Trader Sam's Polynesian Pearl

I want to recreate the Polynesian Pearl drink. It requires POG juice which can't be found in FL. Have you guys had any luck mixing them yourself? I could order a case of frozen concentrate but it would be way more than I could ever use. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

For the POG, you'll get good results if you just go with equal parts unconcentrated orange juice, passion fruit cocktail (or nectar) and guava nectar.

I always thought it was Pineapple, orange and guava.

I asked a watress and she said passion fruit, OJ and Guava.

A quick Google search showed a number of recipes for POG as well as sources for POG. Also, Wikipedia (which, as we all know, is always correct, heh!) has the not-so-interesting history of the origin of the mix.

Most interesting to me was that Albertson's stores may carry it. Amazon may have it in 12-packs of concentrate. AmazonFresh doesn't serve my area, but if they serve yours, then you may have an easy supply available. Also, POG is attainable at home in reasonable quantities if you can find the ingredients which are either 1) authentic, or 2) reasonably good substitutions.

There are places in the country where it may be a crap shoot... Pure passion fruit and guava juices are a challenge in my part of the country. The adulterated "nectars," however, are everywhere. I will begin looking at any Albertsons stores when I travel, assuming they haven't been bought up and re-branded since the article I saw online was written.

There will come a time when I will want POG in my bar. I'm sure it will be a pain in the ass, but oftentimes that's part of the fun of craving authentic cocktails.

Huh. I know it is big in Hawaii and everytime I asked there it was pineapple.

Pineapple and passion fruit often seem interchangable. Lots of my local bars will sub it out for pineapple and even orange in many of their drinks.

Well, I learned something new today :)

I'm not very knowledgeable about POG, so the pineapple vs. passion fruit is new to me as well. Sounds like further digging is needed.

Another topic for discussion -- which of these are "native" to the islands? Passion fruit and guava maybe, but I suspect that pineapples and oranges are not native. Again, I don't know, but this thread made me wonder. Comments, anyone?

Minute maid I think bottles the stuff for Disney, exclusive to them. Comes in a black carton. I asked the bartender at the Polynesian about it, and he said you could get the same or better using juices from the Mexican grocery. It is tasty stuff.

I've been thinking about this all day, did a little looking around online. Here are two recipes I found:

http://alittleinsanity.com/natural-hawaiian-pog-recipe/
Scroll down to Option #2. There are two surprises here - the recipe lists "passion fruit or pineapple," and it also lists "natural" ingredients while allowing "nectars" in the recipe which are often full of artificial sweetener.

http://www.seriouseats.com/talk/2011/01/pog-juice-recipe.html
POG juice recipe using passion fruit pulp, orange concentrate, guava pulp, white sugar and water. These POG ingredients are much more easily available. I know the pulps are routinely in stock in the Hispanic foods freezer section at my local WalMart and probably most Mexican grocers.

When I get some more time, I will look for more recipes and give one or more a try. I've drank the POG at Disney's Polynesian Resort and found it pretty good, am thinking that home-made may be even better.

I'm quite familiar w/POG, and yes it is supposed to be Passion Orange Guava. Some other brands, aside from Meadow Gold, are Hawaiian Sun and Hawaii's Own. Sometimes marked as Pass-O-Guava. I can get Meadow Gold at various Vons/Pavillions and Fresh & Easy, and Hawaii's Own in concentrate at Vons/Pavillions and Albertsons in California. If you can't find any near you and don't wanna make your own, Amazon sells Hawaiian Sun in cans, I believe.

Personally I think the Polynesian Pearl is the absolute worst drink on Grog Grotto's menu. It's the equivalent of blending a churro with milk and drinking it. I stand firm by the belief that RumChata doesn't belong in a bar, let alone a tiki bar.

My guess on the recipe, which is coming outta my butt at the moment, would be something like this:
1 - 1.5 oz RumChata
.5 oz Grand Marnier
.5 oz Cinnamon Syrup (B.G. Reynolds)
3 oz POG

Mix with ice, shake and roll into a tin. Consume, then barf in regret.

On 2015-07-12 12:59, AceExplorer wrote:
Another topic for discussion -- which of these are "native" to the islands? Passion fruit and guava maybe, but I suspect that pineapples and oranges are not native. Again, I don't know, but this thread made me wonder. Comments, anyone?

