MIXING THROUGH GROG LOG 4 – Beachcombers Gold

This tiki cocktail was served in a ice mold. In the old days when they didn`t have any ice machines they carved in large ice blocks and some tikidrinks were stylishly served in various ice molds and no wonder it was appreciated by the customers. Imagine sitting in a dark tikibar..and being served an exotic drink in a ice mold!  Some tiki cocktails was served in a glass placed inside an ice vessel like Dr Funk`s Son.

The most important thing in making a successful ice mold is to use shaved ice which is easier to mold and shape. Another important factor is the temperature. You don`t want the ice to start melting but you don´t want it to be too hard either. Leave it out for a  while until it becomes  a little bit more soft, then it molds easier and then you have to work pretty quick. Then we can discuss water quality for ice but i won`t do that now because it would make the post way too long and besides there are other good resources if you wanna read how to get clear ice.

Without shaved ice its much harder to do this. I made my first attemps using a handmixer after I used my ice crusher. Last time I wasn´t totally satisfied with the molds, especially not the ice shell called “Spanish comb” and that`s the one this drink recipe calls for. As I said, shaved ice is the key. A handcranked ice crusher and a handmixer is not for the lazy person and basically i`m lazy so I haven`t re-attempted to make this type of ice molds and especailly now since my handmixer is broke. Of course you can use a big mortar and beat the hell outta it but i think i`ll go for lots of crushed ice instead.

When you shape the spanish comb ice mold you place the crushed or shaved ice (try to get it like snow) in the glass, a whole heap of it and then gently press the ice towards the sides of the glass with your hands and form an ice shell or hood on one side. Make sure to give enough room in the glass for the liquids. Then to keep it in balance I placed the glass beside the wall in my freezer leaving it there overnight.

This cocktail  which is the 4th in Grog Log was made by Don the Beachcomber.

Here`s the recipe for the drink:

BEACHCOMBER`S GOLD

0.5 oz french vermouth

0.5 oz italian vermouth

Dash Angostura bitters

1/8 tsp pernod

1.5 oz light Puerto Rican rum

Blend for 5 seconds with 2 ounces crushed ice. Strain into cocktail glass or saucer champagne glass with ice shell forming hood over glass.

Well, i was a bit disappoined with this drink, i found it too tart. But that`s so easy to fix, i added 0.5 oz raw sugar syrup and then the drink tasted better. But this one isn`t my favorite of tiki drinks though. Its very important here to choose a rum with a great taste and to not overdose the pernod. Even though i like some anis flavor i think even a bit less than 1/8 tsp is better here, like a drop or two.

As i wasn`t that overmuch happy with this drinks flavor i decided to try to make a twist of some sort and in my mind came of course Campari and then instead of Pernod – Peychauds. I had never yet tried Campari and Peychauds in the same drink and so that could be an interesting little experiment. Something told me to change the rum as well, so i changed it from white to dark. I used Havana Club 7, but that may be subbed with some other dark rum that is flavourful but not too “heavy”.

The recipe looks like this:

GOLDEN BROWN TIKI

0.5 oz french vermouth

0.5 oz italian vermouth

1 dash Peychauds bitters

o,5 os raw sugar syrup

0.5 oz Campari

2 oz dark rum

Tempting here to switch for gin but then it would be too negroni-like and its supposed to be a tiki drink. For the syrup i use oxfam raw sugar which isn´t a brown sugar but not white either, its fine textured and very flavorful.

This drink was somewhat better but not a drink to die for, but it had a pronounced bitterness that i liked but surely one could play around with the ingredients some more and maybe come up with something better but i think i`m done for today. After all one needs to sleep sometimes as well and it haven´t been much of that since last sunday. Not sure how i feel about campari and pernod in the same drink, its not exactly bad..its a bit weird – like somehow the flavors cannot really agree to share the space..

Next drink up from Grog Log will be another Beachcomber concoction that to me looks much tastier and contains my favorite rum – demerara. Soon to come.