I don’t really require a reason to throw a cocktail party, but a visit from out-of-town friends earlier this summer provided the perfect excuse. L and C came in from Boise to check out the sights in DC and join us for the U2 concert (which was awesome!). I thought it would be fun to introduce them to our local friends, and what better way to meet than over drinks? Tiki cocktails are always festive, and I still had a large cache of rum and fruit liqueurs from previous parties. So I thumbed through the Smuggler’s Cove tiki guide and selected a few classics (the Singapore Sling and Hotel Nacional Special) plus a drink that was new to me (the Naked Ape). The fourth cocktail was the Shark Eye (shown above), which I’d had at Mother of Pearl in NYC. Throw in some tiki-appropriate snacks – sweet-and-sour shrimp skewers, chicken satay, artichoke dip – and the party menu was complete. Time to break out the Hawaiian shirt, dust off the tiki mugs, and fire up the blender!

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Singapore Sling

• 1 ½ oz. gin (I used Bombay Sapphire)
• ½ oz. Cherry Heering
• ¼ oz. Benedictine
• ¾ oz. lemon juice
• ¼ oz. demerara rich syrup (2:1 ratio of demerara sugar to water)
• dash aromatic bitters
• dash orange bitters
• 2 oz. seltzer
• lemon wedge, to garnish
• cocktail shaker, strainer, bar spoon, ice, Collins glass

Steps

• half-fill shaker with ice 
• add all liquid ingredients except seltzer and shake until chilled
• half-fill glass with ice and add seltzer
• strain shaker into glass
• stir briefly and garnish

Hotel Nacional Special

• 1 ½ oz. blended lightly aged rum (I used Banks 5 Island)
• ½ oz. apricot liqueur (I used Rothman & Winter)
• 2-4 chunks pineapple
• ¾ oz. lime juice
• ½ oz. demerara rich syrup
• cocktail shaker, strainer, muddler, ice, coupe glass

Steps

• muddle pineapple, lime juice, and syrup in shaker
• add ice, rum, and apricot liqueur
• shake until chilled and strain into glass

Naked Ape

• 1 ½ oz. black rum (I used Lemon Hart & Sun Original 1804)
• ½ oz. column still aged rum (I used English Harbour 5 Year) [note: original recipe called for pot still rum, but my tasters objected – too funky]
• ½ oz. lemon juice
• ½ oz. banana liqueur (I used Giffard Banane du Brésil)
• ½ oz. cinnamon rich syrup (include 1 stick cinnamon per cup of sugar, steeped overnight)
• dash aromatic bitters
• drink mixer, crushed ice, tiki mug

Steps

• combine all ingredients in mixer tin
• add crushed ice and flash blend to mix
• pour into tiki mug and top with ice

Shark Eye

• 1 ½ oz. bourbon (I used Four Roses Small Batch)
• ½ oz. rye (I used High West Double Rye)
• ¼ oz. maraschino liqueur (I used Luxardo)
• 1 barspoon curaçao (I used Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao)
• ¾ oz. lemon juice
• ¾ oz. passionfruit syrup (2:1 ratio of rich syrup to Dafruta maracuya concentrate)
• 2 dashes bitters (original called for tiki bitters, I used our Old-Fashioned bitters)
• small pineapple leaves, to garnish
• 3 dashes Peychaud’s bitters, to garnish
• shaker, bar spoon, crushed ice, shark tiki mug (or rocks glass)

Steps

• combine all ingredients except garnishes and ice in shaker and shake to mix
• fill mug with crushed ice
• pour shaker into mug and garnish