Mele Kalikimaka and happy holidays from Wayward Spirits! Between servings of mulled wine, we’ve been experimenting with a few new tiki cocktails this holiday season, and have a real beaut to share with you this week: the Tropical Holiday.
This drink incorporates some of our favorite tropical flavors: lime, mango, passion fruit, and velvet falernum. Additionally, the pairing of aged Puerto Rican and overproof rums give this drink a boozy base that really compliments the Caribbean-inspired ingredients. The following post provides the necessary ingredients and steps for making this drink at home. Let us know what you think in the comments - cheers! Recipe/ Instructions: Glassware: Zombie or Collins glass Ingredients:
Cocktail Steps: Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker, and shake with ice for 10 seconds. Strain into a glass with crushed ice, and add 5 dashes of El Guapo bitters (optional). Garnish: Garnish with a lime wedge or peel on a cocktail pick. Wayward Spirits Rating: Overall Score - 5 Maybe it’s the holidays talking, but this drink was just the right thing for a night by the Christmas tree and fireplace. The flavors are quintessentially tiki, and this Caribbean-inspired cocktail will help you truly embrace the holiday spirit and enjoy time with friends and loved ones. Overall, I would not change a thing about it. But if you are feeling extra spontaneous this time of year, try substituting a funky Jamaican rum (in lieu of Bacardi). Cheers, and happy holidays from our family to yours!
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Happy holidays my fellow tikiphiles! It’s been some time since my last post - in all honesty, work has been kicking my butt recently, so every ounce of energy I've had at the end of each day has been put into making drinks (rather than writing about them).
But fear not - I’m on a sixteen-day hiatus from my desk job, which means that I’ll be hitting the sauce and sharing recipes like it’s my business (because for the moment, it basically is) This week’s recipe is called Something Tequila (from the book Easy Tiki), and it may give you some much needed respite from those heavy holiday nogs or mulled wines that you’ve been drinking for the past month. This drink has many of my go-to staples: pineapple juice, passion fruit, orange juice, citrus.... and TEQUILA. Yes, I’m on a bit of tequila kick right now, but this drink is bonkers good and worth a try! The following post provides the necessary ingredients and steps for making this drink at home. Let us know what you think in the comments - cheers! Recipe/ Instructions: Glassware: Double Old Fashioned (or any glass) Ingredients:
Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker, and shake with ice for 10 seconds. Strain into a glass with crushed ice, and add 5-6 dashed of tiki bitters. Garnish: Garnish with a lime wedge or peel on a cocktail pick. Wayward Spirits Rating: Overall Score - 4.5 The book Easy Tiki says that this drink was created by John Bernard (from Porco Lounge and Tiki Room in Cleveland) because customers kept asking him, “do you make margaritas? Could you make me something tequila?” I’m sure glad they did, because this drink tastes like a hybrid between a Margarita and a Rum Barrel, which is a delicious and unique way to incorporate tequila into your tiki repertoire. Overall, this is a fantastic drink and a great change of pace during the holiday season. Give it a try, and let us know what you think. Cheers!
With Thanksgiving and Christmas just around the corner, we have been working overtime on creating a series of fall and holiday-themed tiki cocktails.
I personally love this time of year. The cold temperatures and early sunsets make for ideal drinking weather - plus, we get to experiment with the lesser used ingredients of the tiki world. This week we present the Sailor’s Harvest. Made with cinnamon, vanilla, allspice and apricot liquor, it’s like a Christmas pastry in a cup - a bit on the desserty side, but not too sweet (more like a savory/spice filled dessert) The following post provides the necessary ingredients and steps for making this drink at home. Let us know what you think in the comments - cheers! Recipe/ Instructions: Glassware: Brandy Snifter Ingredients:
Cocktail Steps: Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker, and shake with ice for 10 seconds. Strain into a glass with crushed ice, and add 5-6 dashed of orange bitters (optional step). Garnish: Garnish with grated nutmeg, a dried orange/lemon peel, and 3 luxardo cherries on a decorative cocktail pick. Wayward Spirits Rating: Overall Score - 4.5 “Sailor’s Harvest” is a delicious holiday tiki drink. The molasses and butterscotch finish on the El Dorado 8 Year ties a nice bow on the vanilla, cinnamon, allspice, and warm-yet-fruity apricot liquor - and the addition of citrus helps keep the drink from feeling too heavy. It’s truly a fantastic replacement for mulled wine or a hot toddy, while still staying in the holiday spirit. Plus, it’s sure to impress guests who want a special or unique holiday cocktail, but tend to avoid heavy nogs or butter-based drinks.
