Does anyone know what Pearl Diver's Mix is?

I wasn't able to make Hukilau this year, but my friend brought me back chapter 4 of Beachbum Berry's new book Sippin' Safari. In the book it has the origional drink recipe for the Pearl Diver's Punch, and it calls for 3/4 oz of pearl diver mix(says same as coffee grog batter) This recipe is from Don the Beachcomber. Thanks

Aaron

Coffee Grog Batter from "Sippin' Safari":
Cream 1 ounce softened sweet (unsalted) butter and 1 ounce ornage blossom honey with 1 teaspoon cinnamon-infused sugar syrup and 1/2 teaspoon each vanilla syrup and pimento liqueur.

Pearl Diver has become my new favorite drink; however, it requires a 1/2 ounce mix made of 5 different syrups and ingredients. This mix is what make the Peal Diver so absolutely wonderful. But, for the ordinary Tiki Mixologist, some of the ingredients are no where on hand. So, I contacted Jeff Berry and forwarded to him my own thoughts about short-cutting the recipe in order to obtain similar results.

1/4 oz honey
1/4 oz butter
1 tsp simple syrup
1/8 or less tsp of cinnamon
dash of freshly ground allspice and a
few drops of vanilla

heated, stirred, and shaken before being added to the blender.

Here's what he said, "As long as you can taste all the "notes" of cinnamon, allspice and vanilla, I don't see any reason why you couldn't sub your mix. (The simple syrup and vanilla extract should do the trick for the vanilla syrup; if you're not tasting the cinnamon and allspice, just add more...)"

I've been doing this now for a couple of days and the drink is unlike any other Tiki dirink I've either had or made myself. I drop a maraschino cherry in it to simulate a pearl.

It's a great drink.

The other night, TofuJoe had the good folks behind the bar at Forbidden Island whip up a Pearl Diver's Punch - I think Haole Akamai had made up some coffee grog batter. And man oh man was it good! Pretty soon we were all drinking Pear Diver's Punch! Similar to a Don The Beachcomber Nui Nui, most likely due to the Pimento Liqueur. I will definitely be ordering this drink again!

I'm highjacking an old thread to see if there are any botanists out there who know what the leaf is that garnished the Don the Beachcomber Pearl Diver. See illustration below.

It very much looks like the edible leaf of the Stinging Nettle
due to the heart shaped leaf, also it is safe to serve as a garnish.

Hey! I think you're right! A nettle leaf. Thanks ATP!

If the drawing is accurate, I think you're looking for a more perfectly heart-shaped leaf than that nettle, and with less pronounced serrations.
One possibility is a species of trees, the Tilia, also called Linden, Basswood or "Lime" (but not to be confused with citrus). Here are leaves of the Small-leaved Lime (Tilia cordata), which are apparently edible:

Here is the leaf of the American Lime, or Basswood (Tulia americana), also edible:

Again, if the drawing is right, we may be looking for a leaf with a longer stem than these. Upon further reading, it seemed this tree would struggle in the warmth of much of California. So maybe a vine or tree more suited to California? But then I ran across references to 100+ year old specimens in California, after all.
(Source for the photos, above.)

"The rum's the thing..."

[ Edited by: Limbo Lizard 2015-05-19 17:46 ]

Both this thread, and Beachbum Berry's new Pearl Diver glasses pushed me into making a Pearl Diver for the first time last night. That's a pretty labor intensive cocktail if you're making everything from scratch! Nice texture though.

Thanks Limbo. That does look closer to the drawing than the nettle leaf. You would think that it would have to be a plant in easy supply in order to garnish a lot of Pearl Divers, assuming it was a popular cocktail at Don's. Since it's rather an unusual garnish, I would think that the leaf would have some kind of connection to the name of the cocktail, or one of the ingredients.

"I am Lono!" -- Hunter S. Thompson

[ Edited by: arriano 2015-05-20 08:46 ]

I also see that leaves of violets look similar and are apparently edible as well. Plus they have long stems.

Arriano, I think you've found your answer - violet leaves are much more likely than the tree leaves I suggested. They're easy to grow - they might have been in pots or flower beds, at the McCadden Place location, giving Don the idea.

I always had it in my head that the leaf garnish should be a geranium leaf - the Skin Diver recipe from the Tiki+ app calls for one:

But I figure any non toxic leaf that you have in plentiful supply would be good :)

This just came in the mail.... this thread is perfect timing.. guess what i am making tonight.. lol

The side of the box says " garnish with a geranium leaf "

[ Edited by: CongoPete 2015-05-22 16:09 ]

Let me check with The Mai-Kai. It's possible they still have an original recipe on file that mentions the garnish. As we know, many of these were direct copies of Don the Beachcomber drinks.

Pearl Diver = Deep Sea Diver
http://www.slammie.com/atomicgrog/blog/2011/09/21/mai-kai-cocktail-review-legacy-of-this-classic-drink-runs-deep/

Of course, it's likely that other restaurants did their own versions with different garnish.

