Some Like It Cool

Summer is the tall, cool season. When the sun becomes a red ball, even confirmed martini drinkers forsake the olive and lemon twist in favor of a long, well-iced libation. For most, that means something 'n' ronic or bitter lemon. While both are thirst-slaking drinks, why limit yourself to the prosaic, when there's a world of tempting tropical coolers waiting to be enjoyed? The tall, frosty drink reaches its apogee at the hands of native bartenders from the Caribbean to the South Sea Islands. Drinks are composed for the eye as (continued on page 228)Some Like It Cool(continued from page 137) well as the palate, adorned with such fancies as orchids, hibiscus, mango slices, lengths of sugar cane--and served in anything from a papaya to a coconut.

But whimsy alone is no substitute for professional savvy. Happily, the men who man the tropical bars are graced with equal parts of flair and know-how. And they're emphatic on one point--tropical coolers must be served snapping cold. Frigid. That means everything that can be is prechilled, including pitchers, shakers--even the blender container. Glasses are buried in crushed ice or stored in the refrigerator. Ice, whether for shaker, blender or glass, is always hard frozen. Bar syrup, available at most liquor stores, is preferred to sugar because it can be prechilled. Mixing time is shortened and there is less dilution. Any leftover syrup should be stashed in the fridge, tightly covered. It's handy and keeps indefinitely.

Bar syrup is ideal for making the swizzle--the ingratiating drink of the Caribbean. A swizzle is a type of sour served in a highball glass with cracked ice and a swizzle stick. In the islands, sticks are often twigs cut from spice trees, roughly trimmed to leave short jutting stems at the base end. The shaft of the stick is rotated back and forth between the palms, churning the ice, until a frothy head forms on the drink and a delicate haze frosts the glass.

Swizzles and other potions are often sweetened with the fragrant flavored syrups that abound in the tropics. Falernum, an amalgam of almond, lime, sugar and spice, is what gives the mai tai its distinction. Local bar stewards are also partial to passion fruit, orgeat and tamarindo--tossing them casually into drinks with a raffish disregard for formal recipes. They must know what they're doing, because results are invariably delicious.

As with the syrups, the native spirit is given a good play. That's rum, of course, or, more accurately, rums. The category includes the dry, delicate products of Puerto Rico, the fuller Jamaica rums, smoky, high-powered Demeraras, and distillates from Haiti, Barbados, the Virgin Islands, Martinique and Trinidad--each with its own unique character. Contrary to general belief, dark rums are not necessarily sweeter than light rums. But they tend to be heavier and rummier, just as Côte-d'Or Burgundies are likely to have more body than those from Beaujolais.

While rum is numero uno on the tropical juice charts, gin, brandy, whiskey and tequila have their place. In fact, the motto seems to be anything goes. That kind of relaxed attitude, coupled with one or more of the following coolers will get you through the long hot summer in a breeze.

[recipe_title]The Berta Special[/recipe_title]

(Berta's place in Taxco and the Berta Special are lovingly remembered by visitors to Mexico. If the drink doesn't taste quite the same at home, it's because we don't have those crazy little Mexican limes.)

[drinkRecipe]1 small lime[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]1 1/2 ozs. tequila[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]1 to 2 teaspoons bar syrup, to taste[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]Ice water or club soda[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]2 to 3 dashes orange bitters[/drinkRecipe]

Squeeze lime and add juice to tall glass, along with one half of shell. Add ice cubes, tequila and bar syrup and fill with ice water or soda. Add orange bitters. Stir to chill.

[recipe_title]Strawberry Pitcher[/recipe_title]

(Serves eight to ten)

[drinkRecipe]1 pint ripe fresh strawberries, hulled and quartered[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]2 cups orange juice[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]1/3 cup bar syrup[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]6 ozs. vodka[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]2 ozs. kirsch or framboise[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]Orange for garnish[/drinkRecipe]

Have everything cold, including blender container and pitcher. Blend strawberries with 1 cup orange juice until berries are puréed. Add remaining juice and bar syrup. Blend briefly to combine. Pour into pitcher, stir in vodka and kirsch. Taste for sweetening. Serve in cups or small highball glasses. Garnish each drink with a half slice of orange.

[recipe_title]Pina Sorpresa[/recipe_title]

(Dorado Beach Hotel, Puerto Rico)

[drinkRecipe]1 1/4 ozs. Puerto Rican gold-label rum[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]1/4 oz. Puerto Rican 151-proof rum[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]1/4 oz. Southern Comfort[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]1/4 oz. triple sec[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]2 ozs. pineapple juice[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]3 chunks pineapple[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]1 teaspoon bar syrup or superfine sugar[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]2 scoops crushed ice[/drinkRecipe]

Combine all ingredients in chilled blender and blend until creamy. Serve in tall glass or hollowed-out pineapple shell, with straws.

At the Dorado Beach Hotel, this drink is served in a hollowed-out pineapple, which also supplies the juice and the pineapple chunks. Here's how to do it, if you're feeling artistic: Cut top from ripe pineapple. Using sharp, thin, long-bladed knife, cut around the circumference, leaving about a half-inch shell. Cut through fruit to make wedges, which can be lifted out. Even off inside of shell with knife or tip of serrated grapefruit spoon. Pour off juice as it accumulates. If more juice is needed, press pulp in a food mill.

