Tiki

DD’s Spiced Rum

/ Dani DeLuna / 2 Comments

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Since we’ll be using this Rum a fair amount during Tiki The Snow Away 2016, I thought I’d create a separate post for it. Thanks again to Denizen Rum for creating the truly spectacular Merchant’s Reserve that makes up the bulk of this mix.

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DD’s Spiced Rum

  • 6 oz Denizen Merchant’s Reserve Rum (sub Jamaican Rum)
  • 2 oz Plantation Barbados 5 Rum (sub a smooth aged Rum)
  • 1 1/2 oz St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram
  • 1 oz Cinnamon Bark Syrup

Combine ingredients in a bottle and agitate gently so all ingredients are integrated.

Happy Spiced Rum making!

Shark Reef

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In my opinion, it’s always time for a Tiki drink. No matter how crappy the weather may be, or how dark it is outside, I am always going to say, “OH HELL YAS” to some tropical Rum magic.

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Today’s magic comes to us in the form of a Tiger Shark variation called Shark Reef. I started with Denizen Merchant’s Reserve, added Hamilton 151, some tasty syrups, Lime juice, and Pineapple Juice. Refrescando!

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For real though, these two Rums make one hell of a split base. Note to self, make as many Tiki drinks with this combo as possible!

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Ready? I’m ready. I think I’m going to make another one right after I finish writing this post!

Shark Reef

  • 1 1/4 oz Denizen Merchant’s Reserve Rum
  • 3/4 oz Hamilton Demerara 151 Rum
  • 3/4 oz Pineapple Juice
  • 1/2 oz Lime Juice
  • 1/2 oz Cane Sugar Syrup (1:1)
  • 2 barspoons Cinnamon Bark Syrup
  • 8 oz Crushed ice
  • Garnish: Pineapple shark tooth, two Paddles to escape from the Sharks!

Combine ingredients in blender and blend for around 8 seconds. Pour into double Rocks glass or Tiki mug and garnish.

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Yeaaaaah, so this is really damn delicious. Cheers y’all! SHARK REEF!

Tropicbird with Denizen Merchant’s Reserve

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Woo! This Denizen Merchant’s Reserve Rum is giving me ALLLLLLL sorts of ideas. I’ve been rolling through the Beachbum Berry’s Total Tiki app and making a lil checklist of recipes I’d like to try with this most excellent of Rums. Needless to say, the list is getting quite long.

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If you guessed that Tropicbird is a variation on a Jungle Bird, you’re right! Congrats! You know your Tiki drinks!

The subbed ingredients in this cocktail are Merchant’s Reserve (subbed for Jamaican Rum), Aperol (subbed for Campari), and Cane Syrup (subbed for Simple Syrup). I also reduced the amount of Pineapple Juice because I didn’t have to cut the bitterness of Campari with extra juice.

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Pretty pretty Tropicbird. Won’t you sing to me?

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Tropicbird

  • 2 oz Denizen Merchant’s Reserve Rum
  • 3/4 oz Aperol
  • 2 oz Pineapple Juice
  • 1/2 oz Lime Juice
  • 1/4 oz Cane Syrup*
  • Garnishes: Pineapple Spear Bunny Ears, Luxardo Maraschino Cherry, Pineapple chunks

Combine ingredients over ice and short shake. Strain into double Rocks glass over cracked/crushed ice and garnish.

*1:1 Ratio of Cane Sugar and Water.

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My my, you’re the prettiest bird I’ve ever seen. Thanks to Denizen for creating this undeniably fabulous Rum!

Muertito Vivo at Glady’s Caribbean!

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Wooooooooooo! So a while back, Shannon Mustipher and I were working on Secret Tiki Drinks at Glady’s Caribbean, and now one of them is on the menu!

Glady's Oct 2015 Menu

Yeaaaah y’all!

Muertito Vivo = Spiced Tiki and it’s just as interesting as you might imagine! The Jägermeister + Pastis makes this drink really intesting. It’s also really dry thanks to the Santa Teresa Rum + Allspice Dram + Lime juice, yet super refreshing!

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Let’s not forget, TIKI FLAAAAAME!

If you live anywhere near NYC, stop by Glady’s Caribbean in Crown Heights, Brooklyn for Muertito Vivo and some of the best Rum Cocktails ever!

Denizen Merchant’s Reserve + Mai Tai

/ Dani DeLuna / 1 Comment

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Back in July, Nick Pelis, the founder of Denizen Rum, emailed me to say thank you for using their Denizen Aged White Rum in so many of my cocktails. He then offered a bottle of Merchant’s Reserve if I’d like to use it in some recipes. I replied with, “oh my gosh, no, thank you!” because y’all, I LOVE DENIZEN RUM! I’ve used it more than all other Rums cause it plays well with others and is so damn tasty.

Well, after a couple months of email-tag, I’ve got my bottle of Merchant’s Reserve and it’s just as wonderful as the Denizen Aged White!

