Passion Grove Swizzle – A Summer Tiki Cooler

Early in my Tiki education, which at that point was primarily Beachbum Berry’s Sippin’ Safari and a scattering of blog posts, I learned a mantra: Always fresh squeeze your juice! It’s not so hard with lemons, limes, and oranges, but pineapples are always a challenge. They’re cumbersome and not easily juiced with normal kitchen gadgets. Even after a budget centripetal juicer appeared, juicing pineapples was still something I sought to avoid – the juice was too frothy and the yield too low. It always felt like I was forsaking too much product in the wet, pulpy remains.

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Going Brazilian – Cachaça’s Regulations Demystified & Translated

Here at Casa Cocktail Wonk, we prefer to go off the beaten path, demystifying complex topics and bringing daylight to the shadowy areas of spirits knowledge. A particular favorite is disabusing people of the “rum has no rules” misperception. Just like Bourbon, Scotch whisky, and Cognac have well-defined regulations protecting them from imposters masquerading as the real deal, the cane spirits world has similar protections.

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The Reverend’s Tai – A Pineapple Twist on the Mai Tai

In recent years I’ve vociferously advocated for the purity and sanctity of the classic 1944 Mai Tai. This Victor (“Trader Vic”) Bergeron concoction is arguably the king of all Tiki drinks. Unfortunately, for some misguided souls, the Mai Tai is a catch-all term for whatever random collection of fruit juices, rums, and syrups are on hand behind the bar—rendering this classic one of the most abused cocktail recipes of all time. There’s no pineapple juice in a classic Mai Tai, folks!

However, it’s totally fair game to modernize a Tiki classic and name it something different. The modern Tiki world is full of innovators such as Jason Alexander, Daniel “Doc” Parks, and Justin Wojslaw, who day in and day out push Tiki’s boundaries while retaining respect for the classics. While I don’t put myself in their league, I do occasionally have a decent idea that ends up good enough to share here.

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Are High Ester Rums for Drinking? Richard Seale Weighs In

Recently I’ve had the opportunity to try out a good selection of extremely high ester rums. From unaged Hampden Estate DOK at 85 percent ABV, to Long Pond TECC, Savanna HERR, and several others, I’ve tasted enough samples to seriously contemplate the extremely high ester rum world.

As much as anybody else, I once craved the high ester experience, plotting the day I’d have my own sample of Hampden’s DOK at home, available at a moment’s notice. Today, I’m thrilled to have two very different DOK expressions in my rum library. Yes, I’m unabashedly a high hogo Jamaican rum dunderhead.

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Plantation’s New Xaymaca Special Dry – Deeply Deconstructed

When Maison Ferrand (parent company of Plantation Rum) purchased the Barbados-based West Indies Rum Distillery in 2017, it came with a bonus: One-third ownership of Jamaica’s Long Pond and Clarendon distilleries. While master blender Alexandre Gabriel is no stranger to Jamaican rums – witness Plantation’s Jamaican vintage rums and blends like O.F.T.D. Overproof–in the past year he’s ventured deeply down the Jamaican rabbit hole. The first visible sign just hit the wires today with Plantation Xaymaca Special Dry announcement – a 100 percent pot still, blended rum from the two aforementioned distilleries.

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The Case of the Missing Marque – The Barrel Did It

During my recent visit to Maison Ferrand (home of Cognac Ferrand and Plantation Rum) I posted a picture on Facebook that seemed innocuous enough. The caption read: “If you’re going to drink a cask-strength, 18 year Long Pond marque, the ITP (280 g/hL AA) is highly recommend. Even Mrs. Wonk loved it.”

A few minutes later, someone extremely knowledgeable about the rum industry posted a comment that caught me completely off-guard. The gist of the comment: Long Pond’s ITP marque is known to be in the 90-120 g/hL AA range. How can it be 277 g/hL AA?

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