enchanted catnip

1 1/2 oz White Puerto Rican Rum (Privateer Silver)
1/2 oz Lime Juice
1/2 oz Tamarind Syrup (2 parts Simple Syrup + 1 part Tamarind Concentrate)

Shake with ice and strain into a cocktail coupe. Prepare a thin strip (1/4+ inch wide) of orange peel, wrap it around the equator of a grape, and fix with a pick; dip in 151 proof Puerto Rican Rum (Don Q), ignite, and drop into the drink.

Two Wednesdays ago, I went out grocery shopping and bought both red and green grapes to make a few drinks that I had marked off. The one that I was most excited about making was the Enchanted Catnip from Beachbum Berry's Potions of the Caribbean book. The recipe was created by the Joe Scialom who is best know for creating the Suffering Bastard and Dead Bastard and I most recently made his Cou-Cou-Comber this past summer. The Enchanted Catnip was crafted in 1958 after his work adventures in the Middle East and Caribbean when he settled down in New York City, and it featured a tamarind syrup similar to what I used in the Final Countdown, the Eye of the Tiger, and other drinks at Loyal Nine.
The Enchanted Catnip began with a exciting pyrotechnic garnish and a rum and lime aroma from the drink itself. Next, lime and a dark tart fruit note from the tamarind filled the sip, and the swallow was the pleasing duo of rum and tamarind flavors.