Tiki drinks are making a big comeback, and this includes the blue ones which have been so despised in past years. Unlike the seventies through the nineties where bars threw together cheap rum, bottled mixers and tossed in a pineapple chunk and cherry, bartenders today are getting into the old style Tiki cocktails from the first days of Don the Beachcomber's and Trader Vic's.
Back in the late 1940's and 1950's the godfathers of Tiki cocktails like Harry Yee (of the Hawaiian Village Hotel, creator of the first Tiki cocktail and inventor of the Blue Hawaii), Ernest Gantt (aka Donn Beach of Don the Beachcombers) and Victor Bergeron (of Trader Vic fame) employed fresh juices, great syrups like Falernum and Orgeat and good quality rums to create rich, complex cocktails worthy of the Tiki culture. Between these three, despite the bickering of who created what, most of the original Tiki cocktail recipes sailed in from the islands to the shores of the haole.
I have always been fond of Tiki cocktails because I enjoy sweet, fruity cocktails on occasion, they make me feel like I'm on vacation. Another thing I like is a well garnished drink and Tiki cocktails are accessorized like a two dollar hooker, they have more bling than a Las Vegas showgirl. This new Tiki resurgence is a boon to someone like me. So I had to go there and I'm taking you with me!
This drink is a combination of two Tiki classics, the Pina Colada and the Blue Hawaii. Thanks to a little trick with some ice sphere molds it starts out as a Banana Pina Colada and slowly morphs into a Blue Hawaii. The only changes I made were adding a banana to the Pina Colada (because I had a banana on hand) as well as a bit of Orgeat syrup and lowering the ratio of rum in the Blue Hawaii so it would freeze. The rest of the transformation is taken care of by nature!
The
SNEAKY TIKI COLADA
BLUE HAWAII ICE SPHERES
1/2 Oz. Appleton Extra 12 Dark Rum
1 Oz. Bols Blue Curaçao
1/2 Oz Coco Lopez Creme de Coconut
1/4 Oz. Orgeat syrup
2 Oz. Fresh Pineapple Juice
1 Oz. Water
Freeze mixture in ice sphere(s) overnight.
BANANA PINA COLADA
3 Oz. Pineapple juice,
1-1/2 Oz. Cruzan Light Rum
1/2 Oz. Appleton Extra 12 Dark Rum
1 Oz. Coco Lopez Creme de Coconut
1/2 Fresh Banana
4 Ice Cubes
Blend everything until smooth and creamy.
To build the drink:
Add the Blue Hawaii ice sphere to a chilled Old Fashioned glass. Pour the Banana Pina Colada around then over until the sphere is covered. Garnish with a banana slice or pineapple slice or both, a couple of cherries for a pop of color then add a fun cocktail umbrella. If you have an edible orchid add it too! With Tiki drinks, less is not more!
The fun happens when the Blue Hawaii slowly melts into your Sneaky Tiki Colada and not only changes the color but becomes an entirely different cocktail as it slowly dissolves.
