, by bartender Ngiam Tong Boon sometime around 1915. But, as usual, this is probably not true.

The first mention of a "sling" in Singapore comes from 1897, and people were already drinking cocktails that were very similar to the Singapore Sling between then and the date of its supposed invention in 1915. They were usually just called gin slings. Travelers wrote about drinking gin slings at the Raffles post-1915, but those who included a recipe make no mention of pineapple juice, which makes up most of the drink today. For example, in his 1922 Cocktails and How to Mix Them, Robert Vermiere provides what is considered the earliest recipe for a Singapore Sling (called a Straits Sling), and it's only gin, Benedictine, cherry brandy, lemon, bitters, and club soda.  So where did the story - and all that pineapple juice - come from?

The Raffles Hotel

Well, the Raffles wasn't doing well in the 1970's, and its new manager decided to try and harken back to its glory days by reviving its colonial-era feel. Part of this was resurrecting the Singapore Sling. The original recipe had been lost, but something close was supposedly pieced together from old menus, the memories of the bartenders, and a recipe scrawled on the back of a receipt from 1936 that may or may not exist. That something is the recipe below. Cocktail historians agree that it sounds much more like a recipe from the 1970's invented to sell cocktails than a classic sipped by Joseph Conrad and Rudyard Kipling the 1910's.

In the midst of this cocktail resurrection, one of the bartenders, Ngiam Dee Suan, claimed that it had been his uncle Ngiam Tong Boon who had invented the Singapore Sling. This is the first mention of Ngian Tong Boon in connection to the drink, so there's not really any hard evidence that he invented it, especially given the popularity of gin slings in Singapore before 1915. But the Raffles jumped on the possibility, and now claims that they have Ngiam Tong Boon's recipe books and his original Singapore Sling recipe locked away in their safe, quite an impressive bluff.

For more details on the Singapore Sling, check out these pieces by David Wondrich, Worldfoodist, and George Sinclair.

Our Raffles postcard, currently part of a gallery wall in our apartment.

GarnishGuy and I went to Singapore in 2008 and got to wander around the Raffles a bit. It was absolutely gorgeous. It's impossible not to be enchanted by the sparkling white architecture, lush gardens, and Sikh doormen in impeccable uniforms. The hotel opened in 1887, and is named for Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, who negotiated the founding of the first British trade post on Singapore.

Knowing that the Raffles was the birthplace of the Singapore Sling, I really wanted to try one there, but they're about $28. Today it doesn't seem like much for the experience, but back then it seemed crazy. In the more expensive countries we visited (Singapore included), we were staying in hostels and living off spaghetti. We'd also just come from Malaysian Borneo, where you could get a huge plate of mee goreng for next to nothing, so we weren't about to shell out $60 on cocktails. We bought a postcard instead.

Singapore Sling

1 oz. gin
1/2 oz. Cherry Heering
1/4 oz. Benedictine
1/4 oz. Cointreau
4 oz. pineapple juice
1/2 oz. lime juice
1/3 oz. grenadine
1 dash Angostura bitters

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake well; you want a nice froth on the top from the pineapple juice. Strain into a tall glass filled with ice. Garnish with a pineapple slice and a cherry.

Recipe from the Raffles Long Bar via Viet World Kitchen.

Mary Pickford

This is the last recipe for Pink Week here on Garnish, and imagine my dismay when I made it and found that it was not, in fact, pink. I guess my homemade grenadine doesn't have quite enough red pigment in it for the Mary Pickford. Most pictures you see of this cocktail are pink, but I assure you, if yours turns out more of a peachy color, you haven't done anything wrong.

Grenadine admittedly plays a supporting role in the Mary Pickford, but it does the job well. The key players are white rum and pineapple juice, with a bit of maraschino liqueur to round out the taste. It's a very tropical drink, but it's not over-the-top. For one thing, the recipe I made had 2 oz. of rum, resulting in a pretty strong cocktail. The maraschino liqueur also lends an edge of sophistication to the taste. It's definitely a cocktail to keep in mind for any sort of tropical or beach-themed party, or as a go-to for friends who like their drinks fairly sweet.