None of them are "native" to Hawaii, although most of them are now grown there. The pineapple came from the Spaniards, Passion Fruit from South America, Guava from Mexico and Central America, and Oranges were brought from England to Hawaii.

The Kona orange is the only one that was grown in the islands, but production only lasted for several decades during the nineteenth century, with the exception of some original stock still bearing fruit on Kona.

Thank you JenTiki! Very interesting information, it's always fun to learn what's truly "native" and what's not.

Honestly, I would have guessed that pineapples and passion fruit were both native, but I knew that oranges and guava were not. So it was an interesting exercise to do the research.

On 2015-07-13 10:14, kkocka wrote:
I'm quite familiar w/POG, and yes it is supposed to be Passion Orange Guava. Some other brands, aside from Meadow Gold, are Hawaiian Sun and Hawaii's Own. Sometimes marked as Pass-O-Guava. I can get Meadow Gold at various Vons/Pavillions and Fresh & Easy, and Hawaii's Own in concentrate at Vons/Pavillions and Albertsons in California. If you can't find any near you and don't wanna make your own, Amazon sells Hawaiian Sun in cans, I believe.

Personally I think the Polynesian Pearl is the absolute worst drink on Grog Grotto's menu. It's the equivalent of blending a churro with milk and drinking it. I stand firm by the belief that RumChata doesn't belong in a bar, let alone a tiki bar.

My guess on the recipe, which is coming outta my butt at the moment, would be something like this:
1 - 1.5 oz RumChata
.5 oz Grand Marnier
.5 oz Cinnamon Syrup (B.G. Reynolds)
3 oz POG

Mix with ice, shake and roll into a tin. Consume, then barf in regret.

It's probably the only drink on the menu my wife likes. I personally like the Nautilus the most but I've only had the drinks with a souvenir mug.

On 2015-07-13 11:56, TheParkCollector wrote:
It's probably the only drink on the menu my wife likes. I personally like the Nautilus the most but I've only had the drinks with a souvenir mug.

Most reviews I've heard give the Pearl the lowest rating. But many do really enjoy that drink. I think this supports what I've noticed about myself as well as a number of others --- among cocktails, there is tremendous variance from person-to-person on what "personal taste" is.

I liked the Nautilus, it was a pleasant surprise.

On 2015-07-13 10:14, kkocka wrote:
...Amazon sells Hawaiian Sun in cans, I believe.

Personally I think the Polynesian Pearl is the absolute worst drink on Grog Grotto's menu. It's the equivalent of blending a churro with milk and drinking it. I stand firm by the belief that RumChata doesn't belong in a bar, let alone a tiki bar.

My guess on the recipe, which is coming outta my butt at the moment, would be something like this:
1 - 1.5 oz RumChata
.5 oz Grand Marnier
.5 oz Cinnamon Syrup (B.G. Reynolds)
3 oz POG

Mix with ice, shake and roll into a tin. Consume, then barf in regret.

Yep, not a bargain, but decent if you can't find it at a store near you: http://www.amazon.com/Hawaiian-Nectar-Pass-O-Guava-11-5-Ounce-Pack/dp/B004QWSO8I/ref=sr_1_1

The Pearl "mug" is the least elaborate of all the Sam's souvenir drinkware, and it's made of plastic. There's one for sale on eBay right now for $22.99.

On 2015-07-13 12:48, AceExplorer wrote:
The Pearl "mug" is the least elaborate of all the Sam's souvenir drinkware, and it's made of plastic. There's one for sale on eBay right now for $22.99.

Yeah lots of design staffers etc were unhappy with the decision and the overall design - the opening is at a 45' angle which is just odd and isn't conducive for straws, especially the long curly variety that Sam's uses.

@ThemeParkCollector - let me know what you think of the approximation. It might need lime, I can't recall at this point. I even forgot my pearl back in Florida, haha.

I've tried Publix...had all the nectors. Albertsons had nothing. I tried one mexican grocery....nothing. Honestly I'm not really into having to make the stuff myself. I'm perfectly happy with the cans. I'm just not excited about paying so much!