Where does inspiration come from?
It’s a great and noble question. If you’ve followed any sort of writing of mine over the years (at least the more informal stuff like this), you may have noticed the importance of music when it comes to how I think and write and organize things in my head.
That is true of the initial inspiration of this whole enterprise (currently about 40 entries deep in less than two years) as the very first entry married my love of Steely Dan with my love of tiki. And certainly that isn’t the only corner of inspiration I’ve turned to. Frequently drinks provide ideas for entries or names, and most of them I’ve included at least a link to a song somewhere along the way. Music ties to everything, and you can think of so many of the songs as an eventual playlist for my hypothetical future Trader Jane’s outpost.
For now, though, let’s turn to past inspiration as I’m trying to clean things up a bit and find a few of the fun drinks I’ve made in the past that never made their way into a proper post (okay, I’m also in a bit of a rut creatively and trying to figure out how to navigate it properly, sometimes I turn to old forms).
This one started as a bit of a thought exercise in how to make an Aviation into a more properly tiki beverage (much like the Trader Jane itself is clearly homage to a Chartreuse Swizzle, but more tiki-y). But there were some quick divergence points soon thereafter.
Maraschino liqueur + all the other sweeteners is too much, so I ditched the dearly beloved Maraschino in this instance initially; however now it’s starting to feel like it should make a comeback…
It needed something else, and that something else is orgeat
This would actually be excellent with gin, but white rum is your friend too
This is one that is also visually fun if executed well, though most attempts to make this end up being more purple than pink in my experience, I’m keeping the name. I’ll save any Prince-themed beverages for another time. So here’s where it stands:
1 oz lemon
.25 oz Creme de Violette
.25 oz Maraschino Liqueur
.25 oz orgeat
1 oz lightly aged filtered rum (something clear like Plantation 3 Star)
1 oz unaged overproof rum (J Wray & Nephew)
Now this one is kinda interesting to make and try and get the color right. Normally I just mix everything as is and pour it into a Collins, top with some fresh crushed ice, and call it a day. Maybe add a garnish or what not. In this case, definitely add a Maraschino cherry. But to get the color I’m looking for, I also add a couple barspoons. of the liquid in a Maraschino cherry jar. It does some fun things as it slowly seeps through the beverage. Even if I cannot quite seem to nail the color I got the first time, it’s still an enjoyable beverage to make in that sense. Who doesn’t like a little fun?
Anyway, you got yourself a lil something I call Pink Frost, even if I can’t quite get it as pink as I’d like.
Until next time!
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 (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!)
And, as with any good drink, feel free to share (responsibly, of course)