All Hail Coffee and Pineapple!

Last post for the tiki month! Here is a cathegory of tiki drinks that I like very much, those that contains some amount of coffee, often paired with pineapple and white grapefruit juices. Pineapple and coffee is a match made in heaven, adding an intriguing flavor profile and who invented it I have no idea, but since many tiki recipes includes Kona coffee it must of been someone on Hawai i…

The coffee adds extra depth and flavor notes that gives the drinks a special flavor and kick and these ingredients goes especially well with dark Jamaican and Demerara rums…

When it comes to coffee flavored tiki drinks, there´s the cold ones and the hot ones, but it´s the cold ones i`m writing about here. Some using cold brewed strong coffee, others coffee liqueur or coffee syrup, or muddled coffee beans in the shaker. I prefer to use either cold brewed coffee or coffee syrup, or a good coffee liqueur.

The three types of coffee I prefer to use are Kona coffee, Jamaican Blue Mountian or dark roast Community Coffee from Louisiana. They all have a very lush rounded flavor.. and lots of it! So what I wanna do here is put together what I think are some of the best coffee flavored tiki drinks in one place, plus adding updated versions of 2 of my own drinks.

But let´s start with the Atomic Grog´s Tribute to the Mai Kai`s Black Magic….

Tribute to the Mai Kai`s Black Magic

3/4 ounce fresh-squeezed orange juice
3/4 ounce fresh-squeezed lime juice
3/4 ounce white grapefruit juice
3/4 ounce rich honey mix
(2:1 honey to water, mixed and cooled)
1 1/2 ounces strong Kona coffee,
freshly brewed, then chilled
1 1/2 ounces Coruba dark Jamaican rum
1 1/2 ounces Kohala Bay dark Jamaican rum
(substitution suggestion below)
1/2 ounce Don’s Mix
(2 parts grapefruit juice to 1 part cinnamon syrup)
1 teaspoon Don’s Spices #2 (equal parts vanilla syrup and pimento liqueur)
2 dashes Angostura bitters

Blend with up to 1 1/2 cups of crushed ice in a top-down mixer for around 5 seconds, or until frothy. Pour into a large snifter glass with more crushed ice to fill. Garnish with a lemon peel.

Labor intensive for sure with all these ingredients, but you will get rewarded! my pro-tip is to make the vanilla and cinnamon syrups, the rich honey mix and Don`s Spices #2 a day ahead, then you don´t need to bother with that when you`re starting to mix the drink. Then start with making the Don`s mix and the coffee (to chill) and the fresh squeezed juices.

I don`t have any of the elusive Kohala Bay rum, so I use what`s on hand, for now equal parts of Hamilton Jamaica Pot Still Black and El Dorado 15. Another tip is either Coruba or Blackwell rum, or equal parts El Dorado 12 year old (or 15) and Smith and Cross.

This drink is very coffee forward and well blended with the other ingredients. Of course the flavor will vary depending of which coffee is used, I used New Orleans Community Coffee, Dark Roast, which is very full flavored and strong coffee.

The next is Atomic Grog´s Tribute to the Mutiny

3/4 ounce fresh-squeezed orange juice
3/4 ounce fresh-squeezed lime juice
3/4 ounce white grapefruit juice
1/2 ounce rich honey mix
(2:1 honey to water, mixed and cooled)
1/2 ounce passion fruit syrup
1 1/2 ounces strong Kona coffee,
freshly brewed, then chilled
1 1/2 ounces light Virgin Islands rum
1 1/2 ounces Kohala Bay dark Jamaican rum
1/4 ounce Don’s Mix
(2 parts grapefruit juice to 1 part cinnamon syrup)
2 dashes Angostura bitters
2 drops Pernod or Herbsaint

Blend with up to 1 1/2 cups of crushed ice in a top-down mixer for around 5 seconds, or until frothy. Pour into a large snifter glass with more crushed ice to fill.

This recipe was based heavily on Atomic Grog´s Black Magic tribute, adding a few elements of the rum barrel. Same rum substitution for Kohala Bay as with the Black Magic Tribute. This one is a bit lighter since there´s a light rum instead of two dark, and equally coffee flavored but less of Don`s mix and no spices #2 but instead an element of passionfruit is added as well as 2 drops of Herbsaint, adding that subtle lace of anise – something Donn Beach often used among his arsenal of secret weapons.

The Banda Islands

Next up is an updated version of my Banda Island Punch using freshly brewed coffee instead of coffee liqueur plus a nutmeg syrup not made from just grated nutmeg but a nutmeg syrup made in Grenada from boiled whole nutmegs with the fruit flesh and all. (Morne Delice)

But the drink got it´s name because of the connection of nutmeg syrup and the Banda islands in Indonesia which are seven volcanic tropical islands which have an interesting but sad history. The Bandanese had long used nutmeg as a currency, which they traded for food with people from other islands.

But when they were colonized by first the Portugese and then the Dutch who wanted to have all the control of the nutmeg trade – then most of the Bandanese were killed in the raids and it ended with the Dutch having to import farmers from the Netherlands to take over the nutmeg farms.

Today the beautiful Banda or Spice islands are quite unknown and their location is so isolated that they still do not appear on many present day maps. They are manly visited by sailors and smaller cruise ships. I`d like to see those islands…that´s a travel destination in my taste!

