A Spiritous Journey through Remixed - From the Astro Aku Aku to the Zadaran Storm

It took a long while but I finally feel ready.

I have prepared, trained, and armed myself with the recipes, tools, research, and knowledge to tackle every drink in the tome of gratification that we know as Beachbum Berry Remixed.

I intend to try 2-4 cocktails a week and post pictures and my impressions of each. I also intend to list the ingredients I used, but not the recipes (usually) as I hope everyone goes out and gets their own copy of this invaluable resource (Beachbum Berry Remixed).

I will include my own ratings and preferences regarding variations needed for each drink; as everyone has their own tastes, and certain changes to the standard formulas are often helpful.

Any feedback, suggestions, and corrections would be greatly appreciated.

without further adieu,

The Astro Aku Aku

A unique list of ingredients (papaya and apricot nectars) that ultimately combine to create a familiar tiki-taste we associate with the tiki flavor profile. The unmistakable combination of multiple rums, lime, and a variety of fruit juices are in delicate balance and are well on display in this drink.

Ingredients I used:
fresh lime juice
Goya Papaya nectar (I know, not the greatest - but I really didn't have much choice here)
Yoga Apricot nectar (nice brand)
Taylor's Velvet Falernum
Flor De Cana Extra Dry (light) Rum
Lemon Hart 151
Angostura Bitters

My criticism stems from the timidity of the fruit incorporated here. Even at an ounce, I barely get any papaya flavor (could be the brand, but I think it only takes partial blame ), and at 1/2 an ounce, I definitely wanted to taste the apricot more. I also couldn't really understand why a whole ounce of 151 was used. It seemed to dominate the flavor.

As is, I gave the drink *** (3) out of ***** (5)
Personal choice - I would double the apricot nectar, and falernum. I would dial back the 151 to anywhere between 1/2 and 3/4. I don't need my drinks to be overly sweet, but I definitely want to be to make out the individual ingredients.

[ Edited by: Destro100 2014-01-16 07:25 ]

Sounds like fun! Good luck.

Try to use fresh juices as much as possible. Sometimes it can make a big difference in the taste of the drink.

I always try, but papaya and apricot was not going to happen. Citrus always!

I really don't think it would matter that much in this drink

You mean, you don't juice your own apricots?!

Good luck on this challenging endeavor!

I'll play along tonight. I have an Astro Aku Aku in hand, served up in a big snifter with plenty of ice. Used Goya and Kern's for the papaya and apricot nectars (only choice in town pretty much), homemade Falernum (little more ginger and clove bite than Taylor's), Flor de Caña 4 for for the gold Spanish style and LH151.

I really like this one and find it to be very easy drinking despite the big dose of 151 Demerara. The 1.5 oz. of lime sounds like a lot but it is balanced by the generous 0.75 oz of sugar syrup (I used cane syrup instead of simple). I agree that the individual flavors of the juices get a bit lost, but sipping each of the juices on their own I find they are both really mild and I think even if you doubled the amounts they wouldn't punch through. That said, doubling or even tripling the papaya and apricot nectars might make this an interesting luau-style long drink. I think my biggest complaint with this drink is now I am not sure what to do with the rest of the cans of papaya and apricot juice I had to open up! :) There are scads of Zombie recipes in djmont's Zombie tome so maybe there are a couple of obscure Zombies in my near future.

I think a neat thing to do as you move on through Remixed would be to compare the recipes to the original Grog Log and Intoxica versions, noting where changes were made and commenting on whether you think the changes were for the better. With just a couple notable exceptions, I think the updated recipes do improve the drinks. No changes with the Astro Aku Aku.

I have yet to figure out why Jeff left Grog Log drink #1 (his Ancient Mariner) out of Remixed. I know he decided some drinks were not up to snuff for Remixed, but I really like this one — albeit I have to cut the amount of pimento dram in half so it doesn't overpower everything else. Going to spin this one up now to toast your grand mixing adventure!

The Ancient Mariner is in Remixed. Page 97.

On 2013-11-04 06:02, djmont wrote:
The Ancient Mariner is in Remixed. Page 97.

Well, there you go then. Remixed does take liberties with its alphabetizing and reordering in the doifferent sections, doesn't it?

