pina koala

1 1/2 oz Bacardi Añejo Cuartro Rum
1 oz Pineapple Juice
1/2 oz Coconut Cream (*)
1/2 oz Lime Juice
1 dash Angostura Bitters

Whip shake with crushed ice, pour into a Tiki mug, fill with crushed ice, and garnish with a pineapple leaf.
(*) The Backbar house recipe is two parts Coco Lopez coconut cream to one part coconut milk and based off of Martin Cate's recipe at Smuggler's Cove.
Two weeks ago, Moe Isaza wrote to inform me that Bacardi was setting up a charity drink called the Piña Koala to raise money for the Australian Red Cross in the wake of the fires there. When I learned that Backbar already had the drink on the menu, I set off to give it a try and utilize the hashtag #pinakoala on Instagram. While Backbar did their own spin on it to match their house Piña Colada recipe, the original was crafted by Barney Toy at the Clipper Bar. That recipe is as follows:

Piña Koala
• 1 1/2 oz Bacardi Carta Blanca or Añejo Cuatro Rum
• 1 oz Pineapple Cordial (**)
• 1/2 oz Coconut Syrup (***)
Build in a Highball glass, fill with ice, top with soda, and garnish with a pineapple wedge. Pineapple juice and coconut soda will work here as well.
(**) Pineapple cordial is 500 mL strained pineapple juice, 100 g white sugar, 5 g citric acid, and 2.5 g malic acid.
(***) Coconut syrup is 3 parts coconut water, 1 part white sugar.

Once prepared the Backbar way, the Piña Koala climbed to the nose with coconut and pineapple aromas. Next, citrus and pineapple on the sip led into rum, coconut, pineapple, and spice flavors on the swallow.