Even though we have recently been writing about our favorite fall and holiday themed tiki cocktails, we often like to shake things up and revisit some of our favorite summer cocktails (especially when the weather is unseasonably warm for fall).
This past summer (or as we call it, our “quarantine summer”), the Bitter Mai Tai from Easy Tiki was one of our very favorite go-to recipes. We first tried it while vacationing in Palm Springs and fell in love with this particular riff, as it felt more unique and refreshing than most. If you love Mai Tais and Campari, you are bound to appreciate this particular twist on a tiki classic. The following post provides the necessary ingredients and steps for making this drink at home. Let us know what you think in the comments - cheers! Recipe/ Instructions: Glassware: Double Old Fashioned Ingredients:
Cocktail Steps: Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker, and shake with ice for 10 seconds. Strain into a glass with crushed ice, and add 2-3 dashed Angostura bitters. Garnish: Garnish with a large sprig of mint. Wayward Spirits Rating: Overall Score - 4 The Bitter Mai Tai from Easy Tiki is a deliciously unique riff on the classic tiki cocktail - well balanced, refreshing, and perfect for hot summer days next to the ocean or pool. As a huge fan of all things bitter, this particular recipe spoke to me. That’s not to say this version is perfect - It does lack a certain complexity and spice (explaining the 4 star rating), however, it makes up for this with its unique blend of bitter and sweet. Give it a try, and let us know that you think!
Autumn and I have recently been tinkering around the bar, trying to create some new cocktails. Although we’ve come up with some amazing rum-based drinks recently, we thought we would switch things up and try our hand at the lesser-used alcohol of the tiki world: Tequila.
We asked ourselves, “how can we tikify a margarita, while still staying true to its roots”? We ended up landing on a drink we call “El Escondite”. It contains the basic ingredients of a Margarita (tequila, orange, lime), plus some tropical additions (fresh orange and pineapple juices, Liquor 43, and honey simple syrup). The following post provides the necessary ingredients and steps for making this drink at home. Let us know what you think in the comments - cheers! Recipe/ Instructions: Glassware: Any Glass Ingredients:
Cocktail Steps: Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker, and shake with ice for 10 seconds. Strain into a glass with crushed ice, and add bitters (optional step) Garnish: Garnish with a salt rim and lime wedge Wayward Spirits Rating: Overall Score - 4.5 “El Escondite” is a refreshing take on a standard margarita, while adding layers of complexity and tropical flavors (and still staying true to recipe). It’s an especially good replacement for those of you who are not huge fans of the flavor of tequila (full disclosure: I’m one of those people), because the fresh juices and honey help mask the alcohol just a tad. Next time you are serving up a round of margaritas, surprise and delight your guests with this unique twist! Cheers!
