Elusive Dreams

 

Story

The Hotel Nacional de Cuba in Havana is an historic hotel that opened in 1930.  Its flagship cocktail, the Hotel Nacional Special, was created around the same time.  It’s a sophisticated daiquiris variant made with rum, pineapple, lime, and apricot liqueur.  The Elusive Dreams modifies the classic template by replacing the apricot with banana liqueur and amping up the deep pineapple flavor by splitting the rum (half pineapple-infused rum, half unaged rum).  The result is a remarkably smooth drink that gives the fruit flavors center stage without tasting strongly like any of them.  The cinnamon hovers way in the background as it does in a lot of tiki drinks, working magic with the rum almost at the edge of awareness.  Be sure to shake this cocktail for a full 30 seconds to aerate it and give it that silky texture.  I’m glad I have to make these each by hand, because if I could just ask someone to bring me one I would do so multiple times.  

Recipe

1 oz Planteray Stiggins’ Fancy pineapple rum
1 oz blended unaged rum (Planteray 3 Stars) or white rum
1 oz pineapple juice
0.75 oz lime juice
0.75 oz cinnamon syrup
0.5 oz banana liqueur  (Giffard Banane du Bresil)
-Shake ingredients with 3-4 medium ice cubes for 30 seconds. Strain into a chilled coupe.

Iron Ranger

Story

One of the creators of tiki cocktail culture back in the 1930’s was Victor Bergeron, aka Trader Vic.  The other was Donn Beach (born Ernest Raymond Gantt), whose “Don the Beachcomber” bars were the original establishments from which Trader Vic shamelessly borrowed ideas.  Unlike Vic, who published a dozen recipe books, Beach was famously secretive about his recipes.  He only wrote them down in coded form, meaning they had to be reconstructed through meticulous research by a hero named Jeff Berry.  Berry published the first of his famous recipe books in 1998, helping to inspire the tiki renaissance in the early 21^st century.  The Iron Ranger is a combination of a traditional Beachcomber framework with a whiskey base, which was a favorite trick of Trader Vic’s.  The result is deliciously juicy and drinkable like a classic tiki cocktail, but just when you expect the rum to make an appearance, you get the smoothness of bourbon.  The tartness of the citrus and falernum keep the cocktail from being overly sweet.  I enjoy the aroma of freshly grated cinnamon as a garnish, but you’ll be fine if you omit it.  Cheers!  

Recipe

2 oz bourbon
1 oz pineapple juice
0.75 oz lemon juice
0.5 oz John D Taylor’s velvet falernum
0.5 oz simple syrup
2 dashes angostura bitters

-Combine ingredients in cocktail shaker with a handful of pebble or crushed ice.  Shake until it’s mostly melted.
-Dump everything into a pint glass or tiki mug.  Fill the remainder of the glass with additional pebble or crushed ice.
-Optional garnishes: freshly grated cinnamon, mint bouquet, cinnamon stick. Serve with a straw.