The ExoTiki

Although two of my friends initially came up with this drink, I made it more complex and honed it. Give it a try and let me know what you think. Okole Maluna!

The ExoTiki
(must be announced in a loud, booming voice!)

Fill a 16 oz. Tiki Mug half way with shaved ice
Add:

1 jigger light rum
1 jigger vodka
1/2 cup Ocean Spray pink grapefruit juice (no sugar added)
1/2 cup mixture of non-sweetened Doll pineapple juice & orange juice
Dash of coconut syrup

(If there isn't enough room for the prescribed juice measurement, use less ice, or a larger drinking vessel.)

Stir well for 10 seconds

Add straw(s)

Garnish with fresh mint sprig

[ Edited by: DJ Terence Gunn 2007-03-07 06:18 ]

This drink doesn't sound particularly out of the ordinary or difficult to make, but damnit if it doesn't sound good...

Although I myself might switch out the vodka with more rum... why ever put a tasteless component in a drink? I guess I'm just biased.

On 2007-03-07 07:11, DJ HawaiianShirt wrote:
This drink doesn't sound particularly out of the ordinary or difficult to make, but damnit if it doesn't sound good...

Although I myself might switch out the vodka with more rum... why ever put a tasteless component in a drink? I guess I'm just biased.

Not difficult to make at all, nor is it out of the ordinary. But, on the same token, the drink isn't just some half-assed tropical punch. And yes, it tastes damn good!

There is a reason for the light rum and vodka. Light rum and vodka do not taste sweet -- unlike most quality gold and dark rums. The combination of sweet and bitter from the juices, the sweetness of the coconut syrup, and the medicinal sterness and lack of sweetness and taste of the clear alcohols (particularly the vodka), are proportioned to complement each other, not compete with each other. If you substituted rum for the vodka (even if it was more light rum), you would completely change the taste of the drink; and henceforth, it would no longer be that drink. (The same could be said for substituting the Coconut syrup with Malibu.) And I'm no fan of vodka, myself (though I do love Salty Dogs!), but I must stand up for the conviction of the recipe's ingredients in connection with its finished taste. After all, a recipe is a recipe; and if one doesn't follow that recipe, it is no longer that recipe, and should be called something different. (Much like the Hollywood trend of using an old TV show's name and theme music to launch a contemporary film that has absolutely nothing to do with the original.)

It's funny but Harry Yee -- the man who made the Blue Hawaiian -- used light rum and vodka as the alcoholic base of the Blue Hawaiian, so as not to diminish the colour of the then new Blue Curacao. But as it also happens, Mr. Yee was not a fan, himself, of rum (golden and dark, that is). I find it even more funny how many bartenders today (professional or otherwise) don't use vodka and white rum in a Blue Hawaiian; or even know that they are components of the original recipe.

In any case, and though my recipe has little to do with the colour of the drink, this is my homage to Harry Yee and the Blue Hawaiian.

[ Edited by: DJ Terence Gunn 2007-03-07 08:33 ]

I'll have to take your word for it then. I look forward to trying this drink. I'll put it in my annals and save it for a later date.

Aloha