Mary Pickford

History: Mary Pickford was a star of the silent film era, known as "America's Sweetheart" (even though she was from Canada). She won the second-ever Academy Award for Best Actress in 1929 for her performance in Coquette. Like many affluent Americans of the time, she and her husband Douglas Fairbanks vacationed in Cuba to escape Prohibition laws. It seems clear that a bartender at a Havana hotel created this cocktail for Mary and gave it her name; what is unclear is who and where. It seems it was either Eddie Woelke at the Hotel Nacional de Cuba or Fred Kaufman at the Hotel Sevilla. Doug Ford over at Cold Glass tells me that Kaufman has the better claim. Check out his post on the cocktail as well.

Mary Pickford

2 oz. white rum
1 1/2 oz. pineapple juice
1 tsp. grenadine
1/4 oz. maraschino liqueur

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice and shake until chilled. Strain into a cocktail or coupe glass. Garnish with cherries if desired.

Recipe from Vintage Cocktails.

Pina Colada

When I first started drinking, I loved the really sweet stuff. The first things I bought for my bar were Midori, Malibu, and Peach Schnapps. Now the thought of making any of those things the main ingredient in a cocktail makes me nauseous. I guess it's a natural progression.

But that's not to say that sweet, tropical drinks don't have a place in an "adult" cocktail repertoire. Some, like the Mai Tai and the Daiquiri and the Singapore Sling, are still considered respectable when made correctly. Tiki bars seem to be experiencing a small resurgence in our current retro-obsessed craft-cocktail movement (most recently, I went to Beachbum Berry's Latitude 29 in New Orleans and want to go back and try every single thing on the menu). And finally, there are the drinks that are just too good to give up on. The ones that might be meant for sitting beachside but are honestly just as good if you're on your couch. The ones you want to drink in large quantities following a breakup (because whiskey would just be too much of a downer).

The Pina Colada is one such drink.

Say whatever you will about it. I love Pina Coladas (but not getting caught in the rain, that kinda sucks). And there is no way I was going to leave it off of my list of cocktails just because it's a little frou-frou. No. I insist that the Pina Colada is a perfectly respectable cocktail. And I'm going to keep making them. So there.

History: The Pina Colada was (probably) invented in Puerto Rico in the 1950's or 60's. I say probably because there is a popular legend that it came about long before this, and - like any really good legend - it involves pirates. Specifically, El Pirata Colfresi, Roberto Colfresi. He turned to piracy after his wealthy Puerto Rican family went bankrupt. After the death of Jean Lafitte in 1823, he became the biggest pirate threat in the Caribbean. Legend says that he would give his men a mixture of coconut, pineapple, and rum to improve morale. And thus the Pina Colada was born. Unfortunately, it died with Colfresi as well, when he was executed in 1825.

Much as I love the image of a grisly pirate sipping on a refreshing Pina Colada with a little umbrella in the cup, there isn't really much to back up this story. And even if was true, the recipe was lost. But if you'd like to cling to this bit of Puerto Rican folklore, perhaps it isn't so much who invented the Pina Colada in the 1950's as who rediscovered it.

There are three contenders. First, we have Ramon "Monchito" Marrero Perez, a bartender at the Beachcomber Bar in the Caribe Hilton of San Juan. He is credited with introducing the new drink in either 1952 or 1954. A fellow named Jose L. Diaz de Villegas, supposedly a friend of Monchito's, recently co-authored a book on Puerto Rican cuisine, Puerto Rico: La Gran Cocina del Caribe (in English here). He provides what he considers to be the original recipe. I haven't gotten my hands on a copy of the book yet to confirm that he really does claim to have known Monchito.

