Jamaican rum, lime, Grand Marnier and Creme de Cassis makes up Ciro´s Special which is the 12 th drink in Grog Log. Nothing much written about this one, it was made in Ciro´s nightclub in Hollywood. So let´s see what this one brings in terms of flavors…
My first impression was – too tart. But of course, that also may depend very much on the limes you´re using but 1 oz is quite much of tart if no syrup is there to balance it out. Instead there´s 0.75 oz of Creme de Cassis and 0.25 oz Grand Marnier.
I added a little bit of sugarcane syrup to see if it made the drink better and it did, at least to my palate. Well, this one – i have to say – is not one of my favorites from Grog Log. But friends, its drinkable, don´t get me wrong. Just pimp it up with some sugarcane syrup unless you like it tart.
CIRO´S SPECIAL
1 oz fresh lime
0.75 oz Creme de Cassis
0.25 oz Grand Marnier
1.5 oz Jamaican Rum ( i used 1 oz appleton extra and 0.5 oz Smith & Cross)
Shake and strain into a cocktail glass.
So now i needed a twist as well and i really looked forward to try to transfer this drink into something more tasty – that is the fun part, not sure if i succeeded though but here it is:
KAHUNA´S BOWL
0.75 oz fresh lime
0.5 ox hibiscus syrup
0.25 oz Cherry Heering
0.25 oz Grand Marnier
1 oz pineapple juice
1.5 oz Smith & Cross
Shake and strain into a Tiki mug or glass with crushed ice.
Quite tasty, the pineapple juice with the hibiscus syrup adds some freshness – and with Smith & Cross in the glass you can´t go wrong, really.
It suits me just fine to have some Tiki drinks now just when the winter is trying to not let the spring come through and its not warm yet, so let the rum warm us instead.
Tiare,thanks for thatas it happens Appletons Extra is my usual Jamaican rum I recently bought a bottle of Plantation Trinidad and Tobago overproof that has a bit of oomph to it,I agree that an Appleton overproof would be a fine thing.
@Kevinski – iUnfortunately Smith 6 Cross is only sold in the US. I would use a Jamaican rum to get closer to the flavor profile of S&C since its an unfiltered Jamaican pot still rum. The fact that its both pot stilled and unfiltered means it got lots of both flavor and attitude, plus its 68% ABV.
Maybe try Appleton Extra (which is more refined of course) and kick it up with (if you can find it) Lemon Hart 151 or maybe Gosling´s 151. You will get a totally different flavor profile but one with a jamaican rum flavor and some kick anyway.
If Appleton could make a dark aged overproof rum, that would be a good thing.
I’ve noticed Smith&Cross being used a lot lately’It’s not available in the U.K(at least I’ve not managed to find it) and just wondered if there was anything you would recommend as a substitute cheers kevinski
Bo, i would choose something Jamaican, like Appleton Extra and for the kick since S&C is 114 proof, a float of overproof rum – but that would change the Jamaican flavor to become something else of course, but it would be tasty i`m sure.
S&R – i just tried it out now myself! i did also find the Marnier-Cassis combo a bit odd..and like i wrote, its not my fav, but here we go through Grog Log;-) and every single cocktail tried adds to the Tiki cocktail education!
This is one of a handful of Grog Log recipes I have actually never taken the time to try. On paper, the Grand Marnier and the Cassis never look like a great combination to me. But the addition of a bit of Smith and Cross like you did may make it worth trying — for the sake of completeness (Leave no Grog Unguzzled!) if nothing else.
Sounds pretty good 🙂 – What would you recommend if you had to replace Smith & Cross with an other more “mainstream” brand?