You don't hear often of brilliant cocktails created in the late 1970s, but The Jungle Bird was one. Beachbum Berry's Intoxica traces it to the Aviary Bar in the Kuala Lumpur Hilton, circa 1978, and it's one of only a handful of tiki cocktails that calls for Campari as an ingredient. Here's how to make one at home. More
For years, allspice dram was damn-near impossible to find in the States. I get a little grumpy when there's a cocktail ingredient everyone is raving about and I can't find it anywhere. So a few years ago, just the mention of allspice dram made me a bit unpleasant to be around. I'd see recipes fun Tiki drinks and get all excited, then I'd see that allspice dram was one of the ingredients and I would mope like a sad puppy. More
Falernum is indispensable in Tiki drinks, brightening the sour notes of citrus and adding a hint of rich spice. But it also plays well with slightly bitter flavors. If you're at all interested in Tiki cocktails, this stuff is a must-have for your home bar. It can be a little tricky to track down commercially, but it turns out that it's super-easy to make at home. More
The segue from ambrosial elixir to undrinkable muck can be due to something as simple as a mangled or misunderstood recipe, and as complicated as a gradual shift over time in the quality, composition, or mere existence of a necessary ingredient. More