Banda Island Punch (updated recipe)

1 oz Coruba dark rum
1 oz St James 12 aged rhum agricole (or similar)
1 oz El Dorado 15
0.5 oz fresh lime
0.5 oz nutmeg syrup (Morne Delice brand from Grenada)
0.5 oz strong Kona coffee, freshly brewed, then chilled
2 oz fresh pineapple juice
Grated nutmeg on top
Garnish with a mini pineapple or other pineapple piece and tropical leaf wrapped around the glass

Blend in blender (or preferable a top-down mixer) at high speed for 5 sec and pour into a snifter, add more crushed ice if needed and garnish, finish with a little grated nutmeg on top.

Next up…a drink from Remixed that has the name of a volcano…

Krakatoa (from Jeff Berry`s Remixed)

1.5 oz fresh lime juice
1 oz fresh orange juice
1 oz fresh white grapefruit juice
1 oz apricot nectar
0.5 oz falernum
1 tsp coffee liqueur
1.5 oz gold Puerto Rican rum
1.5 oz Demerara rum
Dash Angostura bitters
2 oz strong Kona coffee
1 cup crushed ice

Blend all ingredients except the coffee in blender at high speed for up to 10 sec and pour unstrained into a 36 oz snifter filled with ice cubes, float coffee.

And after the powerful Krakatoa – here´s my tribute recipe to one of my favorite drinks ( they are a few….) at the Latitude 29 – the Espresso Bongo! not that I have the recipe for it…I can only make a guess the proportions – but on the menu it says “Gold Jamaican rum bestirred by pineapple, coffee syrup, passionfruit, orange and lime” My guess is that the gold Jamaican rum is Appleton VX…I didn`t have it, so instead I used Appleton Extra and Coruba.

Then the orange might be orange juice… but I instead decided to use the fabulous Brazilian Zulu bitters which i wrote about a while ago, the Zulu orange bitters which has a very vibrant flavor. They contain exotic local ingredients from the rainforest. But to sub with I recommend Angostura orange which does just as well.

….and then I totally copy the awesome pineapple leaf garnish… 😀

Tribute to the Espresso Bongo – the Coffee Bongo

Add all ingredients and 8oz of ice into blender. Blend by 5 one second pulses. Pour into double rocks glass. Garnish with a pineapple leaf cut like a palmfrond….and 3 coffee beans!

And then we have this, apparently me and  Craig Hermann aka Colonel Tiki have made one Dark Magic each that are totally different 🙂 his version is the oldest and I wonder if this is the recipe that inspired the Espresso Bongo? or is the Black Magic?

Dark Magic (version by Craig Hermann)

1/2 oz coffee syrup
1/2 oz Licor 43
1/2 oz passion fruit syrup
3/4 oz fresh lime juice
1 oz Appleton V/X
1 oz Coruba
dash Herbsaint

Add all and 8oz of ice into blender. Blend by 5 one second pulses. Pour into double rocks glass. Garnish with maraschino cherry and lime wheel. With compliments to Jeff “Beachbum’ Berry and The Mai-Kai’s Black Magic.

Now there´s a lot less ingredients than what was used in the previous Black Magic recipes, also I got no cherries for the moment so I made a different garnish. And then of course – I made my own version….and “bananaized” it a bit…

Dark Magic #2  (version by Tiare)

0.75 oz each of orange juice, grapefruit juice, fresh lime and honey-mix
1  oz cold strong Kona coffee
0.5 oz homemade banana syrup*
1 oz Hamilton Guyana rum
1 oz Ancient Mariner Navy Rum (Caroni)

1.5 cups crushed ice, blended at high speed 5 sec and poured in snifter filled with more crushed ice. Garnish with pineapple leaf and tropical orchid.

Coffee and grapefruit sweetened with homemade banana syrup and made strong with potent rum! To make banana syrup* – either make a 1:1 simple syrup with dark sugar or use one readymade if you have, slice one ripe banana and with a fork mash it a bit in the pan. Then heat up to a slight boil, let boil for 10 sec while stirring and then take off heat and leave to sit for an hour, then strain and bottle.

And then….I found this recipe on Atomic Grog, the Pain Reliever, a drink made by Brian Miller.

Pain Reliever
(Adapted from a recipe by Brian Miller of Tiki Mondays with Miller)

* 1 ounce Myers’s dark Jamaican rum
* 1 ounce Ron Zacapa 23 aged rum
* 1/2 ounce fresh-squeezed lemon juice
* 1/2 ounce fresh-squeezed orange juice
* 1 ounce fresh-squeezed pineapple juice
* 1 ounce coconut cream
* 1/2 ounce Don’s Spices #4 (cinnamon simple syrup)
* 1/4 ounce double-strength Kona coffee, chilled

Pulse blend with 1 cup of crushed ice for 6-8 seconds, then pour into a Tiki mug – in this picture is a mug from Wild Thing Creations. Garnish with a pineapple wedge and grated coffee bean.

I don`t have any Zacapa or Myer`s, so I used Jamaican and Demerara rums, works just fine! or even better…Also note that coconut cream is not the same thing as “cream of coconut” (Lopez and Real) it´s the top part in the cans of coconut milk which is thick and creamy, (in most cans anyway) there´s also cans of just coconut cream. It´s also possible to make your own.

Now that was my last post for this tiki month! but like I said every month is tiki month for me so no changes here….

Thanks for reading, I hope you will find some inspiration to make a few tiki coffee drinks!