beachcomber's gold (hollywood)

1 oz Gold Puerto Rican Rum (Don Q Añejo)
1/4 oz Dark Jamaican Rum (Coruba)
1/4 oz Gold Jamaican Rum (Smith & Cross)
1/2 oz Lime Juice
1/2 oz Simple Syrup (1/2 oz Orgeat)
4 drop Almond Extract (utilize orgeat as above)
6 drop Pernod (St. George Absinthe)

Blend with 2 oz crushed ice and strain into a coupe with an ice shell (shake with ice, strain into a rocks glass, fill with crushed ice, and garnish with an ice shell, mint, and honeysuckles).

Two Fridays ago, I honored the call for the Instagram-based Beachcomber's Gold Challenge after having participated in the previous week's 151 Swizzle Challenge. For recipes, I found that Beachbum Berry's Remixed contained three different Beachcomber's Gold recipes all sourced from Don the Beachcomber establishments. The one I selected was the oldest from Dick Santiago's 1937 notebook that Santiago assembled as the head waiter at the Hollywood location, and this same recipe was found in a 1950s notebook from a Palm Springs location. In terms of technique, I have always had a problem with the making the shell in a coupe glass and nudging it over to keep building it instructions that Berry recommended as I mentioned in the Aku Aku Gold Cup post. For that drink, I utilized a hand juicer to force the crushed ice into the proper shape. For this one, I opted for building it in a cheaper julep strainer, pressing it together with another strainer to force the shape, freezing it, and then squeezing the strainer's metal until the shell separated (my more solid ones such as the Cocktail Kingdom brand were not bendable and did not work here). While I was able to make a few attractive ones, I was unable to attach the shell to a glass very well (I believe that I had matched the shell to the perfect glass in the Aku Aku Gold Cup to keep it in place). Therefore, I opted for the crushed ice-filled rocks glass route that the Devil's Reef bar utilizes to solve the dilemma. For speed, the hand juicer technique works the best since it does not require a freezing step (although it helps to retain its form).
This Beachcomber's Gold version proffered minty, floral, and almond aromas. Next, a creamy lime sip receded into a funky rum, nutty, and hint of spice swallow.