galathea

1 oz Brandy (Pedro Domecq Fundador Solera Reserva)
1 oz Amber Rum (Appleton VX)
1 oz Cherry Heering
1 - 1 1/2 oz Coconut Cream
1 oz Pineapple Juice
1/2 oz Lime Juice
2 dash Angostura Bitters

Shake with ice and strain into a Zombie (or Collins) glass filled with crushed ice. Garnish with a cherry and add a straw.

I accidentally skipped over a post so here is the drink I made for last week's Thursday Drink Night on Mixoloseum. I was attempting to make something that I could present for Mixology Monday a few days later, and while this drink fit the bill, it dawned on me that I should present the dusty Frigate Bird recipe instead for that event and post this one separately. For an idea here, I wanted to riff off of the Coctel Noz de Coco Tropical that Charles Baker presented in his South American Companion: Up & Down the Andes with Jigger, Beaker, & Flask. While I do not mind the large amount of Maraschino liqueur in that drink, I felt that it could reach a wider audience if the spirit was changed to Cherry Heering. I also though about another coconut cream drink, the Painkiller, and borrowed elements from that. Since the former is a brandy drink and the latter is a rum drink, I made my creation a split of the two liquors. For a name, I considered the Danish origin of the Cherry Heering and the seafaring ideals of Tiki drinks. The Galathea stood out as a name -- it was a Danish 3-mast ship that explored the world including Polynesia during the mid-19th century.
The Luxardo Maraschino cherry I used as a garnish contributed greatly to the Galathea's aroma. The sip was a pleasing combination of coconut, pineapple, lime, and cherry flavors, and these fruit notes were chased by the rum and brandy on the swallow. While there were no great surprises with its flavors given the ingredients, I must say that the drink got drained pretty quickly. The Galathea, while not my Mixology Monday pick, definitely did not disappoint and was probably the most Tiki-like drink that I have come up with to date.