Missing Don the Beachcomber cocktails

I was looking over the Don the Beachcomber menu from the 1940s that TikiTacky was nice enough to post the other day.

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=46894&forum=5

And I began pondering all the DtB cocktail recipes that are listed on the menu, but whose recipes aren’t in any of Jeff Berry’s books or in the Arnold Bittner and Phoebe Beach book. There are a lot:
• Barbados Punch – possibly similar to recipe in ""Introducing Original Polynesian Tropical Bar Recipes" book - http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=44519&forum=10&45
• Barbados Swizzle – possibly similar to recipe in ""Introducing Original Polynesian Tropical Bar Recipes" book
• Beachcomber’s Sangaree – possibly a rum cocktail based on sangaree recipes from Jerry Thomas
• Beachcomber’s Silver – probably the Beachcomber’s Gold with light rum
• Hot Rum Grog – perhaps the Kona Coffee Grog without the coffee?
• General Pico - ??
• Governor General - Possibly used Gilbey's Governor General Rum from Jamaica?
• Hot Buttered Rum – fairly traditional drink, possibly using Pearl Diver Mix for its batter
• Martinique Milk Punch – a recipe is listed in a 1949 issue of Esquire Magazine.
• Mona Punch – perhaps used Myer’s 30-year Mona Rum
• Nelson’s Blood – I’ve seen one recipe that calls for rum, butter and hot water. I doubt it’s similar to the drink at the Portland Trader Vic’s
• Panama Daiquiri – possibly the same as Cuban Daiquiri but with Panamanian rum
• Skull & Bones – possibly similar to Mai Kai's Shrunken Skull and Tiki Ti's Skull & Bones
• Sugar Loaf Punch – I’ve found one recipe online that calls for rum, triple sec, orange and pineapple juices, and grenadine. Possibly used Sugar Loaf Rum from Jamaica?

Anyone have thoughts, ideas, etc. about any of these cocktails?

"I am Lono!" -- Hale Ka'a Tiki Lounge

[ Edited by: arriano 2014-02-26 08:20 ]

[ Edited by: arriano 2014-03-14 14:34 ]

Caribbean Punch and Rum Cow are both in Sippin' Safari. I imagine a lot of others are available too?

Some are in the new book like the Colonial Grog and Myrtle Bank Punch.

On 2014-02-12 11:28, kkocka wrote:
Caribbean Punch and Rum Cow are both in Sippin' Safari. I imagine a lot of others are available too?

Thanks. I forget sometimes that all the cocktail recipes from Berry’s first three books aren’t in Beachbum Remixed.

On 2014-02-12 12:49, Swanky wrote:
Some are in the new book like the Colonial Grog and Myrtle Bank Punch.

Thanks also. My copy of Potions of the Caribbean is on order, but hasn’t arrived yet. And I didn’t realize there were Don recipes in it.

I’ve deleted the four cocktails from the list above. Still a lot of cocktails are unknown.

The 'Don Beach' is in "Sippin' Safari" on p. 17. It's a variation of the 'Don's Beach Planter'.

As far as I can tell, now that "Potions of the Caribbean" is out, all the recipes are available for the original "Delectable Thirty" and the early "Rum Rhapsodies". The missing recipes all seem to be from later menus, and that has led me to believe they were, as you point out, the same as the drinks served at Trader Vic's. That still leaves a few with no information at all, particularly the 'Governor General' and the 'General Pico'. I've never seen anything in any book or on any website for these drinks.

Sippin Safari definitely has Donn drinks(& others) not in Remixed, because the later is a compendium of Grog Log and Intoxica, right?

Thanks for the input. I've updated the list (my copy of Potions of the Caribbean arrived Saturday). I also noticed that on the menu linked above, in the section listing Don's rums, there are three brands from Jamaica named Gilbey's Governor General, Myers's Mona (30 year), and Sugar Loaf. I wonder if those were the rums in the Governor General, Mona Punch, and Sugar Loaf Punch cocktails. And once those rums were no longer available, the cocktails either disappeared or renamed.

Good thinking. I had intended to go through that list at some point and search for the rums to see what information was available on them and add it to The Tikipedia.

I just received a copy of "Introducing Original Polynesian Tropical Bar Recipes" (see thread link below)
http://www.tikiroom.dreamhosters.com/tikicentral/bb/viewtopic.php?topic=44519&forum=10&26

Among the recipes is, lo-and-behold, ones for both the Barbados Punch and Barbados Swizzle. The authors apparently worked for Don the Beachcomber. But are they actually the DtB recipes? The recipe in the book for the Zombie and a few others are very close to Don's. And perhaps most notably, the recipes for the Barbados Punch and Swizzle are completely different from those of Trader Vic's. So maybe, just maybe.

Also, I'm wondering if the Don the Beachcomber Skull & Bones is the same drink as the Shrunken Skull available at the Mai Kai. If you compare Slammie's recreation of the Shurnken Skull with the ingredients of the Tiki Ti's Skull & Bones, they look to be very similar:

Mai Kai Shrunken Skull:
http://www.slammie.com/atomicgrog/blog/2011/08/10/mai-kai-cocktail-review-drink-like-a-native-with-the-shrunken-skull/

Tiki Ti's Skull & Bones:
http://www.tiki-ti.com/drinks/a-skullbones.html

Love the Mai Kai 'tribute' Shrunken Skull! Awesome but easy to make. I've always found the recipe that the Bum published to be too lime-heavy myself.

Aloha

Nice post

I just compared my two DTB menus for any differences.
Old Hollywood and Vegas (Sahara) versions.

They each have 6 drinks that the other doesn't.

