Saturday, August 15, 2015

shining on the sea

2 oz Privateer Silver Rum
1/2 oz Green Tea Syrup (*)
1/2 oz Lime Juice
1 barspoon Guava Paste

Shake without ice to integrate the guava paste (**), add ice and shake again. Strain into a cocktail glass and garnish with a sun-shaped lemon or orange twist. Garnish cut out with a bento box vegetable cutter, but knife-work will do just fine.
(*) Strong steep mixed with an equal part of sugar.
(**) With heavily pectinized "block" guava jelly, heat with an equal part of boiling water to dissolve.
Another drink that I created for Loyal Nine's The Walrus and The Carpenter party was one inspired by the West Indies Punch from Trader Vic's 1946 Book of Food & Drink. Stripping one of the two rums in that punch as well as the brandy and Madeira, I was left with something closer to a Daiquiri variation. For a name, I opted for the poem's line "Shining on the Sea," and to support that I garnished with a floated lemon sun-shaped twist, and I later switched to an orange one for better contrast. I had been thinking of the West Indies Punch as I wanted to put a classic on the regular menu for it contains three Colonial boozes -- brandy, rum, and Madeira -- all in one! Here is how I pared down that drink:
West Indies Punch
• 3/4 oz Smith & Cross Rum
• 3/4 oz Lustau Brandy
• 3/4 oz Blandy's 5 Year Malmsey Madeira
• 3/4 oz Green Tea Syrup
• 3/4 oz Lime Juice
• 1 heaping barspoon Guava Paste
Dry shake to get the guava resuspended, shake with ice, and strain rocks glass. Top with cubed ice and garnish with freshly grated nutmeg. For service, all but the juice are batched, such that a 3 oz dispense of the shaken batch and 3/4 oz lime juice speeds up the process.

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