Post #319411 by telescopes on Tue, Jul 17, 2007 8:01 PM

Something that I have been wondering about concerning the Trader versus Donn Beach is why does the Trader's drinks taste so much more more "palatable" to the modern senses. In fact, I am starting to believe that the Trader's drinks are perhaps an evolutionary step, a missing link between Donn's drinks and the modern Island drinks that we have today.

If Donn were alive today, how might he make his tropical drinks - using the materials available to today's drinker? Would his drinks be more similar to the Trader's or would they be more in line with what you find in a Margaritaville? Certainly, a Beachcomber drink from the 30's has a somewhat different DNA than the Beachcomber drinks designed in the 60's. (Look at the Zombie he designed in the 30's in "Dick's notebook" versus his Caberet Zombie in 1956. Perhaps Vic's drinks, the use of more lemon and less reliance on rare ingrediants such as Falarnum and Pernod or even the use of Anagostora explains why he is still in business today. What is it about a Pina Colada that makes it timeless and universally enjoyed? This is not to diminish Donn's drinks at all, in fact, they stand alone in thier unique wonderful qualities, but the modern drinker simply isn't attracted to a test pilot the way they are to a margarita and before we beat up on the modern drinker, remember, the modern drinkers of Donn's time made him millions. I think the Trader hooked on to something that allowed him to move from the drinking taste of the 30's and remain in business today.

Donnybrook!

[ Edited by: telescopes 2007-07-17 21:05 ]