What AreYou Drinking- Right Now?

Hallowe'en. Gotta have a zombie...

Stayed home to pass out candy. Only had two drinks.

The Walker Inn

On 2017-10-31 23:17, Tiki-boss wrote:

Stayed home to pass out candy. Only had two drinks.

Damn TB, I've been hunting for that 1st ed Uh-Oa bowl forever. The first time I went to Trader Sam's they didn't have enough to sell me one and the last time I went they were closed for maintenance!

Needless to say, Halloween night was zombie night for us. I haven't made zombies since last halloween probably, and am still amazed at how balanced the Aku Aku Zombie is. What I'm really trying to dissect in my brain is how .5 tsp of the zombie mix (equal parts pernod, curacao, falernum, grenadine) can have such a grand effect on the taste. Half a teaspoon is such a minuscule amount for ANY ingredient, let alone that within that .5 tsp is an even smaller amount of 4 ingredients.

I haven't tried the Smuggler's Cove recipe yet but I wonder which would come out champion in a head-to-head.

On 2017-11-01 10:28, PalmtreePat wrote:

On 2017-10-31 23:17, Tiki-boss wrote:

Stayed home to pass out candy. Only had two drinks.

Damn TB, I've been hunting for that 1st ed Uh-Oa bowl forever. The first time I went to Trader Sam's they didn't have enough to sell me one and the last time I went they were closed for maintenance!

Man that's some rough luck. I think I see them pop up on eBay every now and again. Never really paid much attention to price since I own one. Funny, I've had that mug for probably 5 years and yesterday was the 1st time I've ever used it.

First drink since Sober October: Mai Tai

On 2017-11-01 22:12, Hamo wrote:
First drink since Sober October: Mai Tai

Welcome back Hamo!

On 2017-11-01 23:04, Tiki-boss wrote:
Welcome back Hamo!

Thanks. I have some catching up to do. Vic’s Navy Grog

On 2017-11-01 17:33, Tiki-boss wrote:

On 2017-11-01 10:28, PalmtreePat wrote:

On 2017-10-31 23:17, Tiki-boss wrote:

Stayed home to pass out candy. Only had two drinks.

Damn TB, I've been hunting for that 1st ed Uh-Oa bowl forever. The first time I went to Trader Sam's they didn't have enough to sell me one and the last time I went they were closed for maintenance!

Man that's some rough luck. I think I see them pop up on eBay every now and again. Never really paid much attention to price since I own one. Funny, I've had that mug for probably 5 years and yesterday was the 1st time I've ever used it.

You don't even want to know what they go for now. I really wish Disney would bring back this design, with the little straw-holder eyelets. I think it's much cooler looking and more functional than the one they've used in subsequent editions.

Westbound (Los Angeles)

Look what you guys have done to me - I used to be practically a non-drinker and now I'm a BevMo Club card carrier :lol:

Mike :D

Kahiki Kai and ...-

This was Kool

Billy Gibbons was at Frankie’s too

:)

Michael Lay (Lono, Holywood) Grappa Tiki Cocktail

[ Edited by: The Below Decks 2017-11-03 10:45 ]

Shingle Stain

Daylight Saving Time is ending, so the night is young.

A while ago, nui ‘umi ‘umi tried one of my original “up” drink recipes on the rocks. I thought I’d see what it tasted like, except I got the wrong drink. Instead, here’s my own The Beachcomber’s Shanty doubled, shaken with crushed ice and unstrained. Not bad but I would probably tweak the pineapple and Don’s Mix ratios.

[ Edited by: Hamo 2017-11-04 23:09 ]

Hey Hamo. How bout posting dat recipe for the Shanty. While I wait I’ll have anudder Club Babita..
Cheers

Here’s the original “up” version, and here’s how I think it works best as a “rocks” drink (which just might be how I make it from now on):

1-1/2 oz gold Virgin Islands rum
1-1/2 oz gold Jamaican rum
1-1/2 oz Don's mix (1 oz white grapefruit juice, 1/2 oz cinnamon syrup)
1-1/2 oz pineapple juice
2 dashes spiced bitters*

Shake with crushed ice and pour unstrained into a double old fashioned glass. Garnish with a mint sprig.

*Spiced bitters are a 1:1 mix of Angostura bitters and pimento dram, which I first encountered here.

Mint Julep kind of a day

:::: Pokes at slow roasting pig in sand ::::::

If you are going to enjoy some melancholy drinks this evening, I would like to suggest the sound track from "Trader Sam's Enchanted Tiki Room" in Anaheim (yes, very close to Disneyland)...