ANd add your thoughts to the Grogalizer!

On 2013-11-04 07:45, Sunny&Rummy wrote:

On 2013-11-04 06:02, djmont wrote:
The Ancient Mariner is in Remixed. Page 97.

Well, there you go then. Remixed does take liberties with its alphabetizing and reordering in the doifferent sections, doesn't it?

I find the organization confusing. I mainly just go off the index, which is good for finding specific recipes, but not as useful for finding new things.

Good luck! Maybe one day I'll tackle all the drinks in "Sippin' Safari"

On 2013-11-04 10:07, Kill Devil wrote:
Good luck! Maybe one day I'll tackle all the drinks in "Sippin' Safari"

That will be a hell of a long day, and you're gonna' have a heck of a headache the next morning. . .

:wink:

Speaking of the Bum's books, I bought extra copies that I'm going to take down to the local office supply store, have the spines cut off, and have the books made into spiral-bound versions. I think this would be convenient for bar-top use.

Or I could just take the spineless versions, scan them into PDFs, and keep them on a laptop or tablet PC for reference at my bar. (Ah, but paper is just so much easier to handle and flip through. And it's not as "expensive" to spill drinks onto a book than onto a tablet PC...)

I really do like the spiral bound original versions of Grog Log, Intoxica and Taboo Table. Big print for my aging eyes, and the books stay open and flat on the recipe you want.

Exactly, the flat-facing spiral cocktail recipe books work well. That's why I was so pleasantly surprised when I saw my local Office Max or Office Depot offered this service in their copy center.

Wanna make a mixologist happy at Christmas or for their birthday? Give them a copy center gift card!

My next tiki stop on my journey:

Aurora Bora Borealis

A great coconut-forward flavored tiki drink. Refreshing, and memorable. Coats the insides of your mouth with a nutty quality that leaves a smile on your face (That sentence sounds so wrong!). My wife loved it as well.

Ingredients I used:
fresh lime juice
Lopez coconut cream
fresh orange juice
Routin 1883 Orgeat
Flor De Cana Extra Dry (light) Rum
Coruba Dark Rum

My only criticism - I'm not exactly sure how one teaspoon of orgeat really provides much to this drink I like orgeat and in the future will try increasing the ratio.
I also feel that a strong dark rum is definitely needed here. Last note - This recipe doesn't yield a very large drink - next time I will definitely scale this 50% up.

My completely personal rating: **** (4) out of ***** (5)

On 2013-11-04 10:48, AceExplorer wrote:
Speaking of the Bum's books, I bought extra copies that I'm going to take down to the local office supply store, have the spines cut off, and have the books made into spiral-bound versions. I think this would be convenient for bar-top use.

Or I could just take the spineless versions, scan them into PDFs, and keep them on a laptop or tablet PC for reference at my bar. (Ah, but paper is just so much easier to handle and flip through. And it's not as "expensive" to spill drinks onto a book than onto a tablet PC...)

I have been taking pictures of the recipes with my phone and keeping them in a Cocktails folder in my pictures. I already use Tiki+ a lot, so this works well. I use my phone in the bar for music, so it's always there.

Inspired by the challenge put forth in this thread I made the Aurora Bora Borealis as well last week. The lime juice and coconut cream combo is one that had to grow on me, but it was the Bum's Coconaut that totally sold me on the merits of that unusual pairing. I think this is a tasty drink, but imo it lacks the balance and the punch of the Coconaut. I cheated a bit and subbed El Dorado 5 for the light rum to put a little more flavor depth into the rum combo. And Destro I agree that the orgeat can be increased a bit in this one.

On 2013-11-03 08:54, Destro100 wrote:
It took a long while but I finally feel ready....to tackle every drink in the tome of gratification that we know as Beachbum Berry Remixed.

Mr Destro100, I salute your endeavour :)

In a similar vein, I am working my way through the Tiki+ iPhone app to make a home menu of the best drinks.

At first I tried the 'names you know' & now am working more on the ingredients I think work well together. Seeing as you have already mentioned 2 drinks not in the Tiki+ app, I may have to work my way through Beachbum Berry Remixed afterwards.

