Some tiki drink tips

Here are some I'd picked up, hopefully by reading this thread I can pick up some more. :)

• You get more juice from citrus if you smack them around a bit beforehand. You don't want to break the skin or anything, but you want the citrus to be squishy instead of firm when you take the knife to it.

• A lot of tiki drinks that call for a gold rum and a white rum aren't trying to turn you into a master blender. :wink: They're following an old trick of Don the Beachcomber's (I think) where you mix together different amounts of rum from the same distillery, one unaged (or as close as you can get) and the other extra-aged, so you can always get just the right amount of "aged" flavor without having to mess around with multiple bottlings of the same rum at different years. I use Castillo Silver and Bacardi 8 for this.

So what are your tiki drink tips?

Always shake with crushed ice, and shake in a figure-eight motion.
It creates the correct amount of meltage(water) required in tiki drinks, and chills them to a good, very cold temperature.

It's common practice to firmly roll your citrus before you juice it. Easier than beating it up.

I may be dispelling the mystery, but, in my opinion, the real reason for using crushed ice instead of cubed is you can pour an ounce less beverage in a glass of crushed ice than in a glass of cubed ice and fill it. Thus, you give the customer less drink for their money and they are none the wiser!

Don Beach was a genius!

My best drink tip, always double the recipe. Why? It makes the measurements easier (1/2 ounce which requires a table spoon, becomes and ounce which uses a jigger; 1 1/2 ounces similarly becomes 3 ounces...). It also allows a little more error room. The larger the batch, the better the batch, usually.

On 2006-07-11 10:47, mbanu wrote:
... A lot of tiki drinks that call for a gold rum and a white rum aren't trying to turn you into a master blender. :wink: ...

It is more than that. Most drinks call for not just Light and Dark rum, but specify a Jamaican and a Martinique rum. The different distilleries using different canes grown in different soils and climates add quite a bit to the flavor of the rum, and therefore add quite a bit of complexity to the drink.

And my tip... The important thing is the rhythm. You shouId aIways have rhythm in your shaking. A Manhattan you shake to a fox trot. A Bronx to a two-step time. A dry martini you aIways shake to waItzes.

One more shaker tip, as soon as you are done pouring the drink, take the top off of your shaker. It is less likely to stick together that way.

On 2006-07-11 16:03, Chip and Andy wrote:

On 2006-07-11 10:47, mbanu wrote:
... A lot of tiki drinks that call for a gold rum and a white rum aren't trying to turn you into a master blender. :wink: ...

It is more than that. Most drinks call for not just Light and Dark rum, but specify a Jamaican and a Martinique rum. The different distilleries using different canes grown in different soils and climates add quite a bit to the flavor of the rum, and therefore add quite a bit of complexity to the drink.

Well, this is one of those Trader Vic style vs. Don the Beachcomber style things, I think. (Could be wrong) I get the impression that the way Trader Vic went about making drinks was to find the perfect rum, and then build a drink around it. Then if/when the rum became scare, to blend together a bunch of other rums to replicate the flavor of the original. It's what he did with the Mai Tai when he ran out of the 17 year Jamaican, and it's what he did with the Scorpion when he couldn't find a reliable source of okolehao. So with his drinks, it might not apply. After all, he didn't steal all of Don's tricks, or he'd have had drunken mynah birds in all his bars. :)

[ Edited by: mbanu 2006-07-11 19:28 ]

Make crushed ice by placing ice into a plastic bag, wrap in tea towel and smack it ta betsy with a rolling pin.

I know this sound a crap tip but i spent ages using ice crushers to make a tiny amount of shaved ice and a lot of sweat. Also if you just wrap the ice in the towel it sticks to the cloth and often gets flavoured by your washing powder, not good and use a clean plastic bag, an old breadbag put unwanted breadcrumbs in a mai tai.

A little common sense thing I am just starting to use...

Do all your mixing with a bar towel on the counter/bar. You are going to make a mess, and it'll be a sticky one. And you will be drinking, so you won't care. Next day, you will care and you may find stained counters (Grenadine is the worst!) or ants... Plan on it ahead of time and just work over a towel.

I find Crushed Ice in your shaker chills the drink much quicker than Ice Cubes, especially when making drinks that require no ice in the final product, ie. A Daquiri.

On 2006-07-11 16:03, Chip and Andy wrote:
And my tip... The important thing is the rhythm. You shouId aIways have rhythm in your shaking. A Manhattan you shake to a fox trot. A Bronx to a two-step time. A dry martini you aIways shake to waItzes.

Ah, the Thin Man!