In the Hollywood version and not in Vegas are:

1. Barbados Swizzle
2. Cuban Daiquiri. *
3. Martinique Milk Punch
4. Nelson's Blood
5. Rum Cow
6. Rum Gum Lime

In the Vegas version and not in the Hollywood are:

1. Beachcomber's Daiquiri *
2. Joe's Jumbo Gold *
3. Mai-Tai
4. Royal Daiquiri
5. Scorpion
6. Silver Anniversary *

• I can't locate these drinks

Cheers
Jon

Vegas version

Hmmmm... more mystery! Joe's Jumbo Gold is inset under the Beachcomber's Gold, so I'm guessing it was a double Beachcomber's Gold. The Beachcomber's Daiquiri could be the Cuban Daiquiri with a different rum (Cuban rum no longer available by this time).

Good thinking....

The latest update of the Shrunken Skull review and tribute recipe confirms a link to the Skull & Bones, as noted above ...
http://www.slammie.com/atomicgrog/blog/2011/08/10/mai-kai-cocktail-review-drink-like-a-native-with-the-shrunken-skull/

If anyone runs across a Skull & Bones recipe anywhere, please let me know.

This brings the number of Mai-Kai cocktails that are descended from Don the Beachcomber up to 32 on the current menu, plus 10 from previous menus:
http://www.slammie.com/atomicgrog/blog/2012/06/05/mai-kai-cocktail-guide-discover-a-fruitful-and-delicious-tropical-drink-family-tree/#ancestry

I've put together a little cocktail book I'm titling "1950s Cocktail Recipes of Don the Beachcomber" that I'll happily email to anyone who's interested. It's a PDF file. I used a variety of sources, and the result is that many differ from versions in Beachbum Berry books as Donn Beach tended to experiment and tinker over the years. Jim "Hurricane" Hayward of AtomicGrog.com was nice enough to review an early draft and offer suggested changes, and even taste-tested cocktails (thanks for your sacrifice! LOL).

Anyway, shoot me a PM with your email address and I'll send you the book (suitable for spiral binding at your own expense).

Got my copy this evening... thanks so much, Arriano, for putting it together! You've compiled an excellent resource. I believe I will print and bind it, so I can add it to my bar library.
I would encourage everyone to take him up on his offer, and get yourself a copy!

Got mine. Excellent work! You should post an email address to take Pay Pal donations for your time and effort.

Good to have it all in one place. And good to know what the missing recipes are.

Thanks for putting this together and sending me a copy. Nice job!

On 2015-12-09 20:36, mikehooker wrote:
Excellent work! You should post an email address to take Pay Pal donations for your time and effort.

Please consider, I'd be happy to donate for such a worthy effort.

Just received mine in the email. Thank you.

howlinowl

Thank you for such a generous offer, got mine last night.

Arriano- thanks for sending this to me. Can't wait to try some of these out!
Cheers!
:drink:

Got mine. Very cool! Thanks!!!

Early Christmas gift to myself.

Wow! Very cool, hiltiki!

Great job arriano! Can you hook me up with the final version?

I'm still sampling recipes, but so far my favorite new one is the Barbados Swizzle.

I received mine the other day! Thank you so much!!!!

Got my copy. Looks great!

Gonna try to work my way through the "book" starting with Barbados Punch...

...and Barbados Swizzle...

I can think of no better (pre) New Year's resolution. :wink:

So if you received my little booklet, you may have noticed that for the Dr. Funk recipe it lists Ojen as an ingredient, and that I note Ojen is no longer available.

However, recently two different companies are making Ojen again.

A Belgian company, La Finca Giralda is making it, and I think they're actually making it in Ojen, Spain:
http://aguardienteojen.worldofgalina.com/

Also, Sazarac is making a version:
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/29/dining/ojen-liqueur.html?_r=0

I don't know the availability of either beyond their immediate production areas (or how close either product is to the original), but you might want to make a note in the book that it's now available.

"I am Lono!" -- Hunter S. Thompson

[ Edited by: arriano 2016-01-31 09:47 ]

On 2016-01-31 09:46, arriano wrote:
So if you received my little booklet, you may have noticed that for the Dr. Funk recipe it lists Ojen as an ingredient, and that I note Ojen is no longer available.

However, recently two different companies are making Ojen again.

A Belgian company, La Finca Giralda is making it, and I think they're actually making it in Ojen, Spain:
http://aguardienteojen.worldofgalina.com/

Also, Sazarac is making a version:
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/29/dining/ojen-liqueur.html?_r=0

I don't know the availability of either beyond their immediate production areas (or how close either product is to the original), but you might want to make a note in the book that it's now available.

---

"I am Lono!" -- Hunter S. Thompson

[ Edited by: arriano 2016-01-31 09:47 ]

Can anyone tell me more about Ojen? What exactly differentiates it from other anise-liquers?

On 2016-01-31 09:46, arriano wrote:
So if you received my little booklet, you may have noticed that for the Dr. Funk recipe it lists Ojen as an ingredient, and that I note Ojen is no longer available.

However, recently two different companies are making Ojen again.

A Belgian company, La Finca Giralda is making it, and I think they're actually making it in Ojen, Spain:
http://aguardienteojen.worldofgalina.com/

Also, Sazarac is making a version:
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/29/dining/ojen-liqueur.html?_r=0

I don't know the availability of either beyond their immediate production areas (or how close either product is to the original), but you might want to make a note in the book that it's now available.

---

"I am Lono!" -- Hunter S. Thompson

[ Edited by: arriano 2016-01-31 09:47 ]

Arriano, if you still are willing, I would very much apprieciate a copy of the book. It will be very handy for my DTB birthday party next month.

[email protected]

Thanks!