Southern Comfort Tiki Drink?

I vaguely remember having a tiki type cocktail many years ago in a bar that I believe had Southern Comfort as one of the ingredients. If I recall, it was pretty good, but can't find any recipes that would fit the bill. I have a bottle of SC given to me as gift, but don't know what to make with it. Old Trader Vic's bartending books, enthusiastically endorsed the liquor (must have been more popular in the 40's or 50's), but the stuff smells kinda odd and perfumey. Any thoughts as to what that drink might have been??

I don't know the particular cocktail you had (a description of the flavor/look might help jog someone else's memory) but I've used Southern Comfort in tropical drinks before...

"While it is a fun drink for 15 year olds and rock legends, Southern Comfort can be a useful ingredient when making up cocktails. You just have to treat it like Chartreuse or Pernod, more of a flavoring than an ingredient. Used just right it can give a drink an elusive edge of mystery." Me in the "Whats the weirdest drink you've made or drank?" thread.

It's good to have a "mental taste" of the flavor of an ingredient when trying to use it in drink mixing (or cooking). Put a little of the hideous stuff in a glass and treat it like wine...Smell, taste, get some air in the mouth and concentrate on the flavor. You may get some inspiration as to what it'd go good with right then...Or later on when someone gives you a gallon of organic prune juice you might remember the Southern Comfort flavor, shout "Yee-gads!" and head to the bar to create the Pele's Golden Years cocktail.

On 2006-03-08 17:47, quickiki wrote:
Old Trader Vic's bartending books, enthusiastically endorsed the liquor (must have been more popular in the 40's or 50's), but the stuff smells kinda odd and perfumey. Any thoughts as to what that drink might have been??

Since you mentioned Vic's Southern Comfort endorsement, you've probably already looked at his recipes in the TV Bartender's Guide. But in case you haven't, it looks to me that two drinks may be candidates. I haven't tried them myself and I would bet the names won't ring any bells as they probably would have been renamed by any self respecting Tiki establishment.

Frozen Southern Comfort
juice of 1/2 lime
1/2 teaspoon bar sugar
2 oz Southern Comfort
1 dash maraschino liqueur
Blend with 1/2 scoop shaved ice.

Southern Comfort Sparkle
2 oz Southern Comfort
4 oz pineapple juice
1/2 oz lime or lemon juice
ginger ale
Mix the SC and juices in a chimney glass.
Add shaved ice. Fill glass with ginger ale.

Trader Vic's does have a drink with SoCo in it- it's called the Black Widow, and you
'll find it on the first page of the drink menu in the small drink category.

It's pretty good as well.

1.5 oz Mount Gay Eclipse rum
.75 oz Southern Comfort
.5 oz lime juice
dash simple syrup.

I haven't tried it yet, but there's also Omar's Delight on page 62 of Beachbum Berry's Intoxica.

On 2006-03-08 22:40, UtopianDreem wrote:
I haven't tried it yet, but there's also Omar's Delight on page 62 of Beachbum Berry's Intoxica.

And the Honolulu Cooler from page 81 of Berry's Taboo Table.

Also the Black Widow (mentioned above by martiki) and the Drunken Apricot from the Trader Vic's Tiki Party book.

Looks like I need to pick up a (small) bottle of Southern Comfort.

Wow, great ideas. I'll have to break-out the chemistry set this weekend and give 'em a try. Checked out the suggested thread and tried a sip of it last night, concluding it needed to be treated as a flavoring agent rather than drinking it straight. It doesn't taste as bad as I thought it would, but I guess a lot of people really have an aversion to it, eh? Wasn't this the stuff Janis Joplin used to puke-up on stage?

On 2006-03-09 07:58, quickiki wrote:
...It doesn't taste as bad as I thought it would, but I guess a lot of people really have an aversion to it, eh?

I prefer SoCo over most bourbons exactly because it is a bit sweeter on the palate. As to drinks, not exactly Tiki, but SoCo makes an excellent Hurricane. You can use SoCo in any drink that calls for bourbon, just be aware of the other ingredients and reduce any other sweeteners by a bit.

