You’ve heard me refer to Rick’s blog Kaiser Penguin in the past. Most recently I “borrowed” his recipe for falernum with great success. Well, last week Rick announced a contest offering a signed copy of Beachbum Berry’s newest book for the top three new tiki recipes posted in the comments. This couldn’t have come at a more opportune time for me! But, before I get too much further, let me say that Rick’s contest is open to anyone. So if you have a great tiki drink idea rattling around in your head then put up a comment and enter!
Having never tried making my own cocktail from scratch, let alone a tiki drink, I decided to give it a go. I spent some time thinking about what I’d like to include. At first I wanted this drink to be an ass kicker, like the zombie, so I started with high test rums. After contemplating for a bit longer I decided to keep one high proof rum in the mix but not go for ultimate power, but rather a delicious flavor. I love peaches, so I knew I wanted to use peach nectar for this drink right from the start. So, after this bout of thinking I came up with this recipe:
The Wilson (Version 1)
3 oz Peach Nectar 1 oz Wray and Nephew Overproof 1 oz Appleton V/X 1/2 oz Lime Juice 1/2 oz Gosling's Black Seal (Float)
This version was okay but lacking. It needed more sourness to balance the sweetness of the peach nectar and it needed some complexity of flavor. The lime juice was easy but I wasn’ t exactly sure how to approach the complexity issue. I pondered adding some bitters, perhaps Fee’s Old Fashioned or even a bit of my homemade version of Robert Hess’ House Bitters. Those would certainly work, but didn’t seem tiki enough. Then it came to me, falernum. It’s deep, it’s complex, it’s down right magical. Adding a bit, I had my solution.
The Wilson (Cocktail Hacker)
3 oz Peach Nectar 1 oz Wray and Nephew Overproof 1 oz Appleton V/X 1 oz Lime Juice 1/2 oz Falernum 1/2 oz Gosling's Black Seal
1) Combine all ingredients in a shaker 2) Shake with ice until well chilled 3) Pour into a chilled highball glass 4) Float the black seal rum
Granted, I’m the proud parent, but I really like this cocktail a great deal. The peach and falernum give it a great level of sweetness balanced by the lime juice and rum. The falernum also adds a great complexity that is exactly what I was looking for. Finally the blend of rums gives this drink a solid punch with a nice flavor. Naturally I recommend you mix up tons and enjoy!
If you’re wondering about the name think Castaway. Credit goes to my friend Colton who, amongst other things, seems to be a cocktail naming genius. Thanks buddy!