There are a number of historical recipes for the Lapu Lapu / Chief Lapu Lapu cocktail, described in a recent video from Derek on the Make & Drink channel on YouTube. Besides going into the history of the cocktail and its notable presence as the featured cocktail at The Royal Hawaiian in Laguna Beach, Derek came up with his own Lapu Lapu recipe that we are trying tonight.
Make & Drink Lapu Lapu
½ oz Lemon Juice
½ oz lime Juice
2 oz Orange Juice
1 oz Passion Fruit syrup
¼ oz Rich Simple Syrup
1½ oz Light Rum
1 oz Pot Still Rum
1 oz Club Soda
¾ oz 151 Rum
Flash blend all ingredients except 151 rum for five seconds, then pour over crushed ice in a large snifter. Float ½ oz of 151 rum. Garnish with mint and a passionfruit shell with 151 rum, set on fire.
I took a few liberties here, notably on the garnish side since I had no mint and decided to use a lighted lantern pick. I used Liber Passionfruit Syrup, a light rum blend of Trader Vic’s white and Hamilton White Stache, Hamilton Pot Still Black Jamaica rum, and Hamilton 151 Demerara rum.
This is a really juicy cocktail and the excellent tangy Passionfruit Syrup from Liber really shines in this. I’m not getting much of the Pot Still rum, and if I was going to do this over I’d probably go 2 oz Pot Still and 1 oz Light rum. Or maybe just incorporate all the rum and not leave the 151 as a float, since a little of that famed Overproof Demerara rum can really add some great flavors to a cocktail.
Nonetheless, this is a really great version of this cocktail. Do you have a favorite Lapu Lapu recipe? Leave it in the comments.