I have never been able to master it, but I saw an elderly female bartender in Tahiti who crushed ice at a rapid pace by holding the cube in her hand, wacking it with a wooden muddler tool, throwing the crushed ice in the glass and repeating with the next cube.

I agree with atomictonytiki. Back in the 60's, my father used an ice bag with a little bat which he used to make crushed ice for drinks. The bag was made of a tightly woven canvas-like material and the ice didn't stick to it. Over the years I've seen these things at specialty cooking shops from time to time, but have always kicked myself later for not picking one up. Haven't seen one in quite a while. Any clues where to get one??

[ Edited by: quickiki 2006-07-12 13:59 ]

These are all great tips! Here's another--when doubling a recipe, you may NOT want to double the Pernod. Pernod: RUINER OF ALL!

Actually, in all seriousness, Pernod is tough to double. Usually if one drink calls for 1/8 tsp., you can get by with 1/8 tsp in 2. If you use 1/4 it usually tastes too strong. Not sure why it works that way, it just does.

The important thing is the rhythm. You shouId aIways have rhythm in your shaking. A Manhattan you shake to a fox trot. A Bronx to a two-step time. A dry martini you aIways shake to waltzes.

I know it's a film quote, but lest anyone be confused...

Never shake a martini. Please.

Ahu

Back in the 60's, my father used an ice bag with a little bat which he used to make crushed ice for drinks. The bag was made of a tightly woven canvas-like material and the ice didn't stick to it. Over the years I've seen these things at specialty cooking shops from time to time, but have always kicked myself later for not picking one up. Haven't seen one in quite a while. Any clues where to get one??

I've seen this ice bag before at Sur La Table, but can't find it in their online store.

On 2006-07-13 16:03, Rum Balls wrote:

Back in the 60's, my father used an ice bag with a little bat which he used to make crushed ice for drinks. The bag was made of a tightly woven canvas-like material and the ice didn't stick to it. Over the years I've seen these things at specialty cooking shops from time to time, but have always kicked myself later for not picking one up. Haven't seen one in quite a while. Any clues where to get one??

I've seen this ice bag before at Sur La Table, but can't find it in their online store.

I'm not sure if this is what you are talking about, but I found The Lewis Ice Bag online.

Honestly, I'd get out the electric. It may be a bit of a pain, but compared to the hammer technique, it's not. You can get a good vinatge electric crusher for under $20 shipped. I would not go the hand crack crusher route though. Those things are really worthless unless you are on a picnic or something away from electricity. But even then, crush in advance.

I'm not sure if this is what you are talking about, but I found The Lewis Ice Bag online.

That's the one I've seen.

Thanks Rum Balls & tikimug! That looks pretty similar to the ones I've seen, although the ice bag looks a little on the small side. I'll have to check out Sur La Table to see it in person. They have a lot of odd kitchen gadgets for sure.

So how ghetto is it if I use a Blender Bottle as a shaker?

You can make larger batches of syrup and can them in mason jars as long as they are acidic enough. Passionfruit syrup is, so you can make it once a year and store the jars in your pantry with no loss of quality.

I am an experienced canner, so please feel free to ask me any questions about it. You don't need any special equipment, just a pot deep enough that the jars can be covered by at least an inch of water.

Rummy_Dearest -- am I understanding that the jars must be able to be covered by 1 inch of water because they are sterilized by immersion in heated water? If so, I understand that 180 degrees is the minimum temp required to make syrup containers sterile, does that sound right? Thanks for the offer of advice, sharing is caring!

On 2016-07-01 18:22, Tiki Drifter wrote:
So how ghetto is it if I use a Blender Bottle as a shaker?

If it works for you, then I can't see how it would be an issue. Make drinks, and have fun!

On 2016-07-08 09:22, AceExplorer wrote:
Rummy_Dearest -- am I understanding that the jars must be able to be covered by 1 inch of water because they are sterilized by immersion in heated water? If so, I understand that 180 degrees is the minimum temp required to make syrup containers sterile, does that sound right? Thanks for the offer of advice, sharing is caring!

Yes, this requires more explanation.

On 2016-07-08 09:22, AceExplorer wrote:
Rummy_Dearest -- am I understanding that the jars must be able to be covered by 1 inch of water because they are sterilized by immersion in heated water? If so, I understand that 180 degrees is the minimum temp required to make syrup containers sterile, does that sound right? Thanks for the offer of advice, sharing is caring!

Yes, that is correct. Assuming glass mason jars, they should be at this temperature (you can just boil them, easier to tell that the water is at the correct temperature) for 10 minutes, plus one additional minute per 1,000 feet of altitude.

All the harmful bacteria, fungi etc. will be killed at 175 degrees, except for botulism.

