Tag: Pineapple

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Recipe: Piña Verde

I heard about this cocktail on the Bartender at Large podcast, hosted by Erick Castro-Diaz. Erick created this Piña Colada riff years ago when developing the menu for his bar Polite Provisions. It essentially replaces the light rum with the bold and flavorful Chartreuse liqueur.

The flavors really come through well, thanks in part to the 55% ABV of Green Chartreuse. The coconut and pineapple really compliment the herbal notes coming from the liqueur. It’s fantastic.

Piña Verde by Erick Castro-Diaz
½ oz Lime Juice
1½ oz Pineapple Juice
¾ oz Cream of Coconut
1½ oz Green Chartreuse
Shake with crushed ice and garnish with a mint sprig

It kind of makes me sad to discover this cocktail, since now more than ever I’ll be having fears of future FOMO as I whittle down my supplies of Green Chartreuse that is now so difficult to procure.

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Aperol Bird

We had some pineapple juice and so I did a Jungle Bird riff using Campari’s sweeter cousin, Aperol. I have been enjoying Aperol Spritzs this month and thought this might work in a cocktail that calls for the more bitter Campari. I’ve grown to appreciate the Jungle Bird as a cocktail, but regular readers know I lean sweet.

Aperol Bird
½ oz Lime Juice
4 oz Pineapple Juice
½ oz Simple Syrup
¾ oz Aperol
1 oz Hamilton Jamaican Pot Still Black Rum
½ oz Goslings Dark Rum
Shake with cubes.

This was okay. I’ve found that when the Hamilton is used by itself it can sometimes overpower a cocktail, hence cutting it with Goslings. As it turns out, it probably would have been better with all that Jamaican rum instead. The Aperol does give this a lighter and sweeter taste but it isn’t able to stand up to all that pineapple juice as well as Campari.

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Trader Vic’s Tiki Stem Coupe

Picked up a couple of these very nice Tiki Stem Coupes from the Trader Vic’s online store. The 7 ounce glass is a little larger than my current coupes, and looks fabulous as well. Vic’s also has a couple smaller glass options, while still keeping the tiki stem.

The cocktail is the Blue Caribbean, a Blue Hawaiian riff featuring Rhum Agricole.

Blue Caribbean
½ oz Lime Juice
3 oz Pineapple Juice
1½ oz Cream of Coconut
½ oz Blue Curacao
1¾ oz Clement Premiere Canne (or other unaged Rhum Agricole)
¼ oz Dark Jamaican rum
Shake with Crushed Ice

A bit of a tight fit into this particular glass.

When I first developed this cocktail I served it in a Collins glass with crushed ice and that’s probably a better format than being served up. I do like how the Rhum Agricole works with the Pineapple and Cream of Coconut, provide a more complex flavor. Adding a tiny bit of flavorful Dark Jamaican rum adds an additional bit complexity without darkening up the cocktail.

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Pink Pineapple

Mrs. Mai Tai ordered this pink “pinkglow” pineapple, which originated in Costa Rica. If you can get past this thing looking exactly like a side of ham, you’ll find it is a sweeter type of pineapple that is particularly tasty when cut up and eaten raw. Definitely not cheap to obtain but I thought it was worth trying at least once.

I got some juice while coring the pineapple, and while I didn’t go out of my way to “juice” the pineapple, I was able to get enough to try this out in a cocktail. I did a riff on the Blue Hawaii.

Pink Hawaii
1½ oz Pink Pineapple Juice
½ oz Lemon Juice
½ oz Simple Syrup
½ oz Cointreau
1½ oz Light Rum (Denizen 3)

Call me a sucker but I liked this version better than the traditional Blue Hawaii with yellow pineapple juice.

Pinkglow pineapples are available from Del Monte at  www.pinkglowpineapple.com and cost $40.