the gem

Juice of a Lime (1/2 oz)
A little Pineapple Syrup (1/2 oz)
1 spoon Sugar (none, used pineapple syrup as only sweetener)
1/2 drink Santa Cruz Rum (1 oz Plantation Barbados 5 Year Rum)
1/2 drink Brandy (1 oz Pedro Domecq Fundador Solera Reserva)

Shake with ice and strain into a fine glass. Garnish with a slice of lemon and grate cinnamon on top (dusted with cinnamon instead).
With all of the talk of William Schmidt's The Flowing Bowl the night before, I decided to search out another recipe to make from that tome. While Will Thompson had suggested the Kaleidoscope, the drink that caught my eye first was the Gem. With a little manipulation of the citrus and sweetener volumes to reflect a modern 2:1/2:1/2 sensibility, the drink appeared like a split spirit Fix, albeit one served without the crushed ice and berries in season. Instead of berries, the Gem called for a lemon slice that had been dusted with grated cinnamon. Moreover, the split spirit base of rum and brandy is a classic combination that reminded me of our Pattaya Punch recipe. The garnish on the Gem helped to provide much of the drink's nose by way of cinnamon and lemon notes. The lemony aroma gave way to lime notes on the sip, and the swallow contained the pineapple, brandy, and rum flavors. Over time, some of the cinnamon dissolved into the drink and donated a pleasing spice note on the swallow which worked well with the pineapple and rum.