Quarantiki - Hawaiian Sunset

Saturday, May 23, 2020

So today I decided, just for kicks, to make the Hawaiian Sunset the correct way. I liked where improvisation took me last night but thought it would be fun to compare it to the original drink.

Although the Hawaiian Sunset is quite awesome I think I like my accidental discovery from last night just a wee bit better. There's something about the flavor of the grapefruit juice with the other ingredients that makes it just a little more unique. Maybe it's just because grapefruit juice isn't quite as common as lime in tiki drinks. 

If I make either drink again the only thing I would change is the proportions used in the homemade grenadine. Rather than 1:1 I'd use 2 parts pomegranate juice to one part (and maybe even less) sugar. The orgeat syrup adds enough sweetness. I'll have to play around with it a bit. The Hawaiian Sunset consists of vodka, lime juice, lemon juice, orgeat, and grenadine and the recipe is found on page 165 of Jeff "Beachbum" Berry's Sippin' Safari. The garnish is fresh mint. 

Quarantiki - Hawaiian Sunset....Or Not

Friday, May 22, 2020

My intention this afternoon was to make a Hawaiian Sunset for cocktail hour. It didn't play out the way I was hoping but serendipity stepped in. The drink recipe comes from Jeff "Beachbum" Berry's book Sippin' Safari (p. 165). The drink calls for vodka, lime juice, lemon juice, orgeat, and grenadine. Now, in every tiki drink recipe book I've ever seen commercial grenadine is not recommended as it's usually just sugar water with red food coloring and artificial cherry flavoring. Real grenadine is supposed to taste like  pomegranate. 

The Smuggler's Cove book has a recipe for home- made grenadine (see pg. 328) which I decided to consult for my venture in making the Hawaiian Sunset. It calls for sugar (I used Demerara) and pomegranate juice (Pom) and although I changed the amounts to make a smaller batch I kept the ratio of one part to one part the same. Also, rather than boiling the juice to dissolve the sugar I simply placed it all in an old mayonnaise jar and shook it. Much easier and I think just as good. 

As I began to get the other ingredients ready I realized that I had forgotten to have Dale pick up limes for me at Kowalski's. What's a boy to do? Substitute grapefruit juice! Wow, it turned out to taste pretty awesome. Dale suggested that because of the grapefruit juice I call it a Hawaiian Sunrise rather than a Hawaiian Sunset. Voila! A new drink is born!

Note: Like the Aku Aku Gold Cup I made last week, the Hawaiian Sunset comes from the Aku-Aku restaurant, Stardust Hotel, Las Vegas, circa 1960s.

For round 2 I remembered to add the fresh mint as a garnish.

Quarantiki - Aku Aku Gold Cup

Saturday, May 17, 2020

The Aku Aku Gold Cup is my latest tiki drink effort. This one is from the book Sippin' Safari by Jeff "Beachbum" Berry and was originally served at the Aku Aku Room restaurant at the Stardust Hotel, Las Vegas, circa 1960s. To make it you need light Puerto Rican rum, dark Jamaican rum, lemon juice, falernum, and a little powdered sugar. It was quite good although I think I prefer lime juice to lemon juice in my tiki drinks. 

Quarantiki - Joey's Orange Speedo

Friday, May 15, 2020

Decided to try something new tonight. I took my creation The Hula Joe (one part rum, one part orange curaçao, one part pineapple juice) and switched to grapefruit juice instead of pineapple, added a little falernum and then topped that off with club soda. I rather liked it. I've named it Joey's Orange Speedo which is a riff on both the Tangerine Speedo from Frankie's Tiki Room in Las Vegas and the Joey's Banana Hammock from Archipelago in Washington DC. I gotta say it was rather quite delicious. I'm gonna make it again!

Quarantiki - Tiki Tuesday

Tuesday, May 12, 2020

A pair of  ten inch high Moai by Tiki Bosko.

Quarantiki - Tangerine Speedo

Saturday, May 9, 2020

This is the first drink I've made from the book Liquid Vacation: 77 Refreshing Tropical Drinks from Frankie's Tiki Room in Las Vegas. According to the book, "Downing one of these zesty refreshers will give you the courage to wear the Speedo. Drinking two will make you want to go go commando." I've got the courage to don a Speedo but it all sounded intriguing none-the-less. I also liked the color of the drink pictured in the book although mine turned out more red than tangerine. 

The drink includes amber rum, Campari, creme de cassis, Chambord, lime juice, pear nectar, orange juice, and club soda. I had quite a time finding the cassis at the liquor store but I finally gave in and asked for help. The gal who helped me had quite a time of it too. After she radioed for help we located it.

Quarantiki - Daiquiri

Friday, May 8, 2020

Daiquiri for cocktail hour. Simple, quick, delicious. 

Quarantiki - Grog

Wednesday, May 6, 2020

For cocktail hour tonight I made grog. It's a traditional tiki drink which I've heard gets its name from Admiral Edward "Old Grogram" Vernon of the British Royal Navy in the 1700s. It's basically just line, juice, sugar syrup (I used Demerara sugar), and rum. Simple and delicious.

I've wanted to make this drink for a long time.


I looked over three different recipes, came up with something of an amalgamation, and ended up with the following:

3/4 oz. lime juice
3/4 oz. Demerara sugar syrup*
3 oz. rum**
lime wedge as a garnish

Shake in cocktail shaker and then strain into a lowball with ice cubes.

*I used Beachbum Barry's way of making sugar syrup. One cup sugar (I used Demerara) and one park water shaken until the sugar dissolves in the water. I like it because it's a tad easier and faster than the boiling method.
** I used Hamilton 86 Demerara Rum

I had a sense of deja vu while drinking the grog. I was similar to something I'd had before. On a hunch I looked up the Barbados Rum Punch recipe in Martin and Rebecca Cate's Smugglers Cove book from 2016. Yep, I'd hit the nail on the head. The only difference between the Barbados Rum Punch and the Grog was a dash of Angosture bitters. I added that to my third grog of the evening and, voila, I revisited the first (and so far only) drink I'd made from the Smuggler's cove book. 

Quarantiki - May the 4th Be with You

Monday, May 4, 2020

kymmbang on Instagram

Quarantiki - More Royal Bermuda Yacht Club

Saturday, May 2, 2020

Loved the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club I made on Wednesday so I decided I had to give it another go tonight. Again, it was awesome.

Dale joined me outside with some red wine for the first round. Athena joined us too.

I was rather breezy outside so we had our second round inside on the porch. 

Beautiful, sunny evening.

We ordered in Chinese food from Xin Won.

Quarantiki - Royal Bermuda Yacht Club

Wednesday, April 29, 2020

Cocktail tonight from Shannon Mustipher's book Tiki - Modern Tropical Cocktails.

This one's called a Royal Bermuda Yacht Club. Easy to make and it tasted quite awesome. 

Mustipher calls the drink a variation on a daiquiri. This is the first drink I've made using falernum although I'm quite familiar with its tastes of almond, citrus, cinnamon, and clove from other tiki drinks I've had over time. I love it and it adds a sharpness to the drink due to its acidity.