Kiliki Cooler

I was recently reminded how easy it is to make your own fruit syrups. So when I spotted passion fruit at a supermarket I bought four to give it a try,

Before I got started I had decided to give it a try in a Kiliki Cooler - a Beachbum Berry creation made for the host of the Hukilau.

That recipe calls for coffee syrup - so I made that too.

I started by gently heating 350 g sugar and 3 dl water to the boiling point in a pan.

While that was happening I split the passion fruits and scraped the contents into a bowl - and since I was making both the syrups at the same time I pulled a shot of espresso on my espresso machine.

I added 6 cl of the simple syrup to the espresso - equal amount actually.

And then I added the passion fruit to the rest of the syrup in the pan and let it bubble away for a minute or too.

I let the passion fruit syrup steep for a couple of hours before I strained it - don't throw away the stuff you strain out it's excellent on a cheese sandwich or on ice cream.

When both syrups were completely cooled and bottled I mixed the cocktail:

• 6 cl rum - I used Plantation Xaymaca
• 1,5 cl lime juice
• 1,5 cl orange juice
• 1,5 cl pineapple juice
• 1,5 cl passion fruit syrup - see above or use a ready made syrup like Giffard's
• 1,5 cl coffee syrup - see above or buy some.

Shake everything and pour unstrained into a low wide glass. Garnish with fresh fruit.

Trader Vic Grog - with a twist

Yesterday was Black Tot Day - they day in 1970 when the British Navy for the last time handed out rum rations to the sailors.

In honor of the day I decided to mix a Trader Vic Grog - Grog was the name sailors gave the mix of rum and water they were given from 1740 after Vice-Admiral Edward Vernon began diluting their rum rations to cut down on drunkenness. His nickname was Old Grogram because of an old overcoat made from grois-grain fabric he always wore.

Trader Vic Grog lends itself well to a slight twist:

• 3 cl lemon juice
• 3 cl pineapple juice
• 3 cl passion fruit syrup
• 6 cl Jamaican rum - I used Appleton Estate Blend
• 1,5 cl Green Chartreuse

Measure the first four ingredients into a shake, fill it with ice and shake. Strain over crushed ice and then add the Green Chartreuse ad a float/overlay. Garnish with a mint sprig, lightly awoken with a gentle slap.

If you want to try the original recipe - as written from Beachbum Berry first - don't use the green Chartreuse but add a dash of Angostura Bitters to the shaker before shaking.

The Potential Reviver

The name of this new Danish cocktail might lead you to believe it is a riff on a Corpse Reviver - it's not really - more like the child of a Mai Tai and a Corpse Reviver.

It's that rare bird: A gin based Tiki cocktail.

That is probably what attracted me to it when I came across the recipe in a new book on Danish gin.

The book - Danske gin og ginmagere (Danish gins and gin makers - full review in Danish here) - is written by Christian Wendelbo who happens to be the son of a dear colleague.

Not only does the book cover a great number of new Danish gins and a few of the established ones like Geranium and Jensen, it also offers more than 30 cocktails developed to suit each individual gin.

On top of that there is a nice introduction to both gin history and the science of distilling. And then a good starting point for anyone wanting to get started shaking cocktails at home. Even the Gin and Tonic drinker get's nice pointers about which gin goes with which tonic.

So a very interesting book that quickly left me thirsty for a drink.

When I came across The Potential Reviver I knew I had found the one to try first. I did not have the gin this cocktail was developed for - Marstal no 31 - but I substituted an orange forward gin instead:

• 4 cl gin - I used Copenhagen Orange Gin
• 1 cl aquavit - I used D Argentum
• 1 cl orange liqueur - I used Pierre Ferrand Dry Curacao
• 1 cl banana liqueur - I used Giffard Banane du Bresil
• 1 cl orgeat - I used Giffard
• 2 cl lemon juice
• 2 dashed orange bitters - I used Angostura Orange

Add everything to a shaker, fill the shaker with ice, shake and then double strain into a Tiki or old fashioned glass over fresh ice. Garnish with orange.