Wasn't this the stuff Janis Joplin used to puke-up on stage?

Yes, and thank you for putting that image BACK in my head. It is really distracting when I am standing at the bar trying to pour.......

Hey Chip and Andy, a Hurricane sure sounds tasty. I've had them several times, but there seems to be as many variations of this drink as for Mai Tais. What's your recipe using SoCo? Oh, and sorry for the visual. I guess we're showing our age.

On 2006-03-09 11:43, quickiki wrote:
Hey Chip and Andy, a Hurricane sure sounds tasty. I've had them several times, but there seems to be as many variations of this drink as for Mai Tais. What's your recipe using SoCo? Oh, and sorry for the visual. I guess we're showing our age.

This is one of those drinks that never really "has" a recipe and is too easy to get a premix for. My Hurricane, based losely on what I would get on the streets during Mardi Gra,s is:

Tall glass, topped with ice
Two fingers of Southern Comfort (Rum if you prefer)
A healthy splash of cherry syrup/liquor/juice
A big dash of pomegranite or grenadine
The juice from a small lime
Top with club soda
Float SoCo on top just before serving.

I am sure there are many more things that are supposed to be in this drink, but after about two you just kind of start pouring stuff into the glass.

On 2006-03-09 19:46, Chip and Andy wrote:

On 2006-03-09 11:43, quickiki wrote:
Hey Chip and Andy, a Hurricane sure sounds tasty. I've had them several times, but there seems to be as many variations of this drink as for Mai Tais. What's your recipe using SoCo? Oh, and sorry for the visual. I guess we're showing our age.

This is one of those drinks that never really "has" a recipe ...

Well that's pretty blasphemous. I dare you to repeat what you said above to the people at Pat O'Brien's in New Orleans.

Ya know if people thought along those same lines regarding the Mai Tai, there would be hundreds of sucky variations out there. Oh wait...

[ Edited by: Chip and Andy 2009-06-05 17:31 ]

Thanks Chip and Andy!
I think that last recipe is the one!! I distinctly remember passion fruit juice in the drinks that I've had. I'll definitely try it with SoCo.

Try the Grog Log Hurricane recipe- it's excellent and simple.

I second the Grog Log version of the Hurricane - it goes down VERY nicely. I make it with Myers and TV passion fruit syrup.

The first hurricane I ever tried was with the Pat O'Briens mix and I actually didn't like it at all.

I know I've never bought a bottle of Southern Comfort, much less tasted it but that could be changing soon. This Country meets Tiki recipe seems to confirm that SC and Trader Vic's linked up in the late 50's to serve the 'Comfort Sour' at some of their locations which included Cuba. I wonder who approached who. Anyone with a bottle willing to test drive it?

sounds pretty similar to a Comfortable Screw.

here's another drink per cocktaildb:

Trader Vic's Champagne Apricot

Build, fill glass with ice
1 oz Southern Comfort (3 cl, 1/4 gills)
Place apricot in glass, stir
Fill with Champagne
Serve in a Champagne glass (6.0 oz)

Been spending the afternoon perusing a PDF scan of the June, 1968 issue of Playboy. Inside they have a drink guide, "Girl Watcher's Drink Guide" by Southern Comfort. Apparently, SC used to (or still does?) insert these drink guides in Playboy at times....I posted a link to another guide from another Playboy magazine from 1964 with a recipe for a "Comfort Daiquiri" in the Miami Luau post here http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?mode=viewtopic&topic=2023&forum=5&start=75&hilite=luau

Inside is a recipe for the "Honolulu Cooler" that's pretty much on par with the one in Beachbum Berry's Taboo Table. Couple of screenshots:

Says the recipes are from the Sheriton's Royal Hawaiian in Honolulu.

howlinowl

I made a SoCo drink yesterday that goes like:
2 oz Havana Club
1/2 oz Soco
2 oz Pineapple Pulp (Blended without water and strained)
1.5 French Press Coffee
1/2 Spiced Syrup
1/2 Lime Juice.
I like that the SoCo was the star of the drink, but I think it lacks something.