Playing with fire
So I was down in Palm Springs (for the first time! I know, I know) and I stopped in a few places serving nice tropical beverages of course. At Bootlegger Tiki, I ended up sipping on the very extra Gilligan Ate The Skipper; at Tonga Hut, I settled in with an old reliable, a Painkiller; and at The Reef, I was reminded of the power of a lil fire when I ordered a Rum Runner. They all had their charms, going for slightly different audiences.
Back at home, I’ve been playing with fire too, and trying to refine a beverage for a bit that I think I’ve finally hit upon better.
Last time I was in Minnesota, I stopped in Minneapolis finest (at least top 2 for me, don’t make me choose) bar, Meteor, where I had a lot of time to kill and good conversations with the two bartenders as I happened to get there during a bit of a lull. So over a fine drink, I began scanning the bottles (like one does) and my eyes settled upon a Planation Fiji 2011 Linie Finish Single Cask rum they had. Now I’ve certainly seen that before, but what was special about this is that it was a Minnesota Special Edition.
I’m still not sure what makes the Minnesota edition special, nor have I been able to find out via internet sleuthing, but you know, that’s life.
As the rum goes, it’s…an acquired taste in this one. The aging in aquavit gives it a little bit of that kick that is not entirely unwelcome but is also a bit funky. I am aware I could be more descriptive, but not funky in a Jamaican way, funky in a…this is kind of a weird rum way. I’m happy to pour you a dram when you come over to see what you think.
But aquavit is fun to mix with, and since I have a bottle of the (non-Minnesotan) edition, I may as well put it to use. It is a touch pricey to mix with, but at the same time, I’m not buying this rum to take it to my grave.
When I think about the basis of drinks, certainly the venerable Fog Cutter presents a nice 1/1/1 formula when it comes to the liquor. So I had that somewhat in mind as I crafted this. What goes well with aquavit? Gin of course, and rum. The first draft I just did a nice lightly aged rum, but may as well lean into the aquavit this time. If you don’t have it, that’s fine, you could put something light in there like Plantation’s regular ole Fiji rum or a basic golden rum to no ill effects.
As for the juices, I pulled out pineapple and lime. You could probably do pineapple and orange to good effect, but I needed half a lime (we’ll get there). And for the sweeteners, the 2:1 Demerara and orgeat will do nicely. So how does that all come together?
1.5 oz pineapple juice
.5 oz lime juice
.5 oz Demerara syrup
.25 oz orgeat
1 oz aquavit (I also happen to use Linie at home…synergy!)
1 oz gin (Botanivore)
1 oz rum (Plantation Fiji Islands Single Cask)
151 to float (or something like OFTD if you don’t have a bottle of Lemon Hart)
Take all of that but the 151 and shake it up like you are used to buy now. Strain into a Hurricane glass, top with fresh crushed ice. Leave a little room up top to place half an inverted lime hull on top, and fill that with 151. Find something safe to light it on fire with and let it do its though until it goes out. You could also do 151 soaked sugar cubes or something like that and again…LET IT BURN OUT BEFORE YOU GET IN THERE! Safety first.
There you have it, you have yourself a Viking Funeral. Let’s see what kind of inspiration I get in Los Angeles for a week and a half. Until then…
This is Trader Jane’s, a periodic newsletter about drinks (mostly tiki) and other fun writing. Follow me on Substack for something every week or two (if we are being honest), and follow me on Twitter and Instagram for more timely updates on my beverages (and for lots of other things of course!)
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