It is available on a YouTube Loop at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPRGcoTvnQg

Even before the Luau, and the evening drinks, I am enjoying the soft drums and strings.....

::::: turns hot embers in the pit :::::

Cheap Cabernet from the $4 rack at the supermarket.

Beau du Bois (Clifton Republic's Pacific Seas, Gothic Bar, Monarch Bar and shortly, Shadowbox) Grappa Cocktail!

Last night the wife and I inhaled, within minutes, my Aku Aku Zombies served up/daiquiri style. I've been watching Jason Alexander from Tacoma Cabana do this with numerous tiki and exotic cocktails for years - he's quite the master of it. I took his advice (keep the alcohol, reduce everything else) to the best of my ability and made the following adjustments:

Aku Aku Zombie, as by Beachbum Berry Remixed
3/4 oz Puerto Rican aged
3/4 oz dark Jamaican
3/4 oz Demerara overproof
3/4 oz lime
3/4 oz grapefruit
3/4 oz cinnamon syrup
.5 tsp zombie mix (equal parts curacao, pernod, grenadine, falernum)
1 dash bitters

This gives you 2.25 oz of alcohol - not too heavy for a zombie, but for a daiquiri-style drink I think that's just a tad much. I wanted to keep it at 2 oz. I also wanted to not have this drink too wet or juicy, so I reduced the total juice to 1 oz, splitting the lime and grapefruit evenly. The spices (syrup and mix) I kept as-is because I wanted to retain the distinct flavor. I also wanted to ditch the 151 and opted to use Plantation OFTD as well.

Zombie "Daiquiri"
3/4 oz Bacardi 8
3/4 oz Coruba Dark
1/2 oz Plantation OFTD (float at the end/layer via back of a bar spoon)
1/2 oz lime
1/2 oz grapefruit
3/4 oz cinnamon syrup
.5 tsp zombie mix (equal parts curacao, pernod, grenadine, falernum)
1 dash bitters

If I choose to make this again tonight, I'll probably change Coruba for Appleton, possibly reduce the juices again to total 3/4 oz (or not), and maybe dump the cinnamon syrup down to 1/2 oz. But seriously, my wife practically finished in a gulp and I was soon to follow...dangerously delicious to drink! I realize this isn't rocket science but I'm rather proud of myself, haha.

Follow me on Instagram
http://www.instagram.com/keithkocka

[ Edited by: kkocka 2017-11-07 10:35 ]

Keith, those Zombie daiquiris look great. I'll be sure to give 'em a try. I like to whip up daiquiri variations when it's late and I'm not up for a full-blown Tiki cocktail. Also gives me a chance to experiment with various rums, bitters and syrups to see what works well together. At 2+ oz of rum, they're indeed still very potent and easy to knock back. Way back in the day, I created my own Zombie daiquiri that may not be simple but it's worth checking out:

http://www.slammie.com/atomicgrog/blog/2011/04/25/wake-the-dead-its-time-for-the-atomic-zombie-cocktail/

You can never have enough Jasper's Secret Mix on hand ...

... to whip up a Jasper's Jamaican Planter's Punch. Mahalo to Professor Stephen Remsberg.

On 2017-11-06 20:38, Hurricane Hayward wrote:
Keith, those Zombie daiquiris look great. I'll be sure to give 'em a try.

Thanks for sharing dude. It was/is really more just served up than an actual daiquiri - I've got some feedback from Blair Reynolds and Jason Alexander on BG Reynold's Tiki Bar (fb group) which I'll throw an invite to if you'd like to join. I might really strive for a daiquiri version and revise my "up" version.

Bar Clacson Corpse Reviver No. 2

My love for that Bar Clacson logo has no bounds. Here's hoping work finds a need to send me to the LA office, which is in walking distance, so I can finally try it. A mate of mine loves that place.

Atomic Grog's V.3 recipe for the Demerara float.

Club Babita on the rocks. I think I still prefer this one up in a cocktail glass.

Gin martini, rocks, olives, dirty.

But it's in a Pirates of the Caribbean rocks glass we got from DW in 2000, so there's that.

B

On a cool autumn evening here in SoCal we are having hot buttered Rum using Trader Vic’s batter and Meyers Dark Ru. As always, I use milk instead of water

Bar Clacson The Coffee House

Hemingway Daiquiri

Prichard’s Cranberry Rum

Old Pal. Not tiki in the least but a perfect preface to some Italian food on a cool night.