I have currently had 39 of the 150ish. My general rule is to have one 'new' drink followed by what I fancy once or twice a week - I would estimate it has taken approx 8 months so far.

Out of those I have tried, 18 are good drinks that I'd make again & again - that's not to say that the others are bad, just that those 18 came together within 2 or 3 tries. Others haven't come together quite as well in 10 or so tries!

I'm by no means an expert but from my experiences I would advise:

1. Switching rums. Quite a lot of drinks work fine with the cheap stuff, others work better with the expensive. Some drinks benefit from switching between white/gold, gold/dark or dark/aged of the respective rum styles.

2. Double the non alcoholic ingredients in some drinks & all the ingredients in others (like in your Aurora Bora Borealis)

3. Compare drinks to one another. Some drinks have interesting similarities, in looking at the drinks history you can determine which was the 'parent' & which was the 'child' in that particular 'drink family'.

Cheers! :)

I started with the Tiki+ app as well and made lots of great drinks from it.

Regarding some of your suggestions:

1. Switching rums. I do this all the time when I'm entertaining or drinking something I already have. With this experiment, I want to stay pretty close to the original recipes. I definitely stick with mid to top shelf products.

2. Doubling ingredients. For the sake of this experiment, I'm only willing to double the entire recipe for a larger drink. I don't want to change proportions till I've gone through each drink. When I entertain, I do raise the non-alcoholic ingredients by small measure.

3. Compare drinks to one another. This comes naturally, Let's face it - the combination of rum, lime, and passionfruit appears in too many drinks to count.

Thanks for the suggestions.

FYI, I started with the Grog Log many years ago. Back in olden times, ingredients were hard to find. I spent years getting Marischino Liqueur! And then Intoxica came out. And more books. I was working my way through them.

Some drinks I did not make because I did not have the ingredients. Maybe not that night even. I would mark the page with an X if I could not make it, or a grade if I had. This became more and more difficult to manage.

So I created The Grogalizer.

Now I had a tool to help me find the drinks I had never made and I could make based on what was in my bar! By grading a drink, I knew I had made it. It also now adds a new layer to the daunting task of making all the recipes, other people's grades. At some point, you'll find there are an awful lot of losers in those books and you'd like to try something a bit better tonight. Now you can see what others think and decide that way.

My suggestion for this process is to double every recipe if you have a partner to share. Getting it right is easier when the measurements are not so small. Plus two tastes get better consensus. And the Bum is pretty heavy handed with the lime juice. Over and over the recipes were better if I halved the lime juice. Use your judgment. I often cut it and them tasted and decided whether to put it back in by the recipe or not. Pouring drinks down the drain that are to sour to drink sucks.

Mai-Kai Memories Series Custom ceramic mugs!

[ Edited by: swanky 2013-11-15 07:07 ]

Agree with Swanky about the lime juice: often too heavy (ex:Shrunken Skull). In all the years since the Grog Log debuted, though, I've never poured a drink down the drain...I've 'fixed' them, upped levels of booze, mixers.... it's developed into a skill which comes in handy, esp. when there's company to serve on the fly. Maybe I'm just cheap

Also, do not buy a bottle of Stroh just to make that one drink. Use the most fowl tasting liquor you have as a sub and never look back. Cachaca maybe, Mezcal. Anything. Don't waste that money on Stroh just to make that. And the Jaguar? Really?

On 2013-11-15 08:45, Swanky wrote:
Also, do not buy a bottle of Stroh just to make that one drink. Use the most fowl tasting liquor you have as a sub and never look back. Cachaca maybe, Mezcal. Anything. Don't waste that money on Stroh just to make that. And the Jaguar? Really?

