pago pago

1 1/2 oz Barbancourt Rum
1 oz Pineapple Juice
1/2 oz Lime Juice
1/4 oz Green Chartreuse
1/4 oz White Creme de Cacao

Build with ice in a rocks glass. Mix by stirring or pouring back and forth with shaker tin. Garnish with lime wheel.

On Thursday, Andrea and I went down to the Franklin Southie for the Chartreuse Industry Night. The menu consisted of eight Chartreuse cocktails ranging from pre-Prohibition era ones like the Bijou to more modern ones like the Manuscript Margarita. The one I chose was a Tiki recipe, the Pago Pago, that can be traced back to the 1940 The How And When cocktail book. The original recipe uses Puerto Rican gold rum, twice as much Chartreuse, an ounce of muddled pineapple chunks instead of juice, and is strained before serving, but otherwise the same as this more modern one. The recipe will receive a bigger audience soon as it is slated to appear in Jeff Berry's forthcoming Beachbum Berry Remixed.
The Pago Pago started with sweet lime flavors at the beginning of the sip, and this was followed by the pineapple and Chartreuse flavors in the middle, and cacao and citrus crispness at the end of the swallow. The pineapple and Chartreuse flavors paired up nicely and each served to intensify the other. Later in the drink, the cacao became more prominent and perhaps the Pago Pago would not only serve as a good Tiki drink but as a good dessert one as well.

After the Pago Pago, I spoke with Todd Richman, the ever energetic Chartreuse Brand Ambassador. Luckily, he was not part of the Silent Order for he had a lot to say including telling us about the Illegal brand Mezcal that they were bringing to market. We got to try the reposado and añejo. While the reposado was quite a nice specimen, the añejo was a clear winner with intriguing fruit and berry notes.