Zombie at the Kon-Tiki in Oakland Ca

I know I can't make my hoard of Bacardi 1909 last forever, not with the way I slurp down daiquiris, so its time to get searching for the best analog. I'm starting off with The Bum's recs from POTC (except Doorly's 3 Year, which I can't find), along with a few aged whites that I generally regard as tasty and high quality.

On 2017-11-10 11:45, PalmtreePat wrote:
I know I can't make my hoard of Bacardi 1909 last forever, not with the way I slurp down daiquiris, so its time to get searching for the best analog. I'm starting off with The Bum's recs from POTC (except Doorly's 3 Year, which I can't find), along with a few aged whites that I generally regard as tasty and high quality.

Please post your results. For my money the HC3 is the clear winner.

Krakatoa Punch. A little sweet even for me.

Jungle Bird. Cruzan Blackstrap.

El Dorado 8 Mai Tai

After many, many daiquiris (and a jalapeno cheeseburger) I've completed my first round of taste testing in search of the perfect sub for Bacardi 1909. The results were...surprising.

Full disclosure: each rum was tasted straight first, side by side with a pour of Bacardi 1909, from a glencairn glass for maximum pretension. For the daiquiri test I made them according to the improved recipe in POTC, using limes I "liberated" from the neighbors tree as they were needed to ensure that lackluster fruit didn't drag any drinks down.

Havana Club 3 was the most interesting entry. Tasted alone, side by side with the 1909, it's a very different beast. Heavier than just about any other aged white I've had, with enough hogo to it that one of my tasters likened it to a Jamaican rum. Yet when mixed in a daiquiri, it lightens up considerably, with lots of citrus flavors and an after-taste that is very close to the chocolate-ish flavor on the 1909's finish. The only thing HC3 misses is the super dry, crisp aroma 1909 imparts to the drink, which may in part be a product of the 1909 being higher ABV than anything else on the board. Recommended if you can get it.

Plantation 3 Star, Flor de Cana 4 Extra Seco, and Brugal Especial all came in roughly the same bracket for being close, but not quite perfect analogs to 1909. 3 Star is the closest in overall flavor, both by itself and in a daiquiri, but again, it smells sweeter rather than dry and isn't quite as assertive. Bone-dry Brugal I found came closest to 1909 in aroma, and in a daiquiri brought plenty of citrus flavor (orange in particular) but was missing some of the brown sugary and vanilla flavors on the finish. FDC hews closer to 3 Star than Brugal, and the daiquiri I made with it was, for lack of a better word, "darker" in flavor than the other two.

And the big shocker: Cana Brava came in dead last. With the closest ABV to Bacardi 1909 (86 to the BC's 89), a full 3 years of age on it, and a Cuban rum master at the helm, I went into this expecting it to smear the competition. And it didn't. Tasted side by side with the 1909, both straight and mixed, it was noticeably lacking in both flavor and aroma, far more than the slight difference in concentration can account for. We actually went back and did blind tastings to make sure we weren't biasing it into oblivion, and it still missed the mark. Afterwards I tested CB against the HC3, presumably its closest relative, and it fell short again. Nor could it best any of the other rums. Despite being a higher proof than all of them, it still came dangerously close to tasting like vodka in comparison, and, barring that I might have just gotten a bad bottle, I think I know why. When we took the Hampden Estate rum tour our guide explained the different ABVs they distill to for different products: the 80s is their mark for rum, while 90% and higher is for vodka. Cana Brava's website states that they distill to 92-94%. Now I don't know what proof the rest of these get distilled to, and I'm sure that CB doesn't get re-distilled over and over again like a true vodka would be, but it certainly tastes like the 86 Co has gone too far in its efforts to produce a smooth, dry spirit and lost alot of flavor. Given that Cana Brava often costs at least $5 more than any of these other rums, I honestly can't say I'll be buying it again in the future.

Final results: Havana Club 3 still reigns supreme, both for tasty daiquiris in general and specifically as an analog to the elusive Bacardi 1909. Plantation, Flor De Cana, and Brugal are all fine daiquiri rums and each is similar in its own way to 1909. Cana Brava is...limp.

This has been a fun experiment, but I'm just getting started. I still need to give El Dorado 3, Royal Standard, Selvarey, Cruzan Diamond, and Cartavio their fair shake. I may also go the Kohala Bay route and start blending different white rums together to replicate the flavor profile I'm after. Diplomatico just released an aged white at 47% ABV, which could strengthen a blend and help it cut through more in a mixed drink.