Blowin’ in the wind.
Tradewinds.
The problem with lot of Tiki drinks is that they often need a bunch of weird and wonderful ingredients as well as exotic rums that the casual cocktailien might not be in possession of. The Tradewinds is a full-on Tiki drink that is relatively simple to make and a great introduction to the genre even though it’s not a very well known drink. Not too rum heavy, super refreshing and easy to batch up for a party, consider the Tradewinds a sort of liquid press gang that will get your friends to sign on to the crew of the good ship Tiki.
The Tradewinds originally appears in Jeff “Beachbum” Berry’s indispensible Tiki bible Remixed as a large communal drink but I’ve re-remixed it into this single portion version which is a bit more manageable. Jeff doesn’t tell us much about the drink other than it hails from the Caribbean sometime in the 70’s. That would make it a real tail-end Tiki drink which perhaps explains its lack of fame.
You’ll need to make some coconut syrup to make a Tradewinds but that’s pretty easy – just mix some rich sugar syrup with an equal amount of coconut milk and give it a good shake. A few drops of coconut extract can be added if you have any.
Tradewinds
1.25oz fresh lemon juice
1oz coconut syrup (see above)
1oz apricot brandy/liqueur (I used Bols)
1oz white rum (I used Havana Club 3 Años)
1oz dark Jamaican rum (I used Myers)
Put into a blender with a cup of crushed ice and pulse blend 5 or 6 times*
Pour unstrained into a suitable receptacle.
Toast the unknown Caribbean bartender. Well done – whoever you are!
*When blending remember that you are using your blender to mix a drink not make a smoothie or a slushy. Five or six short pulses is all you need. If you don’t have a blender add an ounce of soda water to the recipe and shake it long and hard with a cup of crushed ice.
