Friday, April 16, 2010

[ted's tiki hut]

1 oz Smith & Cross Rum
1 oz Barbancourt Estate Reserve Rum
1/2 oz Fee's Falernum
1/2 oz Lime Juice
1 barspoon St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram
1 dash Bittermens 'Elemakule Tiki Bitters

Trim the fruit away from a lemon wedge; score the pith side of the peel with a few lines using a knife; place peel in plate and add a few dashes of Angostura Bitters followed by a dash of Lemon Hart 151 Rum; set afire on plate. As the peel is burning, shake rest of ingredients with ice and strain into a rocks glass. Twist peel over drink to express the oils and drop in glass.

On Sunday night, Andrea and I needed an adventure to get us out of the house, so we trekked over to Craigie on Main where Ted and Paul were tending the bar that night. When I asked bartender Ted Gallagher if he had any new drinks he was excited about, he mentioned only a few of the ingredients of this drink before I stopped him and gave him the thumbs up. Nothing seems to get the attention of other bar patrons than a drink -- or in this case garnish -- on fire, and Ted's theatrical preparation of this drink may have been overshadowed by the drink itself.
The drink lacked an official name so I dubbed it here Ted's Tiki Hut or perhaps the Tedtiki. The drink started with a lemon oil nose with hints of falernum and Angostura spices. Sweet lime flavors were on the sip, and the swallow proved to be crisp and spicy. The swallow also contained the funky pot stilled flavors of the Smith & Cross Rum as well. As the drink warmed up, the clove and allspice from the falernum and dram began to take a more dominant role in the flavor profile.

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