Do you ever get the “lime in the coconut” song stuck in your head out of nowhere? We do. A lot. For too often in fact... If you don’t know what we’re talking about, check out the song “Coconut” by Harry Nilsson here or watch the video directly below:
This song gets stuck in our head so often that it finally inspired us to create a tiki drink in its honor: the Ode to Harry Nilsson And just like the song, this drink might just be one of our favorites here at Wayward Spirits - using lime and coconut (obviously), allspice dram, pineapple juice and multiple rums. The following post provides the necessary ingredients and steps for making this drink at home. Let us know that you think in the comments - cheers! Recipe/ Instructions: Glassware: Any Glass Ingredients:
Cocktail Steps: Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker, and shake with ice for 10 seconds. Strain into a glass with crushed ice, and add bitters (optional step) Garnish: Garnish with a lime wedge Wayward Spirits Rating: Overall Score - 5 The Ode to Harry Nilsson is so good that it might be just as addictive as the song. To summarize: It’s quintessentially tropical, light yet substantial, and flat out tasty. It’s certainly a crowd pleaser, and sure to appeal to almost any self-proclaimed tiki fans (and even fence sitters who don’t usually go for tiki cocktails...). Give the drink a try, and let us know that you think! Pro tip: play the Coconut song by Harry Nilsson while drinking it for the full experience!
Keeping with the fall-themed tiki recipes we have recently been posting, we present another Wayward Spirits original cocktail: “The Phoenix”
The Phoenix strikes a unique balance between bitter and sweet -- blending guava, citrus, cinnamon, Campari and Rhum Agricole. The results is a light-yet-complex tiki cocktail that tastes like a distant cousin of the Jungle Bird. The following post provides the inspiration for the drink, necessary ingredients and steps for making it at home. Let us know what you think in the comments - cheers! Inspiration for The Phoenix The Phoenix was created by Wayward Spirits founder John Enoch after soaking up some sun pool-side in Los Angeles. When choosing between bitter and sweet cocktails, John has always leaned slightly more towards bitter - often opting for Campari, Aperol, or Gin-based cocktails in summer time. Recipe/ Instructions: Glassware: Collins glass Ingredients:
Cocktail Steps: Combine all ingredients in a collins glass with crushed or chipped ice. Swizzle with a bar spoon or swizzle stick. Add orange bitters. Garnish: Garnish with a pineapple frond or lemon wedge. Wayward Spirits Rating: Overall Score – 5 "The Phoenix" is tiki’s answer to the Aperol Spritz or Negroni -- balancing all of the major tasting preferences: bitter, sweet, fruity, citrusy, savory, boozy and complex. It’s also a fantastic drink for friends or family members who say they are not a fan of traditional tiki drinks (i.e. they imagine overly-sweetened resort drinks or poorly made Mai Tais). Give the drink a try, and let us know that you think! It’s an especially tasty cocktail for those warm fall days that still feel like summer.
Happy first day of fall from Wayward Spirits! To kick off one of our favorite seasons, we present a new fall-themed cocktail: the Tropic of Virgo.
This drink was created by Wayward Spirits founder John Enoch, and inspired by his girlfriend Autumn. Autumn is the founder of CoffeeMate, a coffee blog based in LA, where she writes coffee and coffee shop reviews, product reviews, industry thought pieces, and more. Check out her blog here. The Tropic of Virgo incorporates some of our favorite autumn tasting notes: cold brew coffee, coconut, allspice, and orange. The result is a tiki-themed cocktail that is a bit heavier and richer than usual, while still maintaining a tropical flavor profile. Inspiration for the Tropic of Virgo The Tropic of Virgo was inspired by the short period of time between summer and autumn, when the weather begins to turn cold, and summery tiki cocktails feel somewhat out of season. For months, John and Autumn looked for ways to join the world of tiki and coffee, both being heavily influenced by tropical climates, cultures and flavors. We chose to name the drink the Tropic of Virgo because:
Recipe/ Instructions: Glassware: Brandy Snifter Ingredients:
Cocktail Steps: Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice, and shake for 10 seconds. Pour over crushed ice, and top off with additional ice until the glass is full. Add bitters. Garnish: Garnish with grated nutmeg and a dehydrated orange wheel. Wayward Spirits Rating: Overall Score – 4.5 The Tropic of Virgo is truly the perfect fall-themed tiki drink, combining autumn flavors (coffee and allspice) with tropical tastes (orange, coconut, and rum). If you are looking to make your Halloween or Thanksgiving holidays feel a bit more tropical this year, the Tropic of Virgo might be just the drink for you. Plus, it’s a nice in between if you can’t decide between a night cap or post-dinner coffee. The only reason this drink falls shy of the full 5-star rating is because it is a bit rich, and hard to drink more than one or two at a time.
