test pilot

1 1/2 oz Dark Jamaican Rum (Coruba)
3/4 oz Light Puerto Rican Rum (Caliche)
1/2 oz Falernum (BG Reynolds)
1/2 oz Cointreau
1/2 oz Lime Juice
1 dash Angostura Bitters
6 drop Pernod

Blend with 1 cup crushed ice for 5 seconds and pour into a Double Old Fashioned glass (shake with ice and strain into a Tiki mug filled with crushed ice). Garnish with a cherry speared to a wooden oyster fork (mint and flowers).

Two Thursdays ago after my shift, I reached for my copy of Beachbum Berry's Remixed. There, I spotted the Test Pilot which appeared like a gussied up Royal Bermuda Yacht Club. The Test Pilot was created by Don the Beachcomber circa 1941; while Don could have known about the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club, it was published that same year in Crosby Gaige's Cocktail Guide & Ladies' Companion (perhaps well known in the Caribbean before that point though). Don's drink split the rum element and added spice from Angostura Bitters and pastis. The Test Pilot was later used as a template to create the Luau Room's Jet Pilot a decade later in the late 1950s.
Once prepared, the Test Pilot gave forth a mint aroma with hints of floral elements. Caramel and lime on the sip preceded funky rum, orange peel, clove, and brightness from the absinthe on the swallow with hints of spice on the finish.