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BEHOLD! FEAST YOUR EYES ON THE GLORY!

The first and perhaps most important thing to note on the label are the words, “Rum” and “Rhum”. Both at the same time, on the same label…do you catch what I’m getting at? It’s both aged Jamaican Rum & Martinique Rhum blended together!

The flavor profile is out of the world: funky and grassy, sweetly caramel and dry, fruity and herbaceous. It’s the best of both worlds at the same time and it totally works.

In one of my emails with Nick, he referred me to this Cocktail Wonk review, (highly recommend) that contained a very important bit of info down in the comments section by one Martin Cate. Namely, Denizen Merchant’s Reserve was created to be akin to the Rum in one of the original Trader Vic Mai Tai recipes!

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With that bit of information in mind, I thought, well the very first drink I make with this Rum will most definitely be a Mai Tai!

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And it’s the best damn Mai Tai I’ve ever made! The complexity, dryness, grassy and funky notes make the Merchant’s Reserve the best Rum for a Mai Tai. Like soooooo, so, so the best.

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I don’t have Curaçao at home, so I used Cointreau instead. Killer. Supremely delicious. Tears of happiness.

Denizen Merchant’s Reserve Mai Tai

  • 2 oz Denizen Merchant’s Reserve
  • 1/2 oz Cointreau or Dry Curaçao
  • 1/2 oz Orgeat*
  • 1 oz Lime Juice
  • Garnish: Lime shell, Mint sprig

Combine ingredients over ice and short shake. Strain into double Rocks glass over cracked or crushed ice and garnish.

*Depending on the kind of Orgeat you have, you may want to use 1/4 oz Orgeat & 1/4 oz Cane Simple Syrup. My Orgeat the BG Reynolds kind and isn’t very creamy.

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There will be many more Denizen Merchant’s Reserve cocktails in our future. Stay tuned! Thank you Nick for the supremely delicious bottle!

Tour de Tiki starts tonight!

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Tour de Tiki King Tai

Yo! ALL MY NYC TIKI-HEADS!

Just a quick announcement to say that the Kween of NYC Rum, Shannon Mustipher from Gladys Caribbean, has created a Tour de Tiki and it starts tonight at King Tai Bar! Check the Facebook event here.

#RumForTheHills: Painkiller

/ Dani DeLuna / 1 Comment

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National Rum Day is this Sunday y’all, and what better way to celebrate than with one of the best Tiki drinks ever! As I mentioned in my Hamilton Tiki Takeover post, I went to a Caribbean restaurant the other night for a Ministry of Rum tasting & Tiki party, and had several stunning Painkillers made by the incomparable Shannon Mustipher.

I can’t get this drink out of my head, it will not leave me alone! So I decided to try to make one at home and see how it turned out. It turned out pretty damn good although Shannon’s is better!

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The main difference between my Painkiller and Shannon’s is that she has Pusser’s Rum and I do not have an English Navy Rum. To overcome this challenge, I decided to mix two Rums together: Angostura 7 Year Rum and my newly acquired Hamilton 151 Rum to up the proof and give the drink that Navy Rum bite.

It was a good combo!

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Never forget the Nutmeg y’all. The Nutmeg is everything for this magical drink!

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I followed the Painkiller recipe from Beachbum Berry’s Total Tiki app while keeping in mind that I was using two Rums. I also made a last minute decision to add some Angostura Bitters to the mix for complexity. Yummmm.

Home Bar Girl’s Painkiller

  • 2 oz Angostura 7 Year Aged Rum*
  • 1/2 oz Hamilton 151 Overproof Demerara Rum**
  • 4 oz unsweetened Pineapple Juice
  • 1 oz fresh Orange Juice
  • 1 oz Coconut Cream
  • 2 dashes Angostura Bitters
  • Garnish: Orange wedge, Pineapple chunk, Cinnamon stick, grated Nutmeg, Hawaiian surfbort

Combine ingredients with a lot of crushed/cracked ice and shake it baby! You want this drink to be really frothy. Dirty pour (don’t strain, pour ice and all) into Tiki mug. Garnish with all of the things.

*If you have Pussers Rum or an English Navy Rum, use 2 1/2 oz.

**This Hamilton 151 Demerara Rum is the shit. It blows Lemon Hart out of the water. I AM NOT KIDDING.

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This drink will literally make you feel like you’re on vacation, so get ready for some Tropicaaaaaal breezes! Happy Rum times to you all! If you have any Rum cocktails that you would like to share on Instagram, use the hashtag #RumForTheHills.

Hamilton Tiki Takeover at Glady’s: Photo Essay

/ Dani DeLuna / 1 Comment

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On July 28th, my girlfriend, some friends and I went to the best event ever: Hamilton Tiki Takeover at Glady’s Caribbean restaurant in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. Shannon, the beverage director and Rum Kween, invited me a few days before and I was beyond excited.

Ministry of Rum tasting! Ed Hamilton in Brooklyn! Tiki drinks with some of the best Rums ever! WOOOO!