Ahoy tiki aficionados! John here, following up on my previous post where we began featuring our favorite drink recipes from our recent trip to Palm Springs.
As a second installment to this series, we’ll be reviewing the Après-Ski Swizzle from Easy Tiki. This drink was a nice change of pace from the Mai Tais and Zombies we enjoyed on our getaway and utilizes one of my all-time favorite cocktail ingredients: green Chartreuse. If you are looking for a unique twist on a tiki cocktail, look no further than the Après-Ski Swizzle. The following feature will provide the origins of the drink, necessary ingredients, and steps for making it at home. Cheers! Après-Ski Swizzle - Brief History: The Après-Ski Swizzle was created by Nathan Hazard from the Coconut Club in Los Angeles. According to Easy Tiki, “Nathan Hazard’s Après-Ski Swizzle reads like tiki on vacation in the alps. The familiar tropical flavors are all there – rum, orgeat, pineapple, lime – joined by the 130 botanicals that make up Chartreuse’s signature profile.” Recipe/ Instructions: Glassware: Any glass (but Easy Tiki calls for a tiki mug or Zombie glass) Ingredients:
Cocktail Steps: Combine all ingredients in a glass and top with crushed ice until full. Swizzle with a swizzle stick or barspoon for ten seconds until chilled. Garnish: Garnish as you see fit. We recommend a dried orange slice and flower (but a pineapple wedge is also a popular choice) Wayward Spirits Rating: Overall Score – 4.5 The Après-Ski Swizzle is a tasty and refreshing take on the swizzle. It has the tried-and-true flavor profile of a tiki drink (with lime, orgeat, and rum), while introducing the unique complexity of green Chartreuse. As a huge Chartreuse fan, this drink was easily one of my favorite drinks of the trip. However, the botanicals do tend to overpower the other ingredients, so try scaling up the other flavors to make the drink feel “more tiki” if you’re looking for a more tropical taste. Give the drink a try and let us know what you think in the comments! Cheers!
Aloha fellow tiki enthusiasts! John here, finally getting back to the swing of things and sharing some of our favorite drink recipes from our week away in Palm Springs!
We dabbled with over 20 recipes on our trip, and the Siboney from Easy Tiki was one our favorites. It’s relatively simple to make, and contains heavy flavors of pineapple, passion fruit, and lime. This was especially refreshing in the 115-degree weather we were having on our trip. The following feature will provide the history of the drink, necessary ingredients, and steps for making it at home. Cheers! Siboney - Brief History: The Siboney first appeared in Rum Cookery & Drinkery, published by Trader Vic’s in 1974. Easy Tiki features an adaptation of the drink created by Antonio Martinez from Bootlegger Tiki in Palm Springs (one of the reasons we chose this recipe for our trip – see our guide to Palm Springs here). This adaptation of the Siboney is a bit more rum-forward than the original recipe and amplifies the pineapple flavors through the use of Plantation Stiggins’ Fancy pineapple rum. Recipe/ Instructions: Glassware: Collins or Double Old Fashioned (but the Easy Tiki recipe calls for a coupe glass) Ingredients:
Demerara syrup recipe (if needed):
Cocktail Steps: Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker and shake over ice for 10 seconds. Strain into a glass over crushed ice and garnish. Garnish: Garnish with a half-lime “island” and cocktail umbrella. Wayward Spirits Rating: Overall Score – 5 The Siboney is a delicious and well-rounded cocktail. Nice and boozy, while bursting with tropical flavors of pineapple and passion fruit. It is especially refreshing for hot days, and very easy to make. Try adding El Guapo Polynesian Kiss bitters to give it a small bit of “spice” that is lacking. Otherwise, this drink is close to perfect as-is. Cheers! |
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