Archive for March 2021

Jane Goodall’s All Good

Jane Goodall’s All Good

Shake with ice then strain into coupe.

Rum and banana are one of my favorite tropical or tiki bases for a drink. The macadamia and the banana liqueurs pair nicely together, but are fairly sweet in combination. So the coffee adds a needed bitterness and depth, which is only enhanced by the molasses blackstrap. Of course we need the acid hit to counter and balance, and the tobacco bitter evens everything out.

The name was contributed by my friend, the Pun-lord Andrew Child. I’ll probably not use any more monkey and ape puns and idioms for my banana drinks.

Yeah, and monkeys might fly out of my butt.

Statler’s Dream

Statler’s Dream

  • 2.0 oz. Apple brandy (Laird’s bonded)
  • 0.5 oz. Kina L’Aéro d’Or
  • 0.25 oz. Drambouie
  • 0.25 oz. Nux Alpina Walnut liqueur

Stir with ice then strain over rocks in tumbler. Spritz with peaty scotch.

Here’s a strong one to put some stuffing in your muppet (sorry). 100 proof apple brandy serves as the base with walnut and Drambouie adding the sweet and nuttiness. To this sort of twist on a Godfather I added a good amount of the bitter Kina for balance. The scotch on the nose is the final touch.

So apples and walnut made me think of a Waldorf salad. Which made me think of the Muppet old codgers. Thus Statler’s Dream, as even in repose he is paired with his heckling partner. Drink up before the curtain (or insult) falls.

Grog Blossom

Grog Blossom

  • 1.0 oz. Hamilton Jamaican Pot Still rum
  • 1.0 oz. Scarlet Ibis
  • 0.75 oz. lime juice
  • 0.5 oz. Passion fruit liqueur (Giffard)
  • 0.5 oz. Green Chartreuse
  • 0.25 oz. Vanilla liqueur (Giffard)
  • 0.25 oz. Allspice Dram (St. Elizabeth)
  • Dash of Bittermens Elemakule Tiki bitters

Shake with ice and strain into tumbler over cracked ice.

Recently I discovered that although I had a tasty passion fruit liqueur in my possession with which I had made a number of ad hoc drinks I had yet to create a specific, recorded drink with it. Thus.

Because it can be rather sweet, especially with the addition of a complementary vanilla, I reached for a funky Jamaican rum and also lots of bright acid to balance. The allspice and bitters brought more depth (and bitterness), but I was still missing something to round out the drink. The chartreuse fixed that for me with its herbal kick.

Grog of course was the traditional nautical concoction of rum and lime. Here I have taken that and embellished (as many a tropical or tiki drink does), making the Grog Blossom I think a fitting name, and certainly a possible result of consuming these on a regular basis!