I present a somewhat (completely?) fictionalized version of how I came up with a drink I made at my friend’s birthday in Berkeley last weekend.
Dear Trader Jane,
I recently purchased a bottle of Banane du Brésil at your behest. You write so lovingly of the banana liqueur and its use in the Carthusian Trip is inspired (ed. note if you are new here, go check that drink out). But I just don’t keep all that much fresh pineapple juice around and I’m at my wit’s end figuring out what else I should do with the bottle.
What flavors work well? What else can I do besides make a banana daiquiri (ed. note, of course you should also make that). I really cannot figure out what else to do with this and I’m begging you to help me come up with some ideas so this bottle doesn’t just sit around!
Signed, Bananas In Berkeley
Dear Bananas In Berkeley,
I empathize with your plight. Some ingredients that you start piling up with a home bar can be really hard to use, or you just don’t use at the volume you need to in order to get your money’s worth out of them. Not everything lasts forever. Fresh fruit has a short shelf live, vermouths lose their luster, so on and so forth.
Now I cannot say the same about this. If you can find a little space in your wine fridge (or if you are me, your main fridge), stuff like Banane du Brésil will last a long time. However, it would be helpful to know what else you have around if you (rightfully) don’t want to go through the trouble of making some fresh pineapple juice.
Cordially, Trader Jane
TJ,
I have a pretty good home bar, a lot of amari and vermouth, some scotch, some rum, and of course a steady supply of fresh fruit. Oh and a bunch of bitters. Whatever can I do with these?
BiB
BiB,
Well well well, I think we got the makings of something here. As you know from the Carthusian Trip, banana and smoky scotch are an excellent pairing, and banana plays quite well with rum. Especially something strong like Smith & Cross.
I’m interested in the amari and vermouth most…what’s something fun that’s not as bitter as Campari or as earthy as Fernet, but also not as sweet as some get on the other end almost like vermouths…say, is that a bottle of Punt E Mas I spy?
Try this!
1 oz lemon
.5 oz simple
.5 oz Banane du Bresil
.5 oz Punt e Mas
1 oz Smith & Cross
.5 oz Laphroaig 10 (Jura 10 would work great here too imo but I don’t have a bottle at home rn)
A couple dashes of bitters
Initially I thought it might be fun long-stirred but it turns out it needs all the dilution it can get. Strain and serve with crushed ice in a double old-fashioned glass. Enjoy BiB!
TJ
This is Trader Jane’s, a periodic newsletter about drinks (mostly tiki) and other fun writing. Follow me on Substack for something every couple of weeks (a low volume Substack, I swear!), and follow me on Twitter and Instagram for more timely updates on my beverages (and for lots of other things of course!)
And, as with any good drink, feel free to share (responsibly, of course)