I'm amazed at the negative reactions to Stroh rum. I recently tried it for the first time, and I found it to be an interesting and unique addition to my bar -- in a good way. It is a spiced rum and better than many others on the shelf. Since it is so unique, I have had friends taste it and none had negative reactions to it. I bought it to accurately make the Frankie's Tiki Room drinks from their new book. So is the negative reaction to Stroh in any way related to, perhaps, not recognizing it as a spiced rum? Or is it just seen as a bad rum? For now, I'm taking the negative reactions with a grain of salt and I'm going to have some fun with it. I have recently acquired a bottle of the Stroh 60 and also a bottle of the Stroh 80. Waste of money? Not if I'm having fun with it, and so far I am. The Frankie's Tiki Room folks seem to be quite successful with it, so I'm gonna follow in their footsteps a bit and see how it works out. I'm not married to it - could end up never buying it again after I run out - but I am going to give it a good road test in the context of the Frankie's recipes. I do not anticipate using it to make variations of classic Mai Tais, Zombies, etc. but simply explore more of the Frankie's drinks. Their cocktails, and the beautiful photographs in their book, are generally big hits with my guests.

So for now I am saying "yay" to Stroh.

On 2013-11-15 11:46, AceExplorer wrote:
It is a spiced rum and better than many others on the shelf.

I meant "better" in the sense that spiced rums generally are not very exciting when I taste them neat. Strohs is so different without being flat-out crappy that it surprised me. Other spiced rums generally do not surprise me. And, hey, I gotta give the inland Austrians a chance for their inventiveness in getting up the guts to distill this stuff in such a traditionally non-rum part of the world.

The Aussies are actually surprisingly fond of their dark, strong rums. In addition to Stroh, Bundaberg Rum from Queensland has a huge following. I have also previously read (can't find the reference now) that Australia is the number one export destination for Coruba.

Stroh is Austrian, not Austrailian. :)

On 2013-11-15 18:14, djmont wrote:
Stroh is Austrian, not Austrailian. :)

Oops! :)

Clearly you need to add some water to your 160 proof Stroh! :)

At VenTiki in Ventura, CA we are doing the same thing diving through Remixed one drink a week every Wed. I have wanted to do this for years and it gives me an opportunity without the pocket expense.

My next tiki stop on my journey:

Beachcomber's Gold (Chicago)

Beachcomber's Gold (Chicago)
Not a tiki drink at all - at least not in flavor. More reminiscent of a classic prohibition-era cocktail. Bitter yet subtle. Not inspiring, yet not disappointing. I kind of knew what to expect as I compiled the ingredients. If I hadn't been privy to the ingredients beforehand, and had been served this drink at a proper tiki-bar, I may have been let-down. Not quite sure if this drink calls for a repeat.

I couldn't do the ice-shell. No shaved ice and crushed didn't work well

Ingredients I used:

Flor De Cana Extra Dry (light) Rum
Dolin Dry Vermouth
Martini Italian Vermouth (sweet)
Pernod
Angostora bitters

My completely personal rating: ** (2) out of ***** (5)

Yeah the Chicago Beachcomber's Gold is fairly lacking in character and not too Tiki. Get on to the Waikiki and Palm Springs versions, they are a definite step up.

[ Edited by: Sunny&Rummy 2013-11-20 20:23 ]

[ Edited by: Sunny&Rummy 2013-11-20 20:23 ]

My next tiki stop on my journey:

Beachcomber's Gold (Waikiki)

This is much different from the other versions of the Beachcomber's Gold variations. It is much closer to the oft-repeated tiki combination of lime-passionfruit-rum that is quite common within the bum's tomes. That being said, the Angostura and and honey mixture adds a delicate refinement to the flavor. Overall, I'm not sure if I need to repeat this drink. It didnt make that strong an impression. In fairness, I used a diluted passionfruit syrup in place of passionfruit juice; I'm not sure how much different the flavor would have been if I stuck with the orginal recipe as described.

Ingredients I used:

Flor De Cana Extra Dry (light) Rum
Smith & Cross Jamaican Rum
Fresh Lime Juice
diluted passionfruit syrup
honey mixture - honey & water
Angostora bitters

My completely personal rating: *** (3) out of ***** (5) - Mildly interesting

[ Edited by: Destro100 2014-01-16 08:25 ]

My next tiki stop on my journey:

Beachcomber's Gold (Hollywood and Palm Springs)

This is easily my favorite version of the Beachcomber's Gold. It's significantly different from the other recipes and adds two interesting elements to the tiki formula. I love the use of Pernod (which did appear as an ingredient in the previous Beachcomber recipe), and the use of almond extract which is subtly different from using orgeat - more subtle and less sweet. I also appreciated taking a break from the usual fruit syrups/juices (passionfruit, orange, grapefruit, etc).

