Sunday, August 21, 2016

halekulani

1 1/2 oz Angel's Envy Bourbon
1/2 oz Lemon Juice
1/2 oz Orange Juice
1/2 oz Pineapple Juice
1/2 oz Grenadine
2 dash Angostura Bitters

Shake with ice and strain into a glass. Garnish with an orange peel-cherry flag.

For my second drink at the Baldwin Bar at Sichuan Garden II, I asked bartender Vannaluck Hongthong for the Halekulani. Van explained that it was his take on the Tiki classic that he pulled off of the Beachbum Berry app, and he mentioned that he upped the grenadine here and dropped the demerara from the original. The drink itself was first crafted at the House without a Key Lounge in the Halekulani Hotel in Waikiki circa the 1930s. One reason that I had skipped this in the Beachbum Berry books is that it called for okolehao, the Hawaiian moonshine of sorts (there are a few legally distilled bottlings though) made from the root of the ti plant, and it listed Bourbon as a possible substitution. Overall, the Halekulani with whiskey reminded me of a Tikified Ward Eight with the addition of pineapple juice and bitters; interestingly, Yvonne's Ward Eight utilized pineapple as a garnish in an intermediary step between the two ideas.
The Halekulani proffered an orange and cherry aroma that led into a lemon and pineapple sip. Finally, the swallow began with Bourbon, orange, and pineapple notes and ended with clove and allspice from the bitters.

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