Grains of Sand
It’s amazing how much a few tweaks can change a drink. When I’m coming up with a new recipe, I try to be honest with myself. If it sucks, what went wrong? Is the balance right? If it’s awesome, what was the magic element? This drink started off… just okay. It didn’t “pop”. The awesome flavored vodka got lost. Somewhat counterintuitively, it needed more rum “character”— aged rum and a funky overproof rum instead of white rum and rhum agricole. Just tweaking the base made this one really worth the shake.
It reads as a tiki drink, unsurprisingly, with coconut and pineapple and the forefront. These flavors are supported by by the lychee/jasmine and orgeat to give a beautiful depth of flavor especially with the gentle funk and molasses notes from the rums. My homemade tepache has had some prolific secondary fermentation, so it’s nicely carbonated, which adds a great mouthfeel to the whole thing.
Recipe
1.25oz lychee, coconut, jasmine vodka (@chakravodkas, gifted)
0.5oz aged rum
0.5oz overproof rum (@wrayandnephewus)
0.5oz orgeat (@liberandco)
Barspoon pineapple gum syrup
0.75oz lime juice
1-2oz Tepache
Shake first 6 ingredients with ice until chilled, strain over ice, top with tepache. Garnish with fresh mint and pineapple fronds. Cheers!!