Overall, I really enjoyed this recipe and would serve it as both a tiki cocktail but also to my less tiki-inclined friends. I think everyone can appreciate the delicate complexity of flavor derived from the combination of rums, and the subtle sweetness that may be overpowering in some tiki drinks. Finally, I should mention that the Pernod also adds a gentle and welcome layer of bitterness to the overall experience that contrasts nicely with the almond flavor.

Ingredients I used:

Fresh Lime Juice
Homemade simple syrup
Flor De Cana Gold - 4-year Rum
Smith & Cross Jamaican Rum
Appleton Extra - 12-year Rum
Pernod
Pure Almond Extract

My personal rating: **** (4) out of ***** (5)

Hmmm...

The Waikiki version seems like it has better ingredients IMO, it is strange that the Palm Springs is better.

Keep up the good work!

Side note - My friend was in a random bar that was empty around turkeyday in NOLA, when to his surprise the Beachbum himself was giving an interview on his new book. My friend eavesdropped on the whole interview and them chatted with him for awhile after. The reporter got a copy of the book but that was all he had. My friend seemed to think that he doesn't get noticed usually. Beachbum was surprised that he was recognized.

I made all three Beachcomber's Golds a couple of weeks ago and the Waikiki and Palm Springs versions were head and shoulders better than the Chicago version that is just very odd. With the passionfruit and honey, the Waikiki is very much in the Tiki wheelhouse and is similar to a lot of good cocktails. The Pernod and almond extract give the Palm Springs some interesting flavor layers that come through nicely in the rum and touch of simple syrup. Two very different drinks and interesting to have them back to back.

The next stop on my tiki journey:

Beachcomber's Punch

I really enjoyed this drink. Delightfully sweetened by the simple syrup, apricot liqueur and yet balanced by the lime, grapefruit, bitters, and the subtle but totally necessary contribution of the Pernod. I also think using a great rum helps give this drink the backbone it really needs. Finally, the apricot flavor and Pernod are the key elements helping to distinguish this drink from other familiar tiki drinks.

Ingredients I used:

Fresh Lime Juice
White Grapefruit Juice (bottled - 100%)
Marie Brizard Apry
Homemade simple syrup
12 year - El Dorado Rum
Angostura Bitters
Pernod

My personal rating: ***1/2 (3.5) out of ***** (5)

next stop:

Colonel Beach's Plantation Punch

This was delightfully complex. I'm always a sucker for drinks with either ginger beer or falernum, but put them together and I am a very happy tiki-camper. This drink came out nice and frothy and this combination of rums work well together. Finally, the Pernod-Angostura combination adds that great bitter background-accent that subtly enhances the drink without dominating or demanding attention.

I would love to make this for guests but I have to admit, the ingredient list is pretty intimidating. This drink is probably best served for two.

Ingredients I used:

Fresh Lime Juice
Dole Pineapple Juice (canned but not from concentrate)
Reed's Ginger Beer
Coruba Dark Jamaican Rum
4-year Flor De Cana gold
Mount Gay Eclipse rum - gold
Velvet Falernum
Angostura Bitters
Pernod

My personal rating: **** (4) out of ***** (5)

[ Edited by: Destro100 2014-01-16 09:11 ]

The Beachcomber Punch is very good and the Colonal Beach Plantation Punch is excellent -- among my favorite DtB drinks for sure. Alas, currently out of both homemade Falerrnum and Taylor's Velvet. Need to make a booze store run.

[ Edited by: Sunny&Rummy 2013-12-19 14:15 ]

Destro- keep up the good work...
Your bar must be getting huge
:)

What went wrong?

THE BOO LOO - went wrong!

I have finally had my first disaster. I know this drink should be amazing.

It was not.

Where to begin?

The directions say, "a few chunks of pineapple." What the hell does that mean? I put in about 3-4 pineapple spears. I definitely did not liquify them sufficiently. My bad.

Then I have to ask, if we are using fresh liquified pineapple, why are we adding pineapple juice? Why not just increase the amount of fresh fruit to liquify?

