tropical itch

1 oz Bourbon (Four Roses)
1 oz Jamaican Rum (Coruba)
1/2 oz Demerara 151 Proof Rum (Lemon Hart)
3/4 oz Lemon Juice
1/2 oz Curaçao (Van der Hum)
1/2 oz Passion Fruit Syrup
1 oz Pineapple Juice

Shake with ice and strain into a Highball glass (Tiki mug). Top with ice and garnish with a pineapple fruit leaf and a lemon wheel (crushed ice, mint).

Two Thursdays ago, I turned to a drink recipe that I had spotted in Imbibe Magazine for the Tropical Itch. The recipe was San Diego's Fairweather's reformulation of the classic Tiki drink. The ModernTiki blog credits Harry Yee at the Hilton Hawaiian Gardens resort in Waikiki in the late 1950s who was also the creator of the Blue Hawaii. Moreover, the KaiserPenguin and others assign credit that Yee was the first person to garnish a cocktail, namely the Tropical Itch, with a paper umbrella. However, Beachbum Berry attributes the drink to Joe Scialom of Suffering Bastard fame at the Caribe Hotel in the late 1950s, and it was not a paper parasol but a bamboo back scratcher as a garnish.
Well, after narrowing down the origins of the drink to two different Tiki legends, it was time to make the drink. The Tropical Itch as I garnished it smelled pleasantly of mint. Lemon, orange, and passion fruit on the sip gave way to funky rum, pineapple, and passion fruit on the swallow.