This process will help your syrups keep longer in the fridge; however, if you want a syrup to be shelf stable, or last a year or longer, they must be processed in a waterbath.

Sterilizing the jars is not necessary if you plan to can syrups, because a ten minute processing time sufficiently heats the contents of the jar beyond the threshold for bacterial survival.

Botulism can survive temperatures up to 240 degrees, and therefore no amount of boiling can kill it; however, botulism cannot leave dormancy in acidic environments, so anything with a pH of less than 4.6 can be safely canned in a waterbath. This includes most fruit based syrups, whole fruits, jams etc. Lower acid foods must be canned in a pressure cooker/pressure canner, which uses pressure to raise the temperature of the water above the 240 degree threshold of botulism.

Passionfruit syrup is safe to can (1 to 1 ratio of passionfruit pulp/juice to sugar). Here is how to do it:

1. Place a thick towel or a wire rack at the bottom of a large pot. Fill with water and bring to a boil.

2. Remove the lids and rings and wash the jars. This can be done in the dishwasher if you prefer. The lids should be washed by hand, and the rings can just be rinsed, as they will not touch the syrup.

3. Bring your syrup to a boil. You may boil it as little or as long as you prefer.

4. Warm the jars by running them under hot tap water. Putting the hot syrup into a cold jar can cause the glass to break.

5. Ladle the hot syrup into the jars (a funnel is great if you have one). Fill the jars so the syrup is 1/4 inch from the brim of the jar. This is called headspace, and the correct amount of headspace ensures that the jars will seal properly and that no food will seep between the lip of the jar and the sealing compound on the lid.

6. Using a wet paper towel, remove any syrup drips from the brim and threads of the jars.

7. Place the lids on the jars. Screw the rings on fingertip tight (meaning use only your fingertips). Make sure it is on securely, but do not overtighten or the air will not be able to escape from the jar.

8. Lower the jars into the boiling water. There are inexpensive tongs sold at Walmart and other stores, called jar lifters that make this easier; however, for a long time I got by just using barbeque tongs with rubber bands on the ends for gripping. Try to keep the jars as upright as possible while lowering them into the water, and do not let the jars touch each other in the pot. Make sure the jars are covered by at least an inch of water.

9. Place the lid on the pot and boil the jars, 10 minutes for half-pint jars (8 oz.) and 15 minutes for pint jars (16 oz). It does not have to be a full rolling boil, 200 degrees is sufficient.

10. When the processing time is complete, turn off the stove and let the jars rest in the pot for a minute or two. Then remove the jars with the tongs, keeping them as upright as possible. Try to grip the jars under the lip at the bottom of the rings so as not to disturb the compound.

11. Place the jars on a thick towel on the countertop. Some of the rings may have loosened. This is normal, do not tighten them or you could squeeze out the sealing compound. Gently use a towel to wick away excess water from the tops of the jars. Do not press down at all.

12. Immediately repeat steps 9-12 with any remaining jars of syrup. Do not disturb jars for 24 hours. The button on the lids should be fully depressed (when you press on the center of the lid, it does not click in and out). If one of the jars did not seal, refrigerate it and use the contents of that jar first. Remove rings and gently wash the full jars with soap and water to remove any hard water deposits. Dry the jars and store in a cool dark place. Jars are best stored without the rings to prevent rusting.

Jars and rings are reuseable year after year. Lids are not, but can be purchased (they are right next to the mason jars in most stores) for about ten cents each.

Again, please feel free to ask any other questions you have about this. I'm happy to share this info, I just didn't want to drone on about it and bore everyone to death if people weren't interested.

This is how Laura Ingalls used to make her tiki drinks :).

[ Edited by: rummy_dearest 2016-07-08 15:02 ]

Oh, and homemade grenadine and maraschino cherries are also safe for waterbath canning. There is a slightly different method for whole fruit, so if anybody wants to can their cherries, or if you think I should just put the method up for posterity just let me know.

I bet step #7 is the most important one. :lol:

On 2016-07-08 19:38, swizzle wrote:
I bet step #7 is the most important one. :lol:

Hahaha oops. I guess #7 is the secret step where you pour yourself a drink. So yeah, it is the most important.

Thanks for posting this! I know that its only a matter of time before I use it.

Is it cool if I quote your step by step process on this homemade syrup thread?

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=51360&forum=10&10

I think it'll be a welcome addition there and easier for people who are looking for syrup preservation tips to find it there.

On 2016-07-09 10:08, mikehooker wrote:
Is it cool if I quote your step by step process on this homemade syrup thread?

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=51360&forum=10&10

I think it'll be a welcome addition there and easier for people who are looking for syrup preservation tips to find it there.

Definitely, I probably should have put it there in the first place!