Exotic Liqueurs in Tiki drinks

I've been going through some of Beachbum's drink recipes over the past few months and bought a bottle of Barenjager to use in a couple of drink recipes. It adds an interesting note for sure. Any other tiki drinks use the stuff (besides Beachbum's recipes). How about Stroh or Maraschino (haven't bought these yet)?

[ Edited by: quickiki 2006-11-15 16:09 ]

Off the top of my head, I know there's one Beachbum Berry recipe using Stroh, as well as several using maraschino liqueur.

Do you own the less obscure ingredients already?

ie: flavored brandies, creme de cacao, Alize, 43, sweet and dry vermouth, etc.

If not, start there. You can make more drinks if you have those than you can with Stroh and Baerenjaeger.

Ahu

Although admittedly I'm a bit of a novice in mixing Tiki drinks, I do have a pretty good selection of rums, liqueurs and aperitifs, as far as the standard stuff goes.

I have sampled several recipes from both the Grog Log and Intoxica, with good results, I might add. That's why I'm curious, but hesitant to spring for buying these liqueurs for just one cocktail recipe, unless of course, they are truly great by themselves or can be used for other cocktails.

Has anybody tried these liqueurs and can enlighten me as to how they taste?

Early on after I got BBB's books I spent a LOT of time tracking down the different ingredients. I decided to try and save some money on the booze (especially for a drink I might not like) and buy mini bottles.

I currently have 50mL "mini" bottles of:
Frangelico
Campari
Barenjager
Pernod
Yukon Jack
...as well as these 3 which lead to purchasing the large bottles... several times each...
Courvoisier
Cuarenta y tres
Damiana

I highly recommend shopping for the "mini" bottles before you lay down more cash for something you might not like, and ends up taking up more valuable space in the bar.

-T.J.

Okay, so you have all the standards and you just want info on Stroh and Maraschino. No problem.

Buy both.

Stroh is a good item to have on hand for experimental mixology. I'd keep it amongst the bitters, extracts, spice liquers, and waters (rose, ect). It can add depth to a cocktail where needed.

It is not good straight obviously.

Maraschino is good stuff and worth having. It is as simple as that. It has a flavor that can't be found in any other product. I like it in gin drinks.

The Grogalizer might be a good resource here too. If you click on the ingredients in the drinks you have yet to make which call for the odd ingredient, you can then see the grade given and comments of those who have already tried it. This way, before you buy a bottle of Stroh to make one recipe, you have some idea if it's great or if it sucks and it might let you decide when or if you want to invest.

Licor 43 I suggest getting. It's a unique flavor and makes some good drinks.

I am enough of a nerd that when I started the Grogalizer, I actually went through the books by hand to tally the number of recipes every ingredient appeared in to get a weighted list of things to buy. Oy! I can do that with the Grogalizer now if anybody wanted it. I have enough in stock now I am not too worried about those things. There are so many recipes to make with what I have that I have many months of sampling before I would need to invest in a new liqueur.

A 50mL bottle of Pernod would be perfect! Where did you get it? I've been to several places with no luck. Any recipe that uses Pernod usually only calls for a few drops or a teaspoon at a time.

Thanks to everyone for the great suggestions. These are great ideas and hopefully I can save some dough instead of squandering it on booze I may not like. By the way, Swanky you're not alone. I too have compiled liquor lists from the BBB and TV books trying to figure out which drinks contained common ingredients. I guess I'm not the only TCer out there with OCD :wink:

Digitiki wrote:
"A 50mL bottle of Pernod would be perfect! Where did you get it? I've been to several places with no luck. Any recipe that uses Pernod usually only calls for a few drops or a teaspoon at a time."

Yes, where are you guys finding the small bottles of pernod. Anyone know of a on-line place that sells them, since I can not find any in my area?

The best selections I've ever seen of minibottles were at: BevMo stores in CA, and Bonanza, a gigantic novelty souvenir store in Las Vegas.

Maraschino liqueur is tasty stuff - I drink it straight, but it does mix well, with gin and other things. I've seen two brands, Stock and Luxardo, with Luxardo being the best by far.

Pernod is a fairly sweet licorice/anise flavor. Pernod, Ouzo, Sambuca and Pastis are all similar, but different in subtle ant sometimes important ways, the way Triple Sec, Curacao, Cointreau and Grand Marnier are similar yet different.

My favorite exotic liqueurs, aside from Maraschino, are:
Damiana - Dominican liqueur with smokey, honey flavors. Comes in nifty "earth goddess" bottle.
Agavero - Tequila and Damiana. More smokey, honey flavors plus that agave taste of good tequila.
St. Germain - Elderflower liqueur. Really amazing, almost magical stuff, very sweet but sweetness cut by a slight tang.

I've seen all three in minis at BevMo, and these may be available shipped from their website. Damiana and St. Germain are goood in drinks for stumping your guests - they'll never guess the mystery ingredient.

Not sure how well they go into Polynesian cocktails, though they might work in small amounts or as floats... I also find herbal liqueurs fascinating. Everyone knows Chatreuse (green and sweeter yellow) and Benedictine, but there's also Liquore Strega, a saffron-colored sweet Italian one, and Danziger Goldwasser, a German one (produced since the late 1500s) containing big flakes of gold leaf. I have seen minis of Strega only, but BevMo has both of these, too.