submarine pilot

1 1/2 oz Plantation 3 Star White Rum
1/2 oz Smith & Cross
3/4 oz Velvet Falernum
1/4 oz Green Chartreuse
1/2 oz Mango Puree (*)
1/2 oz Lime Juice
2 dash Angostura Bitters
2 dash Chocolate Bitters

Whip shake, pour into a Tiki mug, fill with crushed ice, and garnish with an orchid and a lime wheel.
(*) We use Perfect Puree brand, but muddling a cube of fresh mango (plus a fine strain step) will work well here. Perhaps 1 oz of mango nectar would sub in a pinch.
When I started the position at Area Four in Boston, the previous bar manager had departed the night before leaving no one to fill in her shoes. While I have helped to keep up on the batching and syrup making for the other drinks, the Freaky Tiki offering required a few hours of prep to make its complex toasted coconut-hibiscus cordial. Instead of trying to invest the time into that, I crafted a replacement tropical drink. I began with the Test Pilot as my starting point, and I tried to mix in the mango puree that had previously only served to make the kitchen happy during my time there. The curaçao aspect did not seem to work here, so I switched to Green Chartreuse especially with falernum drinks like Telenovela, Dwarf Leopard, and Chartreuse Swizzle in mind. The end result made me happy, and I combined the Test Pilot with my Jet Pilot riff, the Lost U-Boat, names to dub this one the Submarine Pilot. Since this was done during my shift, I did not write down tasting notes but recall how the fruit was bolstered by spice and herbal accents with a strong rum backbone.