[recipe_title]Herbie Special[/recipe_title]

(Playboy Club-Hotel, Ocho Rios, Jamaica)

[drinkRecipe]1 oz. light rum[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]1 oz. vodka[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]1/2 oz. apricot-flavored brandy[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]2 teaspoons bar syrup[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]1 oz. lime juice[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]Dash cinnamon[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]1/2 cup crushed ice[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]Orange slice and cherry for garnish[/drinkRecipe]

Blend all ingredients, except garnish, in blender for 10 to 15 seconds. Serve in highball glass, with straws. Decorate with fruit.

[recipe_title]Plantation Swizzle[/recipe_title]

(Caneel Bay Plantation, St. John, Virgin Islands)

[drinkRecipe]1/2 large lime[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]Crushed ice[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]2 ozs. light rum[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]1/2 oz. Falernum[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]1/4 oz. grenadine or passion-fruit syrup[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]Fresh pineapple finger[/drinkRecipe]

Squeeze lime. Pour juice into highball glass and drop in shell. Fill with crushed ice. Add rum and syrups. Churn with swizzle stick or long-handled bar spoon until glass frosts. Garnish with pineapple and a sprig of mint, if desired. Serve with straws.

[recipe_title]Cosmopolitan Sin[/recipe_title]

(Grand Bahama Hotel and Country Club, West End, Grand Bahama Island)

[drinkRecipe]Shaved or finely crushed ice[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]2 ozs. light rum[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]1/2 oz. triple sec[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]2 ozs. grapefruit juice[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]2 ozs. pineapple juice[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]1/2 oz. green crème de menthe[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]1/2 oz. grenadine[/drinkRecipe]

Pack a chilled, oversized snifter about 2/3 full of ice, mounding the top. Mix rum, triple sec and juices and pour slowly over ice. Trickle the green crème de men the down one side of the glass and the red grenadine down the other. Serve with straws.

[recipe_title]Forge Floridita[/recipe_title]

(The Forge, Miami Beach, Florida. The Forge prefers juice from fresh pineapples, liquified in a juice extractor.)

[drinkRecipe]2 ozs. triple sec[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]2 ozs. pineapple juice[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]Dash Pernod[/drinkRecipe]

Shake triple sec and pineapple juice with ice. Strain over fresh ice cubes in a small old fashioned glass. Stir in Pernod. Garnish with sprig of mint or watercress, if desired.

[recipe_title]The Pussycat[/recipe_title]

(Round Hill Hotel, Montego Bay, Jamaica. Like the fog, "it comes on little cat feet." A smooth, satisfying potion.)

[drinkRecipe]1 1/2 ozs. gin[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]1 1/2 ozs. orange juice[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]1 oz. pineapple juice[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]1/2 tablespoon lime juice[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]1 oz. maraschino-cherry juice[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]1 oz. cream[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]1 scoop crushed ice[/drinkRecipe]

Cherry, orange slice, lime slice for garnish

Pour all ingredients, except garnish, into blender and blend until fairly smooth. Pour into tall, thin glass. Pop on fruit and serve.

[recipe_title]Teton's White Port Peak[/recipe_title]

(Cerromar Beach Hotel, Dorado Beach, Puerto Rico)

[drinkRecipe]4 ozs. imported dry white port[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]Tonic, iced[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]1/2 oz. strawberry liqueur[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]1 slice lemon[/drinkRecipe]

Fill a stemmed goblet or Pilsner glass with ice cubes. Add port and pour in chilled tonic to within 1/2 in. of the rim. Stir lightly. Float liqueur on top by slowly pouring it over the back of a spoon held against the inside of the glass at the tonic level. Place lemon slice atop the ice cubes. Sloe gin, blackberry liqueur or crème de cassis may be substituted for strawberry.

[recipe_title]Mai Tai[/recipe_title]

(The mai tai attained fame in Hawaii, but it has become generally popular. In tropical Shangri-Las, an orchid is the usual garnish. Feel free to dispense with that horticultural touch.)

[drinkRecipe]1 oz. light rum[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]1/2 oz. curacao[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]Juice of 1/2 lime[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]1 teaspoon lemon juice[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]2 dashes each Falernum and orgeat syrups[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]1/2 oz. dark rum[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]Fruit garnish, as desired[/drinkRecipe]

Shake first five ingredients very briskly with cracked ice, until very cold. Strain into saucer champagne glass. Carefully float dark rum on top. Decorate with cherry, pineapple and orange slice--or whatever delights you.

[recipe_title]Hurricane[/recipe_title]

(Caribe Hilton, San Juan, Puerto Rico. There are several versions of this drink, combining rum, apple brandy and tropical juices. The Caribe Hilton serves it in a hurricane-lamp-shaped glass. A collins glass will do as well.)

[drinkRecipe]1 1/2 ozs. light rum[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]1 oz. applejack or calvados[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]1 oz. triple sec[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]4 ozs. guayaba (guava) nectar[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]1 oz. lime juice[/drinkRecipe]

[drinkRecipe]Cherry, 1/2 orange slice and a length of sugar cane for garnish[/drinkRecipe]

Vigorously shake all ingredients, except garnishes, with cracked ice. Strain over fresh ice cubes in tall glass. Garnish with fruit and sugar-cane stirrer. (Note: If guayaba is not available, you can substitute any fruit nectar.)

Summer calls for a change of pace. So give your faithful old martini pitcher a vacation. As some Brahmin barman once said, " 'Tis better to swizzle than to burn!"