Instead of saying millions of words about how marvelous this event was, I’m gonna do this Photo Essay style. Thanks to Blueprint Spirits for hosting the tastiest Rum event ever.

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The supreme menu for the evening: Kill Devil Grog, Bird of Paradise, Reanimator, Ministry of Rum Flight.

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Lil birdies waiting to contain the fabulous Bird of Paradise cocktail.

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Reanimators waiting for Tiki flames!

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FLAAAAAAAME!!

Hamilton Rum Reanimator

Note the Jerk Pork next to this Reanimator. Yummmm. 

The Carmelized sugar and charred lime smell on the Reanimator was legit out of sight! So was the drink itself. Definitely one of the most smooth, yet complex, yet refreshing, yet mind-blowing Tiki drinks I’ve ever had.

Here are the ingredients.

Reanimator

  • Rhum Agricole Ambre
  • Hamilton Jamaica Rum
  • Hamilton 151 (RIP Lemon Hart)
  • Honey
  • Falernum
  • Grapefruit Juice
  • Lime Juice
  • Absinthe
  • Bitters

Hamilton Jamaican Pot Still Gold

Next, I asked Shannon if we could go off menu and make a Daiquiri with Hamilton Jamaican Pot Still Gold Rum, Lime and Giffard Banane du Bresil Liqueur. It was so much tastier than I could have hoped!

Shannon Gladys Hamilton Rum

Shannon, master of measurement.

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The specs for this totally righteous Daiquiri were:

  • 2 oz Hamilton Jamaican Pot Still Gold Rum
  • 3/4 oz Giffard Banane
  • 3/4 oz Lime Juice
  • Lime wheel in coupe

Shake it like a rocket, double strain. Slurp.

Gladys Rums

Now, Glady’s already has a killer selection of Rum. This was probably 1/4 of their total collection. Needless to say, I wanted to check out their regular menu.

Gladys Painkiller

But instead of checking out the whole of their menu, we just ordered as many Painkillers as we could handle! Best coconut drink ever and Pusser’s Rum really makes this drink. Piña Coladas ain’t got nothing on the Painkiller!

I wasn’t able to photograph Ed Hamilton (he was a busy busy man!) but I did get to chat with him for a minute.

Me: “Hi! My name is Dani and I’m a really big fan!”

Ed: “Hi Dani, you don’t look very big!”

Me: “Well, no, I’m kind of small.”

Ed: “You see (stands up and towers above me), I’m very big! Haha!”

Then I tasted the Hamilton 151 and damn, it really is 100x better than Lemon Hart. I told him so and then said, “well it’s ok that Lemon Hart is dead.” And he said, “Lots of people have told me that they like Hamilton 151 more and yes, Lemon Hart is dead.”

From the lion’s mouth!

Hope you enjoyed this photo essay and be sure to get some Ministry of Rum in your collection!

Isla Papaya

/ Dani DeLuna / Leave a comment

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A couple of days ago, we got a Papaya. Every time we get a Papaya, we let it ripen, chop it into square-ish chunks and put it in our daily smoothies. Well, a thought occurred to me, “If you like the texture of Papaya in smoothies so much, why not put it in a frozen cocktail?”

HMMMMMM!

So I did what any smart Home Bar Girl would do and I asked Instagram what they would do with Papaya in cocktails.

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Hellooooooo Papaya Bites!

Some fabulous people suggested that I use Papaya with flavours like Mint, Mango, Falernum, Chili/Spice, Honey, Tequila, Rum. Nice start! Then people gave suggestions like, “I just wanna chomp a juicy, boozy Papaya cube as I sip a drank.” YES PLEASE GURL.

So I took all of these ideas, and cracked open the greatest book on earth for a girl in search of flavor pairings, The Flavor Bible. I looked up Papaya and what do you know, many of the recommendations I’d already received were listed as a potential match. Awesome.

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Then I grabbed a bunch of Papaya, threw it into a smoothie cup, looked at my Home Bar, and these are the ingredients that spoke to me. Remember, frozen drinks need more sweetness due to the large amount of ice in the mix.

Hope you enjoy and feel free to play around with whatever you’ve got in your Home Bar!

Isla Papaya

  • 2 oz Denizen Aged White Rum
  • 1 oz Espolón Reposado Tequila
  • 1 oz Patrón Citrónge Mango Liqueur
  • 3/4 oz Velvet Falernum
  • Medium handful of Papaya, around 8 chunks
  • 1 oz Lime Juice
  • 3 pipettes Brooklyn Hemispherical Sriracha Bitters (sub any chili bitters)
  • 8 oz Crushed Ice
  • Garnish: salted Papaya chunks speared by a Tiki Umbrella

Combine ingredients in a blender and blend for around 7 seconds. You want it to be well mixed but not overly blended and frothy. Pour into Tiki mug and garnish.

*btw, this recipe is for a 14 oz Tiki Mug*

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May all your Frozen Tiki dreams come true!