Tiki drinks are back! There's no need to fly all the way to some tropical island to enjoy one of these over-the-top cocktails. Brush up on your tiki history and learn how to create these tasty cocktails at home.
The Barbary Swizzle: Moroccan Mint Tea Meets Tiki
The drink’s creator, Jeff “Beachbum” Berry, a cocktail historian and author of five tiki cocktail books, calls this brew a “cross-pollination of tiki with Morocco,” since it fuses classic tiki ingredients with Moroccan mint tea.
For the Moroccan mint tea:
4 mint tea bags, preferably Numi brand Moroccan Mint
2/3 cup granulated sugar
For the cocktail:
3/4 fl. oz. (1-1/2 Tbs.) fresh lemon juice
1-1/2 fl. oz. (3 Tbs.) gold Jamaican rum, preferably Appleton Estate V/X
1 tsp. dark Jamaican rum, preferably Appleton Estate Extra
1/4 fl. oz. (1/2 Tbs.) club soda
Crushed ice
3 large mint sprigs
For more information
The Lift-Off!: Spiced Rum with a Flaming Finish
This drink was invented by Blair Reynolds, bartender at Thatch Tiki Bar, in Portland, Oregon. Made with falernum, a syrup spiced with ginger and clove, it gets a fiery boost from a rum-soaked crouton set aflame inside the rind of a lime.
1-1/2 fl. oz. (3 Tbs.) Jamaican rum, preferably Appleton Estate Extra
3/4 fl oz. (1-1/2 Tbs.) 151-proof rum, preferably Lemon Hart Demerara
1/2 fl. oz. (1 Tbs.) fresh lime juice (save the juiced lime skin for garnish)
1/2 fl. oz. (1 Tbs.) fresh orange juice
1/2 fl. oz. (1 Tbs.) cinnamon syrup, preferably Trader Tiki’s
1/4 fl. oz. (1/2 Tbs.) falernum, preferably Fee Brothers
1 dash Angostura bitters
Crushed ice
For garnish
1 small plain crouton
1/2 fl. oz. (1 Tbs.) 151-proof rum
1 juiced lime half, scraped clean
For more information
The Chi Chi Pache: Island-Spiced Piña Colada
Created by Martin Cate of Smuggler’s Cove in San Francisco, this drink is reminiscent of a creamy piña colada with a hint of spice.
2 fl. oz. (4 Tbs.) vodka
1-1/2 fl. oz. (3 Tbs.) 100% pineapple juice, not from concentrate
1 fl. oz. (2 Tbs.) coconut cream, preferably Coco Lopez
1 tsp. pimento dram, preferably St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram
1 dash Angostura bitters
Cracked ice
1 cinnamon stick
For more information
All About Tiki Drinks
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