Others claim it was not Monchito at all who introduced the Pina Colada at the Caribe Hilton, but a Spanish bartender named Ricardo Garcia. The story goes that he was unable to make the bar's signature drink, the Coco Loco, because the coconut plantation workers had gone on strike. (The bar usually hollowed out a coconut to serve the drink in.) So the resourceful Garcia hollowed out pineapples instead, added some pineapple juice to the mix, and invented the Pina Colada.

Finally, the Barrachina Bar in San Juan also claims credit for the cocktail. Their bartender Ramon Portas Mingot may have invented it in 1963. That's an awfully big time gap for something as delicious as the Pina Colada to stay out of the historical record, but who knows. Maybe everybody was too drunk to write anything down about it.

One thing ties all of the disparate origins of the Pina Colada together: Coco Lopez cream of coconut. This mixture of coconut cream and sugar was created in Puerto Rico in 1948 by Don Ramon Lopez-Irizarry, a scientist and entrepreneur who developed a more effective way to remove the cream from coconuts. Coco Lopez became hugely popular, and the Pina Colada might never have come about without it.

So. If I want to make a Pina Colada, what recipe do I use? There are a ton of variations out there. Most stick to the usual rum/pineapple juice/coconut cream formula, but none seem to have the same proportions. Some, including the "original" recipe on the Caribe Hilton's website, also add cream. Some use white rum, some golden rum.

What's a girl to do but try them all? You know... for science.

One last note: A few sources say that the original at the Caribe Hilton was shaken, but otherwise a blender is always involved. Unlike the Margarita or the Daiquiri, which pre-date blenders, the Pina Colada was invented well after they came around, so it seems they were meant to be blended.

1. "Original" Pina Colada - Caribe Hilton

     2 oz. white rum

     1 oz. coconut cream

     1 oz. heavy cream

     6 oz. pineapple juice

     1/2 cup crushed ice

The heavy cream in this one gave it an extremely creamy texture. If I let it sit for more than a couple of moments, it would separate and the cream would collect on top. Flavor-wise, it's missing something. The cream muffles the taste of the other ingredients. Plus, it makes an already bad-for-you drink into a true calorie bomb. Not worth it, in my opinion.

2. "Original" Pina Colada - Jose L. Diaz de Villegas

     1 1/2 oz. rum (type not specified, so I went half and half)

     3 oz. coconut cream

     6 oz. pineapple juice

     crushed ice (no amount specified, so I used about 3/4 cup)

Yum. This is my winner. It's the perfect combination of ingredients. I taste the rum, but it's not overpowering. It's the perfect ratio of coconut to pineapple, and the flavor is big and central. Love it.

3. Pina Colada - Esquire/David Wondrich

     2 1/2 oz. golden rum

     1 oz. coconut cream

     3 oz. pineapple juice

     1 cup crushed ice or 5-6 ice cubes

Notably higher in alcohol content than the others, this one tasted too boozy. I have no objection to strong drinks if they're well-balanced, but I really want to taste the pineapple and coconut in this one. I think the ice contributed to it as well. If it sat for a while, it got watered down. It also separated as quickly as the Caribe Hilton recipe.

4. Pina Colada - Liquor.com

     1 1/2 oz. light or gold rum (I used half and half)

     2 oz. coconut cream

     2 oz. pineapple juice

     Ice (no amount specified; I used 3/4 cup)

This one is also good, especially if you like a higher ratio of coconut to pineapple. For me, it was just a bit too sweet and coconuty. I'd happily drink it if you gave me one, but when I compare it to the recipe by Diaz de Villegas, it lacks the nice tang of pineapple. Just a note: I had to increase the recipe by 50% to reach the volume of the others.

So here is the winner. You're welcome.

Pina Colada

1 1/2 oz. white or golden rum (or half and half)
3 oz. coconut cream
6 oz. pineapple juice
~3/4 cup ice

Combine ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Garnish with a slice of pineapple and a cherry. Don't be ashamed - it's delicious.

Recipe from Wikipedia, probably taken from Puerto Rico: La Gran Cocina del Caribe.