Next, I am not enamored with the combination of rums. I love combining rums, but the sweet spot is a combination of 2-3 rums. 4 different types of rum seem excessive; in fact, they completely overpowered the drink and didn't balance well.

Additionally, adding 1&1/2 oz of club soda doesn't do enough to help the drink either. The drink has nearly 10 oz. of liquid already. In order to carbonate the drink to a noticeable and favorable degree, you need at least 2&1/2 oz. of soda - or more - probably more.

Please enlighten me. I have so many drinks ahead. I don't know that I really want to go back and try this again.

Ingredients I used:

Fresh Pineapple
Dole Pineapple Juice (canned but not from concentrate)
Fresh Lime Juice
Honey Mix (1:1 honey to water mix)
Coruba Dark Jamaican Rum
Lemon Hart 151
12-year El Dorado Rum
4-year Flor De Cana gold
club soda

My personal rating: *1/2 (1.5) out of ***** (5)

I would re-check your recipe for the Boo Loo. I just checked my Tiki+ app and it only calls for 3 rums - two Demeraras and a dark Jamaican. I see you're using a combination of four full-flavored and aged rums.

I have only made the Boo Loo using a hollowed-out pineapple, and while it has never been a disaster at all, it has been a refreshing but not a spectacularly amazing drink. I never thought it was horrible, though. It has quite a high "novelty" and "photo" factor. The only time I make this is when I want to wow my guests.

1.5 stars is kind of low, and I think that there are worse drinks out there. I didn't see the quantities of each ingredient you used, but I do wonder if it was your rum combination which caused the weird result?

Hey Ace Explorer,

I also noticed that the book, Beachbum Berry Remixed, actually does have a different recipe when compared to the Tiki+ app. The printed recipe does in fact include four different rums: Dark Jamaican, Lemon Hart 151, Dark Demerara Rum, and Gold Puerto Rican rum. I also double-checked the ratios as well. Perhaps the Tiki+ app recipe, which excludes the Puerto Rican Gold, is the way to go?

Anyone else notice the difference?

The Bum does update his books, good for him! We will have to try both Boo Loo recipes side-by-side. I've got a gathering scheduled for Friday night and might make that a project for our little group that evening. If we do it, then I'll report results here.

I do not recall Tiki+ having ever been updated. It's still an excellent product.

This is a good thread. My liver and I thank you.

So far I have only used the 3 rum Grog Log/Tiki+ recipe, but I love this drink. I typically ise ED5, Coruba, and LH151. Important to note that the Grog Log version calls for a full ounce of honey, not honey mix and I think that extra honey makes a huge difference in this drink. If you use honey mix use a rich 2:1 honey mix rather than the 1:1.

For me, "a few pineapple chunks = up to a couple of rings. Like Ace I usually do this drink when I have fresh pineapple to use and a pineapple shell to serve it in, and I'm sure the fresh pineapple improves the drink.

I often scratch my head at the small club soda additions as well (I do the same with Navy Grogs and Rum Barrels). As often as not I'll just leave the club soda out.

I would definately say mix this up again with the three rums, a full ounce of honey, and skip the soda and see what you think.

Colonel Beach's Plantation Punch is a good lookin drink! I will have to give that one a try sometime soon.

Thanks for all the feedback.

I think I will come back to the Boo Loo at a much later point. I've decided to stick to the purist route, adhering to the "Remixed" recipes precisely (or as close as I can get - considering ingredient availability). I still have at least a hundred recipes ahead, and there is no looking back till I complete my Tiki journey.

On a side note, I thought I would post some pics of my ever-increasing bar (not in a traditional sense - but in a "storage" sense) and my current mixing station.

Awesome job, Destro, especially labeling the pics. Those who delve deeper into the Bum's books eventually have to come up with an organization plan. You're doing a great job! I also agree with your "no looking back" approach - you'll have plenty of time to come back to your tasting and testing notes later. I will be trying both recipes myself in the near future, and for purism sake, without pineapple shells. This is, after all, science, right? Heh...

Wow, nice Destro! I wish my wife was understanding enough to let me put the booze on display the way it should be. I have bottles tucked into cupboards and bins and taking up counter space and it's basically an organizational train wreck compared to your setup.