CongoPete: I'd love to see a photo of the drink in the new glass. I can't wait to get mine at The Hukilau. Tiare has a nice one up on her blog:
http://www.amountainofcrushedice.com/?p=21460

arriano, that Pearl Diver garnish sure appears to be the flowering part of the Anthurium, also known as the tailflower or flamingo flower...

*** WARNING ***

All parts of the Anthurium plant reportedly contain calcium oxalate crystals. The needle-shaped crystals can irritate the skin, mouth, tongue, and throat, resulting in throat swelling, breathing difficulties, burning pain, and stomach upset. The toxicity warnings posted on the internet are primarily targeted for animals, but should in principle apply to people as well, so treat this plant as toxic to eat.

See this web site

*** WARNING ***

-Tom

[ Edited by: TikiTomD 2015-05-23 00:29 ]

[ Edited by: TikiTomD 2015-05-23 00:37 ]

*** WARNING ***

All parts of the Anthurium plant reportedly contain calcium oxalate crystals. The needle-shaped crystals can irritate the skin, mouth, tongue, and throat, resulting in throat swelling, breathing difficulties, burning pain, and stomach upset. The toxicity warnings posted on the internet are primarily targeted for animals, but it should in principle apply to people as well, so treat this plant as toxic to eat.

See this web site

*** WARNING ***

-Tom

[ Edited by: TikiTomD 2015-05-23 00:36 ]

OK, I have a definitive answer from Kern Mattei on what The Mai-Kai used as garnish before it and the glass disappeared some 20 years ago. First, note that the same image appeared on the menu from 1956 until the menu was redesigned in 2014. Here's a snapshot from the 1980s ...

Here's an undated photo (probably from the 1970s) that shows the Deep Sea Diver with its original glass and garnish ...

So I asked Kern tonight about it, and he said that, at least during his tenure in the bar, which dates back into the '80s, they used a galax leaf ...

Galax leaves (otherwise known as Wandplant, Wandflower and Beetleweed) is a genus of the Diapensiaceae family and is native to the Southeast United States. Galax grows in shaded forest areas. The dark green, heart-shaped leaves grow around the base of the plant. Galax leaves are harvested for the floristry trade and are very popular when making bridal bouquets for wedding flowers. In the wholesale flower markets, galax leaves are sold with 10 bunches of 25 stems per bag. The sealed plastic bag is designed to keep the galax leaves moist. You can buy wholesale galax leaves online.

Kern said they would cut off the stems and punch a hole in the leaf, then run the straw through the hole to keep the leaf in place on the drink.

He's looking into the possibility of bringing back the Deep Sea Diver glassware. Perhaps we'll see the galax leaf garnish too.

The Week in Tiki * Mai-Kai Cocktail Guide

The official blog of The Hukilau

[ Edited by: Hurricane Hayward 2015-05-24 00:16 ]

Past the speculation to a source! Thanks Hurricane for the insight.

I envision a name change to "Sherlock Hayward." Nice job!

Thanks to Kern and his good memory!

Wow! Thanks everyone for pondering and researching. I'm betting now on the galax leaf -- not only because it's what the Mai Kai used, but for the reasons Jim Hayward points out that they're sold in bunches by florists. That would certainly make them easily available for bartenders. Thanks again

Added thought -- odd that Beachbum Berry would list geranium on his Pearl Diver glass box. Did he have some knowledge of what it was, or did he just guess? Anyone in New Orleans who can stop by and ask, just to wrap up the conversation?

On 2015-05-24 00:14, Hurricane Hayward wrote:
He's looking into the possibility of bringing back the Deep Sea Diver glassware. Perhaps we'll see the galax leaf garnish too.

Back in the proper glass, and with its traditional garnish restored, the Pearl Diver/Deep Sea Diver will truly be a wonder to contemplate. Few would imagine the sordid connection to the seamy underworld of poaching, smuggling and black market trafficking... in galax leaves! Are galax leaves soon to become the "blood diamonds" of tiki restoration mixology?
Galax takes a beating from blackmarket trade

Perhaps we should just crash some weddings and pilfer them from bridal bouquets. We have a much better use for them, no?

(It's likely Jeff is touting the geranium leaf since it appeared in the Outrigger recipe noted earlier and was featured in the app. I'm sure it's a viable alternative, and perhaps more eco-friendly. He may not have been aware of what The Mai-Kai used back in the day.)

I'm just trying to figure out if the Mai Kai used the same leaf as Don the Beachcomber, or if it used another leaf that was more easily available in Florida (or just easier to obtain in general).

On 2015-05-25 16:08, arriano wrote:
I'm just trying to figure out if the Mai Kai used the same leaf as Don the Beachcomber, or if it used another leaf that was more easily available in Florida (or just easier to obtain in general).

Yes, that's a good point. Sounds like a question for Swanky.

[ Edited by: Hurricane Hayward 2015-05-25 23:18 ]

In all things the Mai-Kai copied DtB. They tinkered with it, but it all started there. They sourced everything originally from Don's sources. It could have changed over time but not if it didn't have to. I'd vote that